Becoming Jewish: New Jews and Emerging Jewish Communities in a Globalized World (original) (raw)
Related papers
“Newly Found Jews and the Politics of Recognition”
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol 80, nol. 2, 2012
In the latter half of the twentieth century, tribal groups throughout Africa and Asia who regard themselves as Jews, such as the Abayudaya of South Africa and the Mizo of northern India and Burma, sought the recognition of their Jewishness by established Jewish communities in Israel and the United States. This process of recognition reflects different understandings of Jewish identity and different political agendas among the various Jewish groups who have become involved with advocacy for “newly found” Jews. For Israeli Jewish organizations, recognition is based on a more essentialist view of Jewishness and is oriented toward socializing “newly found” Jews toward Orthodox Judaism and preparation for immigration to Israel. Newer American Jewish organizations reflect greater denominational diversity and a more postmodern understanding of Jewishness as fluid and open-ended. They treat recognition as part of a commitment to Jewish diversity and multiculturalism, with less attention to traditional normative definitions of Jewish identity.
African Studies Review
Little-known communities in Africa and Asia that self-identify as Jewish have gained increasing attention in recent years. With his 2017 book New Children of Israel: Emerging Jewish Communities in an Era of Globalization, Nathan P. Devir provides a fascinating insight into these communities. It all began when Devir, an associate professor at the University of Utah, spent a month in Ghana among ethnic Sefwi who claim to be the descendants of ancient Hebrews. The members of this Ghana community became interested in Judaism in the 1970s as a "kind of impromptu Old Testamentism" (xiii). In studying the scriptures and their own African traditions, the Sefwi noticed common elements between their cultural practices and religious Judaism: circumcision, Sabbath observance, and similar rules regarding food and burial practices. Based on these commonalities, the Sefwi self-identified as Jews and now call themselves the "House of Israel." Thanks to the Internet, they eventually connected to the wider Jewish world, particularly in the U.S., and asked for support and guidance. Soon it became clear that the Sefwi were by no means alone in their aspirations. Other self-defining Jewish groups exist not just in Ghana, but also in Brazil, Cameroon, India, Kenya, Madagascar, and Uganda. This list is by no means all inclusive, as the numbers of "new" children of Israel could be in the millions (xiv). The study of the Sefwi turned out to be only the beginning of Devir's larger scholarly project on so-called "neo-Jewish," "Judaizing," or "self-defining Jewish" communities in Africa and India. In his book, Devir provides an overview of various groups and developments, but mainly examines two other field-based case studies from the developing world: the "Internet Jews of Cameroon" in Africa and "the Children of Eprahim" in India. Most of these neo-Jews were formerly Christians who came from religious communities that focused on the Old Testament, but some went a step further and broke away from Christianity. A particularly fascinating chapter deals with the "Internet Jews" of Cameroon. For some rural Christian communities in that nation, their spiritual awakening came solely via online connections. Devir writes,
Ethnic & Racial Studies, 2019
Nathan Devir’s book “New Children of Israel” is a fantastically written book, dealing with emerging Jewish communities in the developing world. Devir brings fresh materials on what seems to be a timely phenomenon, taking the shape of a global trend. The book aims to understand how people belonging to groups who self-identify as Jews perceive and articulate what it means to be Jewish. They hold this self-definition despite the fact that up until several decades ago, they have not been branded as Jews by their neighbours, had any documented contact with other Jewish communities around the world or knowledge of Hebrew, had any written community history nor history of mass literacy – all conventional characteristics of established Jewish communities in the past two millennia.