Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century: A Perspective from the Margin

Interrogating the Comparative Method: Whither, Why, and How?1

“…The journal includes comparative studies of Jewish and Indian religious and philosophical traditions; historical studies of economic and sociocultural links between Jewish and Indian communities; ethnographic studies of Jewish communities in India and Indian Jewish communities in Israel; theoretical analyses of images of Jews and Jewish religious traditions in Indian literature and images of Indians and Indian religious traditions in Jewish literature; and studies of political and cultural connections between contemporary India and Israel. Building on the momentum of earlier initiatives, an international conference was convened at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies in 2002, which inspired the 2007 collection of essays Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Nathan Katz, Ranabir Chakravarti, Braj Sinha, and Shalva Weil (Katz et al 2007), all of whom have assumed central roles in the development of Indo-Judaic studies. This collection advanced the emerging field of Indo-Judaic studies in significant ways by providing the first single-volume multidisciplinary investigation of the economic, cultural, religious, and political connections between Indic and Judaic cultures from ancient times to the present day.…”

Old Memories, New Histories: (Re)discovering the Past of Jewish Dalits

“…They emerged relatively recently, and in many cases their 'starting points' did not involve documented 'genealogical' connections with other Jewish people. However, at the same time, they 2 For a detailed discussion of the Jewish communities of India, including Bene Israel, see Isenberg 1998, Katz 2000, Roland 1999, Katz et al 2007, Weil 2002 was not its outcome.…”

The Politics of Comparison: Connecting Cultures Outside of and in Spite of the West

“…However, in recent years such characterizations have been challenged from a variety of perspectives, and there has been an upsurge of interest in the comparative study of Hindu and Jewish traditions among scholars of religion. (Katz et al 2007). 16 The volume advances the emerging field of "Indo-Judaic studies" in significant ways by providing the first sustained multidisciplinary investigation of the social, political, economic, cultural, and religious connections between Indic and Jewish cultures from ancient to contemporary times.…”