The Chinese-Jews legend helped secure Jewish readmission to England in 1656

Evidence

After Ricci, several Jesuit missionaries visited Kaifeng in search of this Kaifeng Jewish Bible. Like Ricci, their letters or reports on the Kaifeng Jews became available as a part of the Jesuits’ account of their work in China. What they did not anticipate was that their tale of the “Chinese Jews” would provide the crucial missing link for Menasseh ben Israel’s narrative of the Ten Lost Tribes. Furthermore, Menasseh’s “Chinese Jews” played an essential part in the readmission of the Jews to England during the time of Oliver Cromwell. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 345 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Messianic eschatology motivated the campaign to readmit Jews to England; Jesuit reports on Chinese Jews enabled the readmission of Jews to England. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 345; China’s Jewish community was unknown in Europe until the seventeenth century (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Jesuit reports on Chinese Jews enabled the readmission of Jews to England. #corroborates (0.95) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 345