New Children of Israel: Emerging Jewish Communities in an Era of Globalization

318 Pages·2017·2.828 MB·English

by  Nathan P. Devir

New Children of Israel

New Children of Israel
Emerging Jewish Communities in an Era of Globalization
Nathan P. Devir
The University of Utah Press | Salt Lake City
Copyright © 2017 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved.
The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark of the
University of Utah Press. It is based on a four- foot- tall Ancient Puebloan
pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Devir, Natan, author.
Title: New children of Israel : emerging Jewish communities in an era of
globalization/Nathan P. Devir.
Description: Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: lccn 2017021790 (print) | lccn 2017025736 (ebook) |
isbn 9781607815853 () | isbn 9781607815846 (pbk.)
Subjects: lcsh: Jews—Identity. | Jews—Cultural assimilation—Ghana. | Jews—
Cultural assimilation—Cameroon. | Jews—Cultural assimilation—India.
Classification: lcc ds143 (ebook) | lcc ds143 .d47 2017 (print) |
ddc 305 .6 /96091724—dc23
lc record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2017021790
Portions of chapter 3, “Online Spiritual Volition: The ‘Internet Jews’ of Cameroon,”
were printed in The Shadow of Moses: New Jewish Movements in Africa, edited by
Daniel Lis, William F. S. Miles, and Tudor Parfitt (Los Angeles: African Academic
Press/Marymount Institute Press/Tsehai Publishers, 2016), 113–30.
All photographs by author unless otherwise noted.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
1 Introduction 1
2 Structuralizing Nostalgia in Akanland:
The “House of Israel” of Ghana 55
3 Online Spiritual Volition:
The “Internet Jews” of Cameroon 117
4 Political Revivalism as Religious Practice:
The “Children of Ephraim” of India 171
5 Conclusion 222
Notes 233
Bibliography 263
Index 283

IllustratIons
Maps
1. Emerging Jewish communities mentioned in this book xviii
2. Location of the House of Israel community, Ghana 54
3. Location of the Beth Yeshourun community, Cameroon 116
4. Location of the Bene Ephraim community, India 170
photographs
Photos follow page 128
1. Alex Armah, spiritual leader of the Ghanaian community
2. A Sefwi man pouring libations
3. Sefwi elders
4. Delegation of the Ga king
5. Oracle of the Ga king pouring libations
6. Residence of the Ga high priest
7. Cameroonian community with Torah scroll
8. Cameroonian community members outside the synagogue
9. Cameroonian community members during a religious service
10. Cameroonian community members celebrating the arrival of the
Torah scroll
11. Cameroonian community members dancing outside the
synagogue
12. Cameroonian community members surfing the World Wide Web
13. Cameroonian community members with a delegation from the
Celestial Church of Christ
14. Indian community members in the Guntur district synagogue
vii
viii Illustrations
15. Indian community members in Vijayawada for Hebrew lessons
via Skype
16. Indian community members in Machilipatnam
17. A community member outside the synagogue in Machilipatnam
18. A Hindu man holding the fruit from which bitter chutney is made
19. Noahide study session in Tadikonda
aCknowledgMents
And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books
there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
—Ecclesiastes 12:12
aCknowledgMents are a tricky genre. They almost always suggest
a clear value hierarchy of those to whom one is indebted. To circum-
vent such a potentially misleading categorization, I have listed below,
in alphabetical order, the organizations and individuals whose assis-
tance has been instrumental in the completion of this book. I humbly
ask for forgiveness from any person or entity whose name I may have
forgotten to mention here.
This book was written in sixteen different countries over a period of
five years. As one might imagine, the expenditures accrued in conduct-
ing the research were significant. I therefore gratefully acknowledge
the financial support of the Council of American Overseas Research
Centers, the Earhart Foundation, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation,
the Maurice Amado Program in Sephardic Studies at the University
of California–Los Angeles, the National Endowment for the Human-
ities, the Posen Foundation, the Simon- Dubnow- Institut für jüdische
Geschichte und Kultur at the University of Leipzig, and several different
administrative bodies at my home institution, the University of Utah,
including the College of Humanities Career Development Committee,
the Council of Dee Fellows, the Tanner Humanities Center, and the
University Research Committee.
Organizations whose members and staff assisted me in innumerable
practical and intellectual ways include those at the American Institute of
Indian Studies, Be’chol Lashon, the Ben Zvi Institute, the David Sassoon
Library, the Israel Folktale Archives at the University of Haifa, Kulanu,
the National Archives of Ghana, the National Library of Israel, Osmania
University, the West African Research Association, and the Younes and
Soraya Nazarian Library at the University of Haifa.
ix