Edith Bruder – författare

Over the last several decades, an astonishing phenomenon has developed: a Jewish rebirth of sorts occurring throughout Africa. Different ethnic groups proclaim that they are returning to long forgotten Jewish roots and African clans trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes of Israel. The Black Jews of Africa addresses the elaboration and the development of Jewish identities by Africans. Africans have encountered Jewish myths and traditions in multiple forms and under a number of situations. The context and circumstances of these encounters produced a series of influences that gradually led, within some African societies, to the elaboration of a new Jewish identity connected with that of the Diaspora. The book presents one by one the different groups of Black Jews from western central, eastern and southern Africa and the ways in which they have used and imagined their oral history and traditional customs to construct a distinct Jewish identity. The purpose of the book is to review the processes and immensely complex interactions which shaped these new religious identities. It explores the way in which Africans have interacted with the ancient mythological sub-strata of both western and Africans idea of Jews in order to create a distinct Jewish identity. It particularly seeks to identify and to assess colonial influences and their internalization by African societies in the shaping of new African religious identities. Along with these notions the book examines how, in the absence of recorded African history, the eminently malleable accounts of Jewish lineage developed by African groups inspired by Judaism co-exist with the possible historical traces of a Jewish presence in Africa.

Most people, when thinking about Jews, consider only two categories: the Ashkenazim of European origin, and the Sephardim (often being lumped together with a vaguely-defined group of Middle Eastern "Mizrahi" Jews). Noticeably few of us are even aware of the history of the geographically-dispersed Jewish diaspora, including communities in India, China, and Africa, which reveal a fascinating diversity of Jewish people. This comes as no surprise - there are not many reference works to consider, and consequently not much education for the general public about Jews outside these two main groups. Jews from Elsewhere aims to begin to fill that information void. Edith Bruder has gathered scholars from around the world and a variety of disciplines to sort out the dynamics of those lesser-known, often slumbering worlds. Thirty-four contributors bring to light the cultural universes of these diverse communities, and open up to general readership a millennia-long, interconnected, global history. In this monumental work of scholarship, communities such as the non-Rabbinical Jews of Ethiopia, those scattered around the Amazon rainforest, and the "new Jews" of Asia and Africa (who may or may not claim to belong to the famed Lost Tribes of Israel) are shown to rebuke the common understanding that all Jews share a single common genealogical, cultural, or religious denominator. Available for the first time in English, this collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and development of the Jewish diaspora.

Most people, when thinking about Jews, consider only two categories: the Ashkenazim of European origin, and the Sephardim (often being lumped together with a vaguely-defined group of Middle Eastern "e;Mizrahi"e; Jews). Noticeably few of us are even aware of the history of the geographically-dispersed Jewish diaspora, including communities in India, China, and Africa, which reveal a fascinating diversity of Jewish people. This comes as no surprise - there are not many reference works to consider, and consequently not much education for the general public about Jews outside these two main groups. Jews from Elsewhere aims to begin to fill that information void. Edith Bruder has gathered scholars from around the world and a variety of disciplines to sort out the dynamics of those lesser-known, often slumbering worlds. Thirty-four contributors bring to light the cultural universes of these diverse communities, and open up to general readership a millennia-long, interconnected, global history. In this monumental work of scholarship, communities such as the non-Rabbinical Jews of Ethiopia, those scattered around the Amazon rainforest, and the "e;new Jews"e; of Asia and Africa (who may or may not claim to belong to the famed Lost Tribes of Israel) are shown to rebuke the common understanding that all Jews share a single common genealogical, cultural, or religious denominator. Available for the first time in English, this collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and development of the Jewish diaspora.

Most people, when thinking about Jews, consider only two categories: the Ashkenazim of European origin, and the Sephardim (often being lumped together with a vaguely-defined group of Middle Eastern "e;Mizrahi"e; Jews). Noticeably few of us are even aware of the history of the geographically-dispersed Jewish diaspora, including communities in India, China, and Africa, which reveal a fascinating diversity of Jewish people. This comes as no surprise - there are not many reference works to consider, and consequently not much education for the general public about Jews outside these two main groups. Jews from Elsewhere aims to begin to fill that information void. Edith Bruder has gathered scholars from around the world and a variety of disciplines to sort out the dynamics of those lesser-known, often slumbering worlds. Thirty-four contributors bring to light the cultural universes of these diverse communities, and open up to general readership a millennia-long, interconnected, global history. In this monumental work of scholarship, communities such as the non-Rabbinical Jews of Ethiopia, those scattered around the Amazon rainforest, and the "e;new Jews"e; of Asia and Africa (who may or may not claim to belong to the famed Lost Tribes of Israel) are shown to rebuke the common understanding that all Jews share a single common genealogical, cultural, or religious denominator. Available for the first time in English, this collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and development of the Jewish diaspora.

The last several decades have seen the emergence of a remarkable phenomenon: a Jewish "rebirth" that is occurring throughout Africa. A variety of different ethnic groups proclaim that they are returning to long-forgotten Jewish roots, and African clans trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes of Israel. Africans have encountered Jewish myths and traditions in multiple forms and various ways. The context and circumstances of these encounters have gradually led, within some African societies, to the elaboration of a new Jewish identity connected with that of the Diaspora. This book presents, one by one, the different groups of Black Jews in western, central, eastern, and southern Africa and the ways in which they have used and imagined their oral history and traditional customs to construct a distinct Jewish identity. It explores the ways in which Africans have interacted with the ancient mythological sub-strata of both western and African ideas of Judaism. It particularly seeks to identify and to assess colonial influences and their internalization by African societies in the shaping of new African religious identities. The book also examines how, in the absence of recorded African history, the eminently malleable accounts of Jewish lineage developed by African groups co-exist with the possible historical traces of a Jewish presence in Africa. This elegant and well-researched book goes beyond the well-known case of the Falasha of Ethiopia, examining the trend towards Judaism in Africa at large, and exploring, too, the interdisciplinary concepts of "metaphorical Diaspora," global and transnational identities, and colonization.