Published three years after its author William Helmreich’s death, The Bronx Nobody Knows is the fifth and last book in a series on New York City’s history and geography. Helmreich, a sociologist who wrote extensively on Jewish subjects, took a keen interest in the borough’s Jewish past. In the late 1940s, it was home to 600,000 Jews; now, this population has dwindled to about 40,000. Beth Harpaz writes:

William Helmreich walked every block in the Bronx. And everywhere he went, he found traces of the Jews who made up half the borough’s population less than a century ago. He found them in small shops, in building names, and in churches whose Stars of David reveal their origins as synagogues.

Jews make up just 4 percent of the Bronx today. But Helmreich stumbled across many remnants of their vanished world. In Mott Haven, he saw the name Congregation Netzach Yisrael B’nai Yaakov set in stone on an Assemblies of God church. In East Tremont, he noticed Stars of David decorating the First Glorious Church.

“Almost every old synagogue in the core neighborhoods of the Bronx where most Jews once lived is either gone, abandoned, or in terrible shape, or has been taken over by a church and significantly altered,” Helmreich wrote. But he found one shul in pristine condition inside a nursing home on East 167th Street. The home, founded by the Daughters of Jacob, had just one Jewish resident when Helmreich visited. The synagogue and its Torahs were proudly preserved by the building’s Italian American owner.

On Tuesday, representatives of Hamas met with their counterparts from Fatah—the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) once led by Yasir Arafat that now governs parts of the West Bank—in Beijing to discuss possible reconciliation. While it is unlikely that these talks will yield any more progress than the many previous rounds, they constitute a significant step in China’s increasing attempts to involve itself in the Middle East on the side of Israel’s enemies.

By contrast, writes Tuvia Gering, Taiwan has been quick and consistent in its condemnations of Hamas and Iran and its expressions of sympathy with Israel:

Support from Taipei goes beyond words. Taiwan’s appointee in Tel Aviv and de-facto ambassador, Abby Lee, has been busy aiding hostage families, adopting the most affected kibbutzim in southern Israel, and volunteering with farmers. Taiwan recently pledged more than half a million dollars to Israel for critical initiatives, including medical and communications supplies for local municipalities. This follows earlier aid from Taiwan to an organization helping Israeli soldiers and families immediately after the October 7 attack.

The reasons why are not hard to fathom:

In many ways, Taiwan sees a reflection of itself in Israel—two vibrant democracies facing threats from hostile neighbors. Both nations wield substantial economic and technological prowess, and both heavily depend on U.S. military exports and diplomacy. Taipei also sees Israel as a “role model” for what Taiwan should aspire to be, citing its unwavering determination and capabilities to defend itself.

On a deeper level, Taiwanese leaders seem to view Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran as an extension of a greater struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Gering urges Israel to reciprocate these expressions of friendship and to take into account that “China has been going above and beyond to demonize the Jewish state in international forums.” Above all, he writes, Jerusalem should “take a firmer stance against China’s support for Hamas and Iran-backed terrorism, exposing the hypocrisy and repression that underpin its vision for a new global order.”