Our January salon speaker is Anson Laytner, presenting on the Kaifeng Jewish Community.

The Kaifeng Jewish Community is over a thousand years old, making it one of the longest-lived Jewish communities still in existence (but just barely). This talk will review the community's history and unique culture, and particularly how it came to be known in the rest of the world. A focus will be on its difficult present-day situation. Aside from their fascinating history, the Chinese Jews raise a number of challenges for other Jews including "Who is a Jew?" and the legitimacy of, and limits to, cultural appropriation.

Anson Laytner is the current president of the Sino-Judaic Institute and has edited its journal, Points East, for the last 36 years. He is past president of Northwest Interfaith and serves on the advisory board of End of Life Washington.

Before retiring, he managed the Interreligious Initiative at Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry and also served as adjunct faculty with Seattle University's Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

Laytner is the author of: Arguing with God: A Jewish Tradition; The Animals' Lawsuit Against Humanity, with Dan Bridge; The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng: A Millenium of Adaptation and Endurance, with Jordan Paper; The Mystery of Suffering and the Meaning of God; and the forthcoming Choosing Life After Tragedy.

See his full bio here.

ABOUT SALON@HOME

We will share in food and conversation at the TBH Shabbat Salon. Dinner provided by Nineveh is available for pre-order, and you can pick it up at TBH on Friday evening before the salon begins.  Pick-up time assignments are sent out the day before the Salon. 

Erev Shabbat services will be at 6:00 pm, after which we can eat together and hear from our featured presenters. Speaker begins at approximately 7:15 pm. You do not need to purchase a meal to attend, please join for all or part. Consider being a “Salon Sponsor” for $100. Includes 2 meals, challah, and bottle of wine.

Note:
- Meals will be vegetarian and come complete and pre-packaged
- Meals will be available for pick up. For inquiries about delivery availability, please contact the office at tbh@bethhatfiloh.org.

MENU & ORDERING: 

Dinner Menu  ($18 per person): 

• Green salad with balsamic vinaigrette
• Matzo ball soup
• Jerusalem salad
• Hummus with pita
• Cauliflower with za'atar garlic sauce
• Baklava

Fill out the "Register" form below to place your dinner order. Instructions for pick-up will be sent via email the day before the event. Registration closes the Tuesday prior to the event.

Please put any dietary restrictions in the "notes" section.