Globalization, Translation and Transmission: Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity in Kaifeng, China

Globalization, Translation and Transmission: Sino-Judaic Cultural Identity in Kaifeng, China by Moshe Y. Bernstein, explores the unique heritage and identity of the small community of Jews who settled in Kaifeng, China.  Bernstein examines the history of this group, and their descendants, using very modern scholarly tools.

He stresses that Sino-Judaic identity was unique among all other Jewish communities.   A synagogue in Kaifeng survived for seven-hundred years – as long as some of the oldest synagogues in the world, even when the group was cut off from other Jewish communities for centuries.  The Confucian element in Sino-Judaic identity was a molding agent – its reverence for ancestors and tradition meshed well with Jewish values, allowing the community to maintain a nearly thousand year cohesiveness.

Bernstein also plots the trajectory of the revival of Judaism in Kaifeng.  In this section, he examines issues such as Jewish identification, the politics of religions in the PRC, and the inherent difficulties of staging a full scale revival of a dormant religion.

This book is an informative and comprehensive treatment of this most fascinating community of Jews.