ShangChai

NPR Morning Edition, February 11, 2009 • Part of Shanghai's Jewish history is under threat from bulldozers. In the 1930s, Shanghai was the only place in the world to offer visa-free sanctuary to Jews fleeing Nazism — 20,000 ended up in Shanghai.

The Jewish People in Shanghai called the place ShangChai referring to the Chai which means Life as is LaChaim/To Life. Chaim is plural, but Chai is singular and has the number value of 18. When Jewish People give charity it is often in multiples of Chai/18

Life is full of strange incidences, particularly when you are people without a land for 2000 years wondering every place in the earth, making a little impression before moving on. The Cabalists explain since man was ejected from the Garden of Eden in the sixth hour he was destined to wonder the earth for 6000 years picking up the sparks that fell from his actions. The Jewish people are the inheritors of that destiny—ejected from our land by God because our spiritual flame was not strong enough to attract the world, instead sent out to collect the sparks one by one, leaving a little Chai/Life wherever we went.