The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India (review)

Topical Book Reviews 113 persuade Shimmel that "essentially" the Jewish and Han~, IZrishna faiths are the same; the latter, however, is more comprehensive and joyful, hence his heart's choice. By the end of the conversations, neither man has convinced the other. But each is persuaded that both traditions have enormous spiritual reserves that can be tapped by the willing adept, and that there is much upon which they can agree and build, such as a joyful glorying in the holy name. Not all ofthe passages detailing religious history-especially Vedic history, in the case of Dasa-are necessarily accurate. Both authors provide quite accurate versions of religious history according to their respective traditions, however, and I was enormously impressed with the erudition of each. I learned a great deal from both men. This work is excellent primary source material in interfaith dialogue, and it could be very useful in courses concerned with that subject. Teachers ofworld religions courses, too, might assign it profitably if they prefer autobiographical or confessional approaches. Since it is so accessible, I would hope this book fmds a home outside of the classroom, too. I wholeheartedly recommend Om Shalom for the general reader or parent of a Hare Krishna interested in learning more about Judaism and ISKCON. Cynthia Ann Humes Claremont McKenna College The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India, by Nathan Katz and Ellen S. Goldberg. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1993. 352 pp. $39.95. This is a unique book. Thanks to a Fulbright its authors were able to live with the community of the Cochin Jews their last year in India before most of them emigrated to Israel. As a result of this and of the many trips that this husband and wife team had made before to India and Sri Lanka and Nathan Katz's expertise in the field, The Last Jews ofCochin combines objective historical knowledge and anthropological reporting with remarkable personal insight. To write this book the authors had to know a great deal about traditional Hinduism, and Hindu, Muslim, and Christian historical legends. For this is a real work of history as well as a personal reportage, both aspects richly illumined by Ellen Goldberg's photography. One of the questions Katz and Goldberg set out to explain is how the Jews ofIndia survived for close to two thousand years in an atmosphere of tolerance when other Jewish cOnullunities such as that in China, benefiting from similar toleration, became thoroughly assimilated. Their answer, which is elaborated throughout the book, is that India as a host society combined tolerance with culturally enforced diversity. More specifically, they suggest that the Cochin Jews a'chieved a well integrated identity through narrating a historical legend which emphasizes longstanding residence in India 114 SHOFAR Spring 1999 Vol. 17, No.3 and attestable origin in ancient Israel, by constructing a social order which reflected that found in the larger society, and by appropriating Indian symbols of nobility and purity. Even the ascetic practices which came to be associated with Pesach were a key to high caste status. One ofthe Cochin Jews' strategies for cultural adaptation in India-the proliferation into subcastes-directly contravened Halakha and repeatedly defied rabbinic admonition and censure. This mirroring of Hindu caste behavior persisted until very recently and left deep scars within the community that are still felt today. Although not an isolated case in the history of Judaism, this behavior led finally to a non-violent Gandhi-like civil disobedience from within the community that finally resulted in the disappearance of all social and religious divisions along with the community itself-most of whose members have emigrated to Israel beginning in 1950 and continuing to the present day. At times the status of descent even went beyond questions of color, wealth, power, and high place in Indian society to leave the larger, more fortunate group envious ofthe smaller less fortunate. Ofequal importance with descent in many cases was color of skin, already emphasized in India but strengthened by European conquerors and immigrants. The protests against inequities in the nineteenth century were squashed not only by the "upper class" Jews but also by the Indian authorities. Despite...