Hindus, Jews, and the Politics of Comparison argues that comparative studies of Hindu and Jewish traditions can generate alternative epistemologies, critically interrogating the Eurocentric and Protestant-based paradigms in the academy that have perpetuated the ideals of Enlightenment discourse and colonial and neocolonial projects.

Preface

Introduction

1: The Politics of Comparison: Beyond the Tyranny of Taxonomies

South Asia and the Middle East: Beyond European Hegemony

Hinduisms and Judaisms: Beyond Protestant Christian Hegemony

2: What Have Hindus to Do with Jews? Hindu-Jewish Encounters in the Academy and Beyond

Historical Encounters: South Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Indic and Judaic Worlds

Collaborative Scholarly Encounters: Comparative Studies of Hindu and Jewish Traditions

Interreligious Encounters: Hindu-Jewish Dialogue

3: Veda and Torah: Textual Communities and the Word Beyond Text

From Text to Symbol

I. Veda

II. Torah

III. Veda and Torah

Reimagining Scripture

4: Models of Religious Tradition: Embodied Communities and Missionizing Traditions

Embodying Ethnocultural Identities

Missionizing Traditions and Universalizing Projects

5: The Gastrosemantics of Hindu and Jewish Foodways: Food Taxonomies, Dietary Regimes, and Socioreligious Hierarchies

Embodied Communities and Foodways

Food Taxonomies and Animal Classifications

Dietary Regulations and Social Classifications

Food Preparation and Food Transactions

Afterword

From the Locative/Utopian Dichotomy to the Dialectic of Local Histories/Global Designs

Embodied Communities and Missionizing Traditions

Note on Translations and Transliteration

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author