Overview

Jewish settlement in Asia, beyond the Middle East, is largely a modern phenomenon. Imperial expansion and adventurism by Great Britain and Russia were the chief motors that initially drove Jewish settlers to move eastwards, in the nineteenth century, combined as this was with the rise of port cities and general development of the global economy. The new immigrants soon become centrally involved, in ways quite disproportionate to their numbers, in Asian commerce. Their role and centrality finished with the outbreak of World War II, the chaos that resulted from the fighting, and the consequent collapse of Western imperialism. This unique, ground-breaking book charts their rise and fall while pointing to signs of these communities' post-war resurgence and revival. Fourteen chapters by many of the most prominent authorities in the field, from a range of perspectives, explore questions of identity, society, and culture across several Asian locales. It is essential reading for scholars of Asian Studies and Jewish Studies.

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9781009162586

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Reviews

'This is an excellent collection of original, engaging, and carefully researched chapters that which shed light on the multiple ways in which the history of Jewish communities intersects with the histories of colonialism and global economy. A must read for anyone interested in modern Jewish Studies and the history of modern Asia.' Yulia Egorova, Professor of Anthropology, Durham University, author of Jews and Muslims in South Asia (2018) 'This highly engaging and richly varied volume will be important reading for a wide range of audiences and disciplines, including global history, anthropology, and religious studies. As a whole, it resonates with work on all of the covered Asian regions and contributes fresh ways of thinking through the themes of ethnicity and race, histories of minorities, and economics.' William Gould, Professor of Indian History, University of Leeds, author of Boundaries of Belonging Localities: Citizenship and Rights in India and Pakistan (2019) 'A formidable feat of transnational scholarship, this volume offers a both sweeping and richly detailed historical overview of Jewish communities in modern Asia, reconstructing a mostly lost and still too little-known world of Jewish life stretching from Central Asia and Siberia to India, China, Southeast Asia, and Japan, from Bukhara to Yemen and Singapore, and even into the myths of 'ten lost tribes' from the eighteenth into the twenty first century. This study is a major contribution to current debates about multiple and hybrid Jewish identities in relation to histories of colonialism and postcolonialism.' Atina Grossmann, Professor of History, Cooper Union, New York, author of Jews, Germans, and Allies (2009) and co-editor of Shelter from the Holocaust (2017) 'Jewish Communities in Modern Asia not only surveys vividly Jewish hubs in various parts of Asia but also provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date metanarrative of the Jewish presence eastward of the much researched Middle East. At present, this is the most significant contribution to the emerging field of Jewish Asian studies.' Ber Kotlerman, Professor of Jewish Studies, Bar Ilan University, editor of Mizrekh: Jewish Studies in the Far East (2009–11) 'With the growth of scholarly interest in the subject of historical and emerging Jewish communities in Asia and the Pacific region, this excellent volume will be more than welcome.' Tudor Parfitt, Distinguished University Professor, Florida International University, author of Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism (2013) and The Lost Tribes of Israel (2002)

'This original and timely book will be of interest to a broad range of scholars of the history and anthropology of Jewish communities and could be recommended to students on all levels. The accessible language will also make it attractive for wider audiences.' Yulia Egorova, Durham University 'There is a wide range of potential markets and readerships for this engaging volume, ranging from the disciplines of history, anthropology, and religious studies to work on all of the covered Asian regions, ethnicity and race, histories of minorities, and economics. There will also be interest in the areas of global history and religious studies.' William Gould, University of Leeds

Author Information

Rotem Kowner is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Haifa. During the last two decades, he has written extensively on the Jewish communities in Japan and Indonesia. His books include From White to Yellow: The Japanese in European Racial Thought, 1300-1735 (2014) and Tsushima (2022).

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