Letters

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From British Friends of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

Dear Mr Dangoor,

In 1996, the universities of Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing issued a special invitation to Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz of Jerusalem, the renowned Talmudist and Jewish educationalist of the 20th and 21st centuries. As an honoured guest of the 3 universities and academies, the Rabbi was taken on an extensive tour of China and discussed points in common between the Jewish and the Chinese peoples, comparing and contrasting our cultures, our history, our philosophy, our books and our way of life. The Chinese audiences were wholly enraptured and captivated.

Resulting from a unique collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Steinsaltz publishing house in Jerusalem, Pirkei Avot - Ethics of the Fathers - was also published in the Chinese language, and it is this book that we have the pleasure to send you herewith. As you may imagine, the book was enthusiastically received by the Chinese, who compared it to the sayings of Confucius and his disciple Menzius in its ethical approach and went so far as to state: ''You and us, the Jews and the Chinese, we are the only truly cultured people in the world.''

We would very much like you to meet with Rabbi Steinsaltz and share your experiences of China when he next visits London. We feel this would be a useful and enjoyable meeting between two individuals who are playing a unique and important global role on behalf of the Jewish people in the wider world.

In the meantime, the British Friends of Rabbi Steinsaltz - cognisant of your vital work in China - hope that you will accept this copy of the Pirkei Avot with our compliments. We also take this opportunity to enclose our recent newsletters for your perusal.

Yours sincerely,

Esther Moscisker
National Director

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