Kaifeng Judaism Today - Revival or Reintroduction?.pdf (original) (raw)

Published in "Becoming Jewish: New Jews and Emerging Jewish Communities in a Globalized World," Tudor Parfitt and Netanel Fisher Eds., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, pp. 83-105. Link: http://www.cambridgescholars.com/becoming-jewish Kaifeng Judaism is usually referred to as experiencing in recent decades revival attempts after having been assimilated into Chinese society – a process also referred to as 'sinification' - during the thousand years since their arrival in China. In this paper I plant the concept of sinification, particularly as analyzed by Irene Eber, within the discussion on contemporary revival, and recognize two approaches: Youtai approach favors a reintroduction of standard contemporary Judaism to Kaifeng, as opposed to the Yiceleye approach, favoring a reconstruction of the unique Sino-Judaism that was born in Kaifeng.