Almost Englishmen Baghdadi Jews in British Burma

by Cernea, Ruth Fredman

• ISBN13: 9780739116463
• ISBN10: 0739116460
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-01
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

Before the Second World War two golden promised lands beckoned the thousands of Baghdadi Jews who lived in Southeast Asia: the British empire, on which "the sun never set," and the promised land of their religious tradition, Jerusalem. Almost Englishmen studies the less well-known of these destinations. The book combines history and cultural studies to look into a significant yet relatively unknown period.

Author Biography

Ruth Fredman Cernea served as Director of Research and Publications for the Hillel Foundations, and as editor of The Hillel Guide to Jewish Life on Campus.

Table of Contents

Letter from Ellis Sofaer
Introduction : the Baghdadi Diaspora
Adventurers and entrepreneurs	p. 1
Beautiful Burmese days	p. 21
Three cheers for the king and the British empire	p. 37
The comforts of home	p. 51
Bene Israel vs. Baghdadis : the court case	p. 71
Desperate passage to India : the war in Burma	p. 79
Return to Burma	p. 99
Burma and Israel	p. 121
Embers	p. 127
Proceedings of the High Court of Judicature, Rangoon, 1935-1936	p. 139
Detailed list of families to be evacuated from Burma to Israel, 1949	p. 145
Additional list of potential emigrants to Israel, 1949	p. 149
Jewish community of Burma, 1959	p. 151
Jewish people and their descendents in Burma, circa 1986	p. 159
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.