The Japanese Talmud (eBook)

The image of Jews in East Asia is a strange mixture of opposites, a paradoxical blend of admiration and mockery, identification and denial. This book explores what Jew means to many East Asians, and whether it is anything that Jewish people themselves would recognise.There is clearly a positive fascination: various bestsellers entitledTalmudare found in vending machines and public schools, while private Jewish education institutions have opened across South Korea, claiming to improve childrens IQ. People can stay at the Talmud Business Hotel in Taiwan, or attend Chinese centres for Jewish Studies with academics who have never met a Jew. There is a legend that Japanese people are a Lost Tribe of Israel, and Annes day, named after Anne Frank, is a euphemism for menstruation. Yet the region also shows some of the worlds highest rates of antisemitism, manifesting in disturbing ways: Taiwans concentration campthemed restaurant, or South Koreas Adolf Hitler Techno Bar & Cocktail Show.By integrating scholarship on antisemitism, East Asian Studies and cognitive science, Schilling uncovers antisemitisms global, sometimes dualistic nature; not Western, and always persistent. He offers ground-breaking insight, redefining how we understand East Asia, antisemitism, and Judaism as a globalised religion.