Ancient synagogues, some of which are only ruins, can be found scattered over India. Growing Up Jewish in India: Synagogues, Customs, and Communities from the Bene Israel to the Art of Siona Benjamin features essays, images, and a narrative by artist Siona Benjamin, possibly the most well-known Jewish Indian in the United States. In the prologue, Ralphy Jhirad, the founder of the Bene Israel Heritage and Genealogical Research Centre, states that the “BBC Jews of India,” or the Bene Israel, Baghdadi, and Cochin Jews, can be divided into three groups.
Nobody knows exactly when or how the Bene Israel arrived in India. There are several theories, according to editor Ori Soltes: traders who arrived during King Solomon’s reign, around 965-930 BCE; members of Israel’s ten lost tribes around 722 BCE; those who arrived around 175 BCE during the Hasmonean era, or just before the Maccabees (who are responsible for the Hanukah story); those who arrived in the early centuries of the common era, possibly due to a shipwreck; and those from Pers
