Asian-American and Jewish A Scholar Seeks Subjects For Upcoming Book Who is a Jew? In terms of race and ethnicity, Americans both inside and outside the Jewish community tend to answer the first question by saying that, at the very least, a Jewish person is someone who is white and who has Eastern European ancestors. However, this has not been the case in history nor is it the case today. Over the past several thousand years, Jews have established communities and become part of societies throughout the world. As a result, there have been Asian Jews (most famously the Chinese Jews), African Jews and Latin American Jews, among others. These people maintained and passed on to their children their religious distinctiveness while also actively participating in the culture of the people around them. Among the most treasured finds from the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China is the Memorial Book that includes the names of more than one thousand people from the community who died between c.1400 C.E. and c.1670 C.E.. This book is written in both Chinese and Hebrew. __________________________________________ "Over the past several thousand years, Jews have established communities and become part of societies throughout the world. As a result, there have been Asian Jews (most famously the Chinese Jews), African Jews and Latin American Jews, among others. __________________________________________ Patricia Y.C.E. Lin, Ph.D., is currently researching a book about the experiences of the symbolic descendants of the Asian Jews of history. The actual descendants of the Chinese Jews had largely assimilated into the Chinese community by the early part of the 20th century. However, in present-day America, the Asian-American Jewish community is one, that while small now, is growing rapidly due to adoption, interracial-marriage and conversion and will grow even faster in the years to come. This book will analyze the experiences of the full spectrum of present-day Asian-American Jews, those who are Orthodox to those who are secular. Patricia does not only study American Jews of Chinese heritage, but also those who have familial origins in other parts of East Asia including Vietnam, Korea and Japan. Her book will consider the ways in which Asian-American Jews live their lives, religiously, socially, culturally and politically. How do they negotiate their Jewish and Asian-American identities? How are they treated by the Jewish and Asian-American communities and the broader American public? Her hope is that the book will not only add to the academic understanding of the Asian-American Jewish community and raise questions about the issues of assimilation and racial, religious and ethnic identity but also have practical significance by assisting leaders of the Jewish and Asian-American communities to better serve this population in the future. A major publisher has already expressed great interest in publishing this book. If you, or a member of your family, are Asian-American and Jewish, whether through adoption, mixed-parentage or conversion, Patricia Y.C.E. Lin would be delighted to include your experiences in her book (All names will be kept confidential.) If you are interested in participating, please send your name, address and phone number to linjresearch@aol.com. Further details and personal references are available on request. For those who are interested, Patricia Lin is an Asian-American Jew. Biography: Dr. Patricia Y.C.E. Lin is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion, Pacific School of Religion, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. She received her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.A./Ph.D. in European History from the University of California, Berkeley. A Fulbright Scholar, she also engaged in private study with Rabbi Mark Solomon of Leo Baeck College, London. Dr. Lin, a daughter of Taiwanese immigrants and a Jew-by-Choice (convert to Judaism), has led services and delivered sermons at synagogues in the United States and England, and lectured widely on the topic of Asian and Asian-American Jews. Currently a consultant to the Jewish Museum of New York, Dr. Lin has previously been a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, San Francisco where she wrote substantial portions of a report on racial and ethnic diversity in the American Jewish community. Her publications include Religious and Spiritual Change in America: the Experience of Marin County, California (2002) (co-authored with Gary Tobin, Ph.D.) as well as articles on the experience of war in European History. This website: Copyright © 2003 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in Urban Mozaik Magazine are not necessarily those of Urban Mozaik Magazine and the publisher cannot be held responsible for them. This website/publication, in whole or in part, may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.