Malayalam Zionist songs, which incorporate melodies and rhetoric from Indian cinema and political music from the twentieth century, are a noteworthy example of Jewish integration and contribution to Kerala's diverse culture. Kerala Jews composed songs in Malayalam right up...
It had been a long time since anyone could understand the songs performed by the Nirit Singers of Israel, as the music was in an ancient language not spoken today. But people who witnessed their performance found themselves clapping...
Shir Hodu: Jewish Song from Bombay of the ‘30s
Over the last few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the music of India's Jewish community. Indeed, the formation of a close-knit...
Apart from the time-honored rituals of children and adventurous adults screaming and stomping their feet to scare away the evil Haman during readings from the ‘Megillah,' the congregation will witness a slice of Marathi Jewish history at sundown this...
From India to Israel, Making Beautiful Music
Zubin Mehta is on the phone with an old buddy for the first few minutes of our encounter (who, it turns out, is a grandson of...
We uploaded a video of Indian dancers performing Hava Nagila in a Bollywood-style staging in an Indian film in April 2010. It was Israel's time to reciprocate in April and May.
A Bollywood Dance workshop was held on April 29...
PUNE: The Bene Israel Jews are India's largest Jewish community. While there is considerable controversy about whether they are one of Israel's lost tribes, one of their most unique cultural customs is in grave danger of being lost forever.
"As...
For a long time, Cochin Jewish women have sung Jewish songs in both Hebrew and the Malayalam language, which is the language of Kerala, their old home on the Indian coast. The Jewish women in Kerala sang in Hebrew...
It may seem hard to believe, but the most ardent audiences and lovers of classical Indian music nowadays may be found in the tiny state of Israel, which is located outside of India (population some 8 million, far less...
On the music of Yahudi, Bimal Roy's unexpected Bollywood historical about the persecution of Jews in ancient Rome, the dulcet ring of the oud is impossible to miss. The background score, produced by Shankar and Jaikishan, has a slightly...