Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century : A View From the Margin

This collection analyzes the affinities and interactions between Indic and Judaic civilizations from ancient to contemporary times. The contributors propose a new, global understanding of commerce and culture, to reconfigure how we understand the way great cultures interact, and present a new constellation of diplomacy, literature, and geopolitics. Front Matter....Pages i-vi Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century: A Perspective from the Margin....Pages 1-15 Front Matter....Pages 17-17 Reaching out to Distant Shores: Indo-Judaic Trade Contacts (Up to CE 1300)....Pages 19-43 Traders and Ideas: Indians and Jews....Pages 44-56 Hindus and Hinduism in Medieval Jewish Literature....Pages 57-73 Front Matter....Pages 75-75 Beyond Hegemony: Hinduisms, Judaisms, and the Politics of Comparison....Pages 77-92 Divine Anthropos and Cosmic Tree: Hindu and Jewish Mysticism in Comparative Perspective....Pages 93-112 The State of the Art of Hindu Jewish Dialogue....Pages 113-126 Front Matter....Pages 127-127 New Research, Discoveries and Paradigms: A Report on the Current Study of Kerala Jews....Pages 129-146 On Origins, the Arts, and Transformed Identities: Foci of Research into the Bene Israel....Pages 147-157 The Baghdadi Jews of India: Perspectives on the Study and Portrayal of a Community....Pages 158-180 Tribal Jews....Pages 181-193 Front Matter....Pages 195-195 Describing the “Other, ” Describing the “Self”: Jews, Hindu Reformers, and Indian Nationalists....Pages 197-211 India and Israel: The Diplomatic History....Pages 212-224 India and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: Shifting Strategic Focus....Pages 225-236 The Multicultural Issue in India and Israel—Some Reflections....Pages 237-250 Back Matter....Pages 251-257 This book is an analysis of the affinities and interactions between Indic and Judaic civilizations from ancient through contemporary times. The contributors to this volume come together to propose new and global understanding of patterns of commerce and culture, to reconfigure how we understand the way great cultures interact, and to present a new constellation of diplomacy, literature, and geopolitics