Why Koreans love Jews

I was sipping tea with a South Korean friend of my father’s when he asked: “Do you go to church?” It’s a much more common getting-to-know-you question in Korea than in the north-eastern United States, so I replied: “I actually don’t go to church, I’m Jewish.” When the oohs and ahs from members of the family, who were thrilled to learn I was part of the tribe, had subsided, my father’s friend proclaimed: “I forgot your dad is Jewish! Koreans are the Jews of Asia!”

This family’s reverence for the chosen people is representative of a small but growing Korean interest in Jewish culture and its remarkably strong similarities to Korean culture.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl works at Central Synagogue in New York City, and her vast knowledge of Judaism is helpful in understanding this phenomenon. She is half-Korean, making her the only Korean rabbi in the world. She says: “Jews and Koreans have a lot of shared values: education, value of history, respecting our ancestry and passing on traditions. I think Koreans especially admire the way Jews have kept a distinct culture over years of diaspora life.”

Many Koreans would be surprised to learn that there is a Jewish population in South Korea, albeit a small one. The exact number is hard to say, but anywhere from 500–600 is the general estimate.