Ephraim Einhorn - Biography

Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Ferdinand Einhorn (; Pinyin: Ài Ēnhóng; born 12 September 1918) is a British Orthodox rabbi and the only rabbi living in Taiwan.

Early years

Einhorn was born in Vienna, Austria. Einhorn moved to the United Kingdom at age 14 and later to the United States. Einhorn's parents were killed in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Synagogue services in Taiwan

Einhorn arrived in Taiwan in January 1975 from Kuwait and started administering Jewish prayer services five years later. Einhorn now operates Taiwan's only synagogue in room 577 of the Sheraton Taipei Hotel in Taipei.

The first Taiwanese synagogue had been created in the 1950s at the United States military chapel when U.S. soldiers had been stationed there. After the breakdown in the Republic of China–United States relations and the Taiwan Relations Act passed, prayer services were moved to the President Hotel, which no longer exists, then for many years to the Landis (formerly Ritz) Hotel, and from February 2008 to its current location.

The synagogue mainly serves the small local Jewish community, mainly including expatriate foreigners and businessmen on relocation assignments. While High Holidays' services are packed, Einhorn is ecstatic if a minyan arrives for the regular Shabbat services.

Other career highlights

Along with religious duties, Einhorn has helped achieve and promote diplomatic relations between the Taiwanese government with the Eastern and Central Europe countries such as Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania as well as the Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine. He is also the chairman of the Republicans Abroad Taiwan.

Dr. Einhorn is also an active Rotarian, a long-time member of American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Technology Committee in Taiwan, and standing Editor of the weekly newsletter the Typhoon.

See also

• History of the Jews in Taiwan

External links

• Neil Rubin, A Taiwanese Shabbat, Baltimore Jewish Times, May 5, 2007.
• Tsao Yu-fan and Ruth Wang, Taiwan hoping for direct flights with Israel, Central News Agency (Republic of China), July 7, 2008.
• Taiwan opposition pulls Hitler ad, BBC News Online, March 12, 2004.
• The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Taiwan, Jewish Virtual Library, September 13, 2006.
• Tea break with Taipei's only Rabbi, eRenlai, July 5, 2010.