INDO-JUDAIC STUDIES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: A VIEW FROM THE MARGIN; ED. BY NATHAN KATZ

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. Cover 1 Contents 6 Introduction: Indo–Judaic Studies in the Twenty–First Century: A Perspective from the Margin 8 Part I: Historical Studies, Ancient and Medieval 24 One: Reaching out to Distant Shores: Indo–Judaic Trade Contacts Up to CE 1300 26 Two: Traders and Ideas: Indians and Jews 51 Three: Hindus and Hinduism in Medieval Jewish Literature 64 Part II: Comparative Religious Studies 82 Four: Beyond Hegemony: Hinduisms, Judaisms, and the Politics of Comparison 84 Five: Divine Anthropos and Cosmic Tree: Hindu and Jewish Mysticism in Comparative Perspective 100 Six: The State of the Art of Hindu–Jewish Dialogue 120 Part III: Jewish and Near–Jewish Communities in India 134 Seven: New Research, Discoveries and Paradigms: A Report on the Current Study of Kerala Jews 136 Eight: On Origins, the Arts, and Transformed Identities: Foci of Research into the Bene Israel 154 Nine: The Baghdadi Jews of India: Perspectives on the Study and Portrayal of a Community 165 Ten: Tribal Jews 188 Part IV: Contemporary Interactions in Polity, Political Discourse, and Diplomacy 202 Eleven: Describing the “Other,” Describing the “Self”: Jews, Hindu Reformers, and Indian Nationalists 204 Twelve: India and Israel: The Diplomatic History 219 Thirteen: India and the Arab–Israeli Conflict: Shifting Strategic Focus 232 Fourteen: The Multicultural Issue in India and Israel—Some Reflections 244 Notes on the Contributors 258 Index 261 A 261 B 261 C 261 D 262 E 262 F 262 G 262 H 262 I 262 J 262 K 262 L 263 M 263 N 263 O 263 P 263 Q 263 R 263 S 263 T 264 U 264 V 264 W 264 Y 264 Z 264 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.