Hindus, Jews, and the Politics of Comparison

"""Barbara Holdrege is a pioneer of responsible cross-cultural comparison in the study of religion. Taking into account recent methodological approaches in the field, in this book she demonstrates how a thoughtful analysis of Jewish and Hindu traditions, with a particular focus on scripture and food, enriches the study of either religion. Most importantly, the book makes a larger theoretical argument. It shows that, while the similarities in how Jewish and Hindu texts conceptualize their traditions as embodied, locative communities set them apart from missionizing traditions such as Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam, both Jewish and Hindu thinkers also developed hermeneutical techniques that allowed them to expand their traditions by discursively incorporating new concepts and practices. It is this dual comparative approach, which juxtaposes not only Judaism and Hinduism but also these two with other religious traditions, that makes the book so unique. Only thoughtful comparative research can produce these important insights."" --Oliver Freiberger, author of Considering Comparison: A Method for Religious Studies ""Extending the work of Oliver Freiberger and other theorists of comparison, in this book Barbara Holdrege returns to the comparative study of Hindu and Jewish traditions with new questions and insights. Ranging religious traditions on a spectrum between embodied particularism and disembodied universalism, she demonstrates the parallels between Hindu and Jewish traditions, showing in the process their differences from Buddhist, Christian, and even Islamic traditions. Beyond the finely detailed comparisons between Vedic and post-Vedic texts and rabbinic and kabbalistic texts--even an entire chapter on food taxonomies and dietary regimes!--it is this attention to new theoretical ways of thinking about Hindu and Jewish communities that is the greatest contribution of this book. Indeed, after reading this book I think about Hindus, Jews, and what Holdrege calls the 'politics of comparison' in a much more nuanced fashion. Her models are inspiring, even exciting."" --Rachel Fell McDermott, co-author of A Hindu-Jewish Conversation: Root Traditions in Dialogue"