People

Mordechai Cohen (MA, Comparative Literature Columbia University, 1989; PhD in Bible, Yeshiva University, 1994), has taught at Yeshiva University since 1988 and has lectured at universities in Europe, Israel, and China. The areas of his scholarship are Jewish classical texts and thought from comparative perspectives—with Christianity, Islam, Western thought, and, most recently, Chinese philosophy and classicals texts. Among his publications are Three Approaches to Biblical Metaphor (Brill Academic Publishers 2003; 2nd edition 2008), Opening the Gates of Interpretation (Brill Academic Publishers 2011), The Rule of Peshat (University of Pennsylvania Press 2020), and Rashi, Biblical Interpretation, and Latin Learning (Cambridge University Press 2021). Since 2016, Cohen has taught an annual summer seminar at the Shandong University Center for Judaic and Inter-religious studies in Jinan, China, and has participated in philosophical conferences in Beijing. Having learned Mandarin, Cohen developed a network of Chinese scholars worldwide interested in engaging with Jewish learning. Since 2018 he has implemented this vision through the Chinese-Jewish Conversation. Since 2020 he has been working on an electronic book project走进犹太文化, published in installments online at https://cjcyu.org/blog/

Audrey Wu graduated from Queens College in 2015 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Japanese. In 2019 she earned her MS.Ed in School Counseling with Bilingual Extension at St. John's University. For the past several years, Audrey has been working in administration and marketing in multiple settings, including business, education, and healthcare.

A native Mandarin speaker, Audrey oversees CJC events and programming, both in-person and online. She also assists in the recruitment and training of our graduate assistants. Working with the YU communications department, Audrey manages CJC social media, with the goal of creating meaningful connections between the broader Chinese and Jewish communities worldwide.

Jingyuan Wang was born in Beijing. In 2020, She graduated with a bachelor's degree in fashion marketing from Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. In China, Allen worked as an assistant editor and project assistant in a media company, where she was responsible for editing and optimizing web pages, social media account management, and copywriting. Subsequently, Allen came to the US to study digital marketing and media at Yeshiva University’s Katz School of Science and Health, where she earned her MS in 2022. Allen finds it stimulating to study the cultures and religious beliefs of other traditions. At the Katz school she has made friends among her classmates from all over the world and has cultivated what she calls a “global mindset.” Yeshiva University has afforded Allen the opportunity to become engaged with Jewish culture for the first time—and this prompted her to join the CJC, where she has taken responsibility for its social media content on Douyin (Chinese TikTok). She currently serves as CJC Communications Specialist responsible for promoting CJC programs in China.

Shuizao Xiong, who lives in Beijing, graduated from North China University of Technology with a bachelor's degree in international economics and trade. During her college years, Shuizao began her illustration work and has since developed a distinctive lively style. Her personal project is picture book about a puppet called Lou Lou with an incomplete body placed in a beautiful cabinet who one day leaves the safety of its home and explore the outside world and try to understand why it is not as complete as other puppets. He other current projects involve picture books and graphic novels. Since the start of the pandemic, Shuizao has become interested in wildlife and environmental protection. Always curious about Jewish culture, she welcomed the opportunity to serve as a consultant for the CJC. Her primary responsibility is the illustration of the Chinese-language blog on Jewish culture.

Tian Qinyan, based in Shanghai. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Graduated from the School of Economics at Fudan University in 2012 with a Bachelor's degree in Finance. In 2018, completed the MBA program at New York University Stern School of Business.
Apart from finance, Tian has a wide range of interests in philosophy, law, architecture, and is particularly fascinated by the exchange and collision of different cultures. During the MBA program, gained insights into Jewish culture through exchange courses in Tel Aviv, sparking a strong interest in Sino-Jewish cultural comparisons.

Mordechai Cohen (MA, Comparative Literature Columbia University, 1989; PhD in Bible, Yeshiva University, 1994), has taught at Yeshiva University since 1988 and has lectured at universities in Europe, Israel, and China. The areas of his scholarship are Jewish classical texts and thought from comparative perspectives—with Christianity, Islam, Western thought, and, most recently, Chinese philosophy and classicals texts. Among his publications are Three Approaches to Biblical Metaphor (Brill Academic Publishers 2003; 2nd edition 2008), Opening the Gates of Interpretation (Brill Academic Publishers 2011), The Rule of Peshat (University of Pennsylvania Press 2020), and Rashi, Biblical Interpretation, and Latin Learning (Cambridge University Press 2021). Since 2016, Cohen has taught an annual summer seminar at the Shandong University Center for Judaic and Inter-religious studies in Jinan, China, and has participated in philosophical conferences in Beijing. Having learned Mandarin, Cohen developed a network of Chinese scholars worldwide interested in engaging with Jewish learning. Since 2018 he has implemented this vision through the Chinese-Jewish Conversation. Since 2020 he has been working on an electronic book project走进犹太文化, published in installments online at https://cjcyu.org/blog/

Dr. Henry Huang graduated with a Bachelor's degree from the Department of Law at Peking University. He is a distinguished Professor of Accounting and the Director of the Syms Masters of Science in Accounting Program at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business. With a Ph.D. in accounting and law degrees from both the U.S. and China, Dr. Huang brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to his teaching and research. His expertise encompasses international investment, accounting information systems, securities litigation, and entrepreneurial planning. Dr. Huang's research, widely cited by academic and professional circles, delves into the impact of external monitoring mechanisms on accounting practices and governance. He has an extensive publication record in leading journals, exploring topics ranging from climate change to cyber-security's value relevance. Prior to his tenure at Yeshiva University, Dr. Huang taught at esteemed institutions including the University of Houston and Butler University. His commitment to advancing knowledge in accounting and finance underscores his dedication to academic excellence and innovation.
More information：https://www.yu.edu/faculty/pages/huang-henry

Borong Zhang earned a BA in East Asian Studies (2021) and an MA in East Asian Studies (2022) at the University of Toronto. She is currently a PhD candidate in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, with a specialization in Chinese thought and epistemology. Since 2021, she has been serving as a university-level Teaching Assistant in Chinese literature and philosophy. In that capacity, she has developed methods for teaching her students, both Chinese and non-Chinese, to appreciate the depth of Chinese thought and the complex cultural tapestry of China. Since 2020, Borong has been a key participant in CJC academic research and writing, which has led her to explore the comparative nexus between Chinese and Jewish cultures. Borong currently serves as CJC adjunct instructor responsible for introducing elements of Chinese philosophy, history, and culture to compare with analogous aspects of Judaism.

Born and raised in Beijing. BS in education and educational policy, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020). MS in Education, University of Pennsylvania (2022), specializing in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Since 2017, Christina has been teaching English as a second language to a wide range of age groups. Drawing upon her pedagogic training and classroom experience, she adjusts her teaching strategies to maximize the learning experiences of diverse types of students on varying levels. Acquainted with both the Chinese and American educational systems, Christina has devised innovative teaching methods that integrate the distinctive features of both, providing students with comprehensive English language skills. During her time in the US, Christina developed a strong interest in multiculturalism, and has become committed to harnessing diversity in the classroom to impart new understanding and tolerance to her students. She finds that learning about each student’s unique cultural background enriches her own personal outlook, which she then uses to better educate all students in the classroom. It was this multicultural attitude that motivated Christina to learn about Jewish culture. She currently serves as an adjunct instructor in CJC courses with the aim of using their academic content to improve the students’ English language skills.

Roger Ames is a leading world scholar of Confucian philosophy and interpretation of classical Chinese texts. Having established innovative approaches to Confucianism in a distinguished career at the University of Hawai’i, Professor Ames was invited to serve as Humanities Chair Professor at Peking University, a rare distinction for a foreigner in China teaching Chinese classics. The central goal of his scholarship is to show how Confucian philosophy is relevant in our modern times. Professor Ames wishes to explore how the Jewish people use the Bible similarly as a guide for life throughout the ages until this day. See his lecture and interview on Confucianism and Jewish thought in our video library.

Annping Chin, born in a Manchu family from Liaoning, China, is a senior lecturer of history at Yale University. She is a world-renowned expert in Confucianism, Daoism, and the Chinese intellectual tradition, as well as the excavated ancient Chinese bamboo and silk texts that are a driving force in the revival of traditional scholarship in China. One set of bamboo slips, dated to 300 BCE, includes the earliest manuscript records we have of Confucius conversing about moral cultivation and government policies, as Chin explains in her book The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought & Politics (2007). Chin is interested in comparing the interpretation of ancient texts in the Chinese tradition with the Jewish tradition of commentaries on the Bible. See his lecture-interview on the Chinese vision of an ecological society in our video library.

Daniel Gardner specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of premodern China, having written extensively on the Confucian and Neo-Confucian traditions. Of particular interest to him is how Neo-Confucian commentators like Zhu Xi reinterpreted the ancient classics in light of Buddhist and Daoist philosophy. Having noted the “dialogic” nature of Confucian commentary, Professor Gardner wishes to explore its analogs in the Jewish Bible commentary tradition, which attracted him to the Chinese-Jewish Conversation. Gardner also has a keen interest in contemporary environmental matters in China. He was awarded an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for his current project, “Imagining an ‘Ecological Civilization’: China’s Environmental Turn in the 21st Century.” See Professor Gardner’s lecture-interview on the Chinese vision of an ecological society in our video library.

Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern is senior advisor to the provost and senior program officer of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University and is responsible for developing educational and communal initiatives that bridge Torah and general studies. Dr. Halpern is committed to the idea that Jewish texts and values can inform the global moral conversation. He is therefore eager to help create opportunities for conversations between Jewish and Chinese cultures about traditional ideas and their modern applications. Dr. Halpern received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Psychology in Education from Teachers College at Columbia University, a master’s degree in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, an MBA in Nonprofit Management from Touro University, a doctorate in education from the Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration, and rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Chaim Brovender. He has edited or co-edited 17 books, including most recently, Esther in America, Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States, and Gleanings: Reflections on Ruth. He has taught at Yeshiva University, synagogues, Hillels, and adult educational settings across the US, Europe, and Israel. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Tablet magazine, and the Jewish Review of Books.

Rabbi Dr Yakov Nagen is a senior rabbi at the Otniel Yeshiva in Israel, where he teaches Talmud, Jewish thought, and Kabbala. He also serves as director of Ohr Torah Stone’s Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue. Originally from New York City, Rabbi Nagen received his rabbinical ordination from RIETS at Yeshiva University and holds a PhD in Jewish Philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Tablet Magazine deemed Rabbi Nagen one of the ten “Israeli Rabbis You Should Know.” He and his wife, Rabbanit Michal Nagen, live in Israel and have seven children. Many of his writings have been translated into Chinese. In 2017 he gave lecture series in Beijing and Shanghai. Nagen see Judaism as incorporating elements both of Eastern and Western philosophy, as he presents in his book "Be, Become, Bless – Jewish Spirituality between East and West." Nagen is a leader in interfaith encounters in Israel and the Middle East between Judaism and Islam. Based on his intercultural outlook, Nagen sees great value in the Chinese-Jewish Conversation. He delivered a highly popular lecture for the CJC in October 2019, in which he compared Chinese and Jewish philosophy.

A graduate of Peking University Law School (1996), Mr Yu qualified as an attorney in China in 1998. He earned a master's degree in law from the University of Missouri (2001) and qualified as an attorney in New York State in 2001. He has worked at Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm since 1996 and became a partner there in 2003. In 2016, he obtained the AMAC Fund Practitioner Qualification Certificate and in 2017 he obtained the qualification certificate of independent director of Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Mr Yu's main areas of expertise include international financial law; securities law; foreign investment law; corporate law; mergers and reorganizations; telecommunications law; infrastructure construction law. Mr Yu also maintains a strong interest in Chinese classical culture and its place among other world cultures, having occasionally published his research findings online. This brought him to find special interest in Jewish history and culture. As he notes, the Chinese and Jewish cultures represent two of the oldest continuous traditions of learning and civilization, dating back well over three thousand years—while still maintaining their vitality in the modern world. Motivated by this insight, Mr Yu has become an ardent supporter of, and participant in, the Chinese Jewish Conversation at YU.

Having graduated Beijing University of Technology (1999), Mrs Qian Zhou is a China National First-Class Registered Architect and Canadian Architectural Design Consultant. She is a member of the Beijing Women Architects Association and a Council Member of the Human Settlement and Environment Committee of the Beijing Planning Society. For 21 years she has worked at the Beijing Victory Star Architectural & Civil Engineering Design Co., where she currently serves as an Associate Director. She has extensive experience in residential, commercial, and educational architectural design, as well the improvement of old neighborhoods. During her time at Victory Star, she has designed over 1.5 million square residential meters, providing her clients with a new modern Chinese design concept, which has seen great success within the market and received multiple accolades and awards. Mrs Zhou also has over 15 years of experience in project management, in a wide variety of styles, ranging from office plans of 50,000 square meters, to commercial projects of 500,000 square meters, and residential projects of 1.5 million square meters. Her personal interests range from literature, painting, and design to Chinese and Western art and architectural history. As part of her professional work, she has come across varying synagogue designs in the Chinese cities of Harbin and Shanghai. This led her to become curious about Jewish material culture, and she now lends her insights to the Chinese-Jewish Conversation at YU.

Lulu Xu, residing in Wuhan, China, obtained her Master's degree in Literature from the University of Macau in 2011, showcasing a profound understanding of traditional Chinese culture. She previously worked for a large, publicly-listed education company in China, consistently focusing on international exchange and education. Currently, she is pursuing a degree in Digital Marketing and Media at the Graduate School of Yeshiva University. In the Chinese Jewish Conversation project, she is primarily responsible for utilizing social media to promote Jewish culture in China.

Gen (Reagan) Li, Consultant
Gen Li, from Beijing, earned his BA in Sociology from NYU in 2022. He is currently studying at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Born and raised in China but having lived in the US for the last ten years, Gen is acutely aware of the importance and potential of cultural exchange. Through his experiences in the US, he has come to learn about Jewish culture and its key role in Western Civilization. This, in turn, motivated him to join the CJC in planning and promoting its academic programs in China.

Xinyue Huang earned her bachelor's degree in art, with a specialization in design, in 2023 from Hubei University of Technology. Currently, she is studying Digital Media Marketing at YU University’s Katz College of Science and Health. Xinyue has a strong interest in cultural exchange, and would like more people in China to know about Jewish culture. As a CJC Graduate Assistant, Xinyue manages and writes essays for the CJC WeChat public account.

Yu Wang is from Hebei, China. She earned her bachelor's degree in management from Beijing University of Information Science and Technology in 2022. Currently she is studying data analysis and visualization at the Katz School of Science and Health. Motivated by an interest in multiculturalism, Yu joined the CJC. As a Graduate Assistant, she manages the CJC website and advises on other CJC social media.

was born in Inner Mongolia, China, and graduated from China Jiliang University in 2018. With a strong background in hardware engineering from his time at Huawei, he specializes in PCB architecture design and development, with experience in leading projects in Computing and AI Product Development. Currently, he is enhancing his data analysis and visualization skills at Yeshiva University. In his free time, he enjoys creating and sharing videos and vlogs on social media, and he plays a significant role in Douyin (TikTok) content creation within the CJC community.

Wei (Richard) Lo, originally from Taiwan, has a rich academic and professional background that encompasses the fields of engineering, business, and law. With a Master’s degree in Engineering from National Taiwan University, he has applied his knowledge in Project Investment at Linde Plc in Shanghai, where he also earned a Chinese attorney certificate. His experience is further complemented by his role in the Deal Advisory and Strategy department at KPMG.

Now based in New York City, Richard is on a quest to broaden his expertise through a Master’s program in Data Analytics at Yeshiva University. He is a passionate traveler, eager to absorb the wisdom of different cultures and historical narratives across continents. His love for ancient Chinese literature and poetry speaks to his deep reverence for his cultural roots.

Richard's admiration for the global Jewish community's remarkable accomplishments, despite their relatively small numbers, has drawn him to the CJC program. He is determined to bridge cultural gaps and contribute to the mutual enrichment of both Jewish and ancient Chinese cultures, hoping to spark beneficial exchanges for society at large.