Sadia Shepard’s new book, The Girl from Foreign, opens with the thwack of slapping chapattis (Indian flatbread), the swish of her sari, and anecdotes of life in Bombay from her Indian grandmother.
But hold on a second. Rachel Jacobs was the grandmother’s maiden name.
Did you know that India has Jews? “Go to India, study about your ancestors, share my narrative,” Shepard’s grandmother urges her to do. This writer and documentary filmmaker has a compelling story to tell.
According to folklore, 2,000 years ago, a group of Jews (perhaps one of the 12 Tribes?) was shipwrecked in India. They misplaced their Torah, and all but one prayer, the Shema, was forgotten. In one folktale, a Jewish traveler known as “Rahabi” pays a visit to the Indian-Jewish community known as “Bene Israel” and requests a fish supper. According to kosher law, the Bene Israel women serve the fish with fins and scales, discarding the rest. He refers to them as Jews.
