From a Chinese Village to Jewish Identity: The Extraordinary Journey of Yaakov Akiva Friedman

Until 2008, the only Jew Yaakov Akiva Friedman — a financial analyst from Pardes Chana and an Orthodox convert from China — had ever heard of was Baruch Spinoza. “Even though he was excommunicated, he was one of my favorite philosophers,” Friedman — formerly Hao Jiang, says with a smile.

At the time, his knowledge of Judaism was practically zero. And although he considered himself a believing person, it never crossed his mind — not even in his most distant dreams, that he would one day discover his own connection to God through Judaism, and eventually become an integral part of the Jewish people.

But in the summer of 2009, everything changed.

By “chance”, Friedman, then 30, met an Israeli on a social network. Through him, he learned about Israel and about Jewish and Israeli mentality (which he studied with the same curiosity as he had previously studied Christianity and Islam).

Friedman was then a young student in a U.S. financial analytics program, where he had also met his wife, Eliana Sarah Friedman (formerly Jinshin Jiang).

Today, the couple are parents, and they divide their time between raising their children with a Torah-oriented education, and nurturing the Jewish souls they received after completing their Orthodox conversion.

“I grew up with no idea what a Jew was — or why anyone would hate them.”

Jiang was born in a small Chinese village. When he was very young, his parents moved to a larger city, Qinhuangdao, for business reasons, leaving him to be raised by his grandparents.

“Like every Chinese person, I grew up with zero understanding of what a Jew is, and why anyone would want to hate them so much,” he recalls. “For as long as I remember, I knew there was a God. Whether He helped me or not — that wasn’t really my concern.”

“I always knew God existed — but sometimes I almost forgot about Him.” According to Friedman, the awareness of God was always there, but something essential was missing: the heart of the matter.

“I knew simply who God was and where I could find Him, and that seemed important enough. But still, it took me a long time to find Him for real. I constantly wrestled with questions like: ‘Who am I?’
‘Why am I here?’ ‘What is the purpose of my existence?’ ‘What is the significance of this world?’ But at times, I almost forgot He existed.”

Searching for Truth in America

At age 20, Jiang moved to the United States. But it seems academic study was only an external excuse for a deeper inner quest for identity, meaning, and spiritual truth.

“Going to the U.S. opened me up to ideologies I never had access to. Christianity and Islam were among them. Both fascinated me at first, but the deeper I dug into them, the more I found myself drawn to Judaism. Because everything began with it — belief in one God began with Abraham.”

“My first thought was: if both of these religions acknowledge Judaism and admit that everything starts with it, why should I ignore it?

“So I began learning, comparing everything I studied with what I already believed about God, faith, and the philosophy of life. After months of careful comparison, I found Judaism to be far more intellectually coherent.”

“I read the book — and started crying like crazy. It felt like my heart was burning.”

Amid his studies, Jiang devoured Jewish books — historical, philosophical, and religious. Among them was Devarim.

“I still remember one night reading the book and suddenly bursting into uncontrollable tears. I felt as if every word was ironing my heart, burning through me. At that moment, I knew my soul had finally found the highest connection possible through words.”

How did your families react to your transformation?

He smiles. “Thankfully, both our families were very supportive and completely understanding. Of course, the practices and traditions were totally new to them, but they did everything they could to understand what we were doing and why.

“On the other hand, some of my Christian friends responded negatively. To them, I had suddenly become a murderer of ‘that man’ (Jesus), as if I had personally killed him.

“I still laugh when I remember it. But aside from that small group, most were very positive. They respected my choice to become Jewish, even though they had never met Jews or Judaism up close.

“Even my Catholic friends expressed strong support once they understood I had chosen a Jewish life. They admired me and believed I was doing something holy and right.

“God treated us with silk gloves. The process simply could not have gone better.”

Falling in Love With the Land of Israel

About his connection to the land and adapting to life in Israel, Friedman says: “During our first six days in Israel, one of my new friends took me to another city to buy a second-hand refrigerator. On the way back, the sun was hanging over the horizon, and I suddenly started crying.

“He asked, ‘What happened?’
I answered, pointing at the landscape: ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’

“I feel like I’ve been waiting my entire life to see this land, to kiss it, to live the historical moments I had only read about in books. “I can’t explain it, but there is something deep and inner in my heart that connects me to this land and to the people who live here.”