As American Jewish organizations try to figure out how to maintain Jewish “continuity,” it’s a good idea to go outside the box to see how other Jewish communities have done so successfully.
Two models may be found in India: the scholarly Jewish community of Kochi (Cochin) and the pious Bene Israel. Both of these little groups existed in India for years, if not millennia, engaging peacefully with their Hindu, Muslim, and Christian neighbors, contributing to their host societies as well as Jewish literature and rituals while keeping their Jewish identities.
This session will look at the techniques that each of them has used to be so successful for so long.