Jewish Communities in Modern Asia

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).

'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)

• 1. Jewish communities in modern Asia: background, significance and main questions Rotem Kowner; Part I. Central and North Asia: Old and new communities in Russia's shadow; 2. The end of the 'Jewish Triangle': geography and mobility in Central Asia Thomas Loy; 3. The Soviet wartime evacuation to Central Asia and the Jews: cultural encounters and literary responses Anna P. Ronell; 4. Frontier Jews: the communities of Siberia and their architecture Anna Berezin and Vladimir Levine; Part II. South Asia: Identity and culture in British and independent India; 5. Jewish communities in the Indian subcontinent: torn between Indian nationalism and Zionism Nathan Katz, Joan G. Roland, and Ithamar Theodor; 6. Jewish servicemen in the Indian subcontinent: a unique Asian tradition Ran Amitai; 7. Cultural exchange and religious guidance along the shores of the Arabian Sea: Yemenite Jews in India and Indian Jews in Yemen Menashe Anzi; Part III. Southeast Asia: Colonial legacies and emerging communities; 8. The Jews of Singapore: a community founded on the Opium trade Jonathan Goldstein; 9. From a colonial settlement to a new identity: the rise, fall and re-emergence of the Jewish community in Indonesia Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras and Rotem Kowner; 10. Decolonization and its aftermath: the fate of the Baghdadi-Jewish diaspora in British Asia Amos Wei Wang Lim; Part IV. East Asia: Communities and strife in the sinosphere; 11. The Jews of Shanghai: the emergence, fall and resurgence of East Asia's largest Jewish community Rotem Kowner and Xu Xin; 12. The Jewish community of Harbin: its meteoric rise and fall under the shade of three empires Joshua Fogel; 13. Taiwan: a Postwar Jewish Community without Deep Roots Don Shapiro; 14. Jews in Japan: the winding road of a business community Rotem Kowner and William Gervase Clarence-Smith; Part V. Imaginary Asia: Lost peoples and invisible communities; 15. Finding Lost Jews in Asia: the search for restored authenticity and the rewriting of Zionist history Gideon Elazar; 16. Jewish communities in Modern Asia: underlying commonalities, demographic features, and distinctive characteristics Rotem Kowner.