So when it came to Jewish identities, they co-existed as well. Many Jews lived there and connected with other Sephardic Jews in Europe through trading and family networks--or sometimes as enslaved individuals. Most Jews were able to practice Judaism, but mainly for servants or families who were in long-term marriages (or a part of the alliance) were persuaded to convert for safety reasons before the inquisitors could force them to convert. 

One very interesting exception in West Africa is Jewish inheritance. Typically, it is passed by the mother, but because more men would travel to and from West Africa to Portugal while mothers stayed in Portugal, Jews altered the law briefly so Judaism could be passed down from the Father. 

Overall, similar to Portugal and other countries in the Mediterranean region, West African Sephardic Jews rarely get mentioned when referring to the Jewish diaspora, and the way they viewed and experienced their racial/ethnic identity is re-established here in this important and distinct time period and place.

On the other hand, there were other newspapers, like Forverts, which emphasized americanization and assimilation which reflected a more positive US-centered view and was catered to a larger, global audience--which makes sense why it's a more popular perspective today. Also, similar to Yiddish being gendered, Bialystok was seen as a mother city, like Israel. The feminine connotations also appear when the city is compared to “a widow” in mourning as Jews were forced to leave the nurturing, safe place which was now weaker and lacked power. Additionally, the immigrant Jews came from there, like their origin or descent, which is also known as a ‘birth’ place. This also matches up with the notion that Judaism passes from a mother to a child genetically, ethnically, and spiritually. New York’s population of early 20th-century immigrant Jews makes it an important part of the Jewish diaspora because the newspaper at the time combatted and re-invented the assimilated or stereotypical ‘diaspora jew’ because they still longed to return to their homeland rather than assimilate to a new place they involuntarily moved to.

With the emergence of Bollywood, Jews were more progressive for women’s rights so Jewish women were predominantly cast in Indian cinema, however, they only played Muslim and Hindu parts. It is also important to note that Indian Jews had more eurocentric features and paralleled with the “Hollywood” look. This also unfortunately is a result of colorism because more light-skinned women were portrayed as more ‘desirable’ than darker skin women. Furthermore, they were either cast as the innocent heroine or the seductive vamp. It is also interesting that once Muslim and Hindu women were allowed to act, the majority of Jewish women (including trailblazers like Nadira and Pramila) were stuck to being typecast as the antagonist vamp role. This was also around the same time India was gaining Independence, so the film industry reflected their new beliefs by portraying stories with the more traditionally Indian-looking women as the heroine, and the lighter-skinned women with more eurocentric features as the westernized antagonist vamps. Throughout Jewish women's acting careers, they typically changed their names to appear more Hindi in an attempt to assimilate because they believed they would be more successful and popular if they hide their Jewishness. Overall, India is a commonly overlooked part of the Jewish diaspora but it is just as important for Jewish life, especially re-inventing Hollywood-inspired trends in the front and behind-the-scenes in the Bollywood industry.