ABSTRACT
The Jewish community in North America is as diverse as the Diaspora
itself. While there has been extensive research into the various ethnic groups
that make up the continent’s Jewry, one subgroup of this community that has historically lacked recognition is Jews of East Asian descent. This
changed in the 1990s when demographic circumstances in China and North
America combined to create an entirely new Jewish subgroup: children from
China adopted by Jewish families in the US and Canada. As hundreds, if
not thousands, of Chinese children have been adopted by North American
Jewish families, news media and Jewish social circles have debated what
effect Chinese adoptees are having on the North American Jewish identity.
What has also made this group notable is that it is one of first JewishChinese groups in North America that has consciously formed social groups
in large urban areas, such as New York City and Toronto, and social net-
works that have spanned the distance of the US and Canada. As the
number of Chinese adopted by Jewish families continues to grow rapidly,
the impact that these children have on the identity of the North American
Jewish community will only increase.
