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252 Indian Jews, Including Infants and Elderly, from the Bnei Menashe Community Immigrate to Israel

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252 Indian Jews, Including Infants and Elderly, from the Bnei Menashe Community Immigrate to Israel

There were 252 Jews from India’s north-eastern Bnei Menashe community, including babies and the elderly, who came to Israel on Tuesday to start a new life. In total, they make up 50 families and 24 single people. There are four babies under two years old, and 19 people over the age of 62. It was approved by the Israeli government for them to come to the country in October.

After they got off the plane, they went through the immigration process. A member of the Bnei Menashe community who was at the airport told PTI that “some 90% of them have already finished their aliyah (immigration) permit process.” Soon, all of them will be taken to a Shavei Israel center in the Nordiya moshav near Netanya.

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/india/252-indian-jews-from-the-bnei-menashe-community-immigrate-to-israel-3181157.html

Discovering the Passover Traditions of India’s Largest Jewish Community

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Discovering the Passover Traditions of India’s Largest Jewish Community

Take some of the blood, and hit it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses where they’ll eat it.

This is what my mom remembers from when she was young. When she went to see her Bene Israel friends in Virjoli, a village south of Mumbai, she saw them slaughtering a goat for Passover. They then marked their doors and windows with palms dipped in the blood. Mom’s maternal grandparents lived in Virjoli, which is also known as Samba. They had a lot of land and two homes there, so it was a very big village.

Source: https://www.haaretz.com/food/MAGAZINE-discovering-the-passover-traditions-of-india-s-largest-jewish-community-1.5436251

My mother downplayed her Indian Jewish heritage to fit in. As an adult, I’m learning to reclaim it.

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My mother downplayed her Indian Jewish heritage to fit in. As an adult, I’m learning to reclaim it.

I’m in 4th grade, and we’re doing a project in geography class right now. Each of us has a week to turn in a folder of research and photos on any country we want. “Exotic India” is a brochure about a trip to India that I get with my mom. People in saris and tigers are cut out and put on the blank pages of my folder. Proud of my work, I hand in my folder. I can’t wait to find out what my teacher thinks, and I can’t wait to show it off to my classmates.

After the next week, my teacher gives me back the project, and I can read her comments.

A lot of spelling mistakes and you didn’t explain why you chose this country or what made India interesting to you. Good job, Lishui.

Source: https://www.live-jweekly.alleydev.com/2020/09/02/my-mother-downplayed-her-indian-jewish-heritage-to-fit-in-as-an-adult-im-learning-to-reclaim-it/

Indian Jews in turmoil after Israeli Consul Yousuf Hasseen’s expulsion

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Indian Jews in turmoil after Israeli Consul Yousuf Hasseen’s expulsion

Indian Jews are having a hard time. Last month’s official statements on Israel were a source of uncertainty for them. They are afraid that the expulsion of Consul Yousuf Hasseen and the threat to close the consulate altogether will backfire on them because of that.

India’s foreign policy has always been pushed and pulled by different forces. Last month, the Government showed that it can be a little too quick to react to changes in the world. An outspoken interview with Bombay’s Sunday Observer led to Yousuf Hasseen’s expulsion from the country (India Today, July 31).

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/special-report/story/19820815-indian-jews-in-turmoil-after-israeli-consul-yousuf-hasseens-expulsion-772070-2013-10-05

Study: Bene Israel community in India carries Jewish gene

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Study: Bene Israel community in India carries Jewish gene

Washington D.C., May 11 (ANI): This is how it goes: A new study shows that the Bene Israel community in the western part of India has genetic proof that they are Jewish. They, on the other hand, have always thought of themselves as Jewish.

Most people don’t know much about the Bene Israel community before the 18th century when Cochin Jews and later Christian missionaries first came into contact with it.

Source: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/243962227/study-bene-israel-community-in-india-carries-jewish-gene

SSRE honours the Only Hindi Novelist from the Jewish Community

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SSRE honours the Only Hindi Novelist from the Jewish Community

The Society for Social Regeneration & Equity (SSRE), a group that wants to break down stereotypes about religious minorities, honored Sheela Rohekar, the only Jewish novelist writing in Hindi, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. She was given an award for her portrayal of Indian Jewish life in her new book, Miss Samuel: Ek Yahudi Gatha (Miss Samuel: A Jewish Saga). To get the most prestigious award for literature in India every year, the state gives out this award to the Bharatiya Jnanpith, which publishes the book last fall and gives it out each year.

Apna Ghar (A Home of One’s Own) is the only Hindi book that shows the Indian Jewish way of life. Meera Mahadevan, who used to be Miriam Jacob Mendrekar, wrote it 52 years ago. The event was important because Rohekar isn’t well-known in Hindi literature, which is shown by the fact that she wasn’t invited to any of the three literary festivals that took place in Lucknow last year, or to any of the other literary festivals that took place in other Indian cities.

Source: http://www.socialregenerationandequity.blogspot.com/2014/01/ssre-honours-only-hindi-novelist-from.html

Bombay Brides: Esther David on her book about a Jewish housing society, the women who inhabit it

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Bombay Brides: Esther David on her book about a Jewish housing society, the women who inhabit it

Esther David was in Mumbai for a cousin’s wedding in the late 1950s when she came to a housing society in Jacob Circle where many Jews lived. She was born and raised in Ahmedabad, and she was fascinated by the idea of members of her group living in separate apartments in the same complex. In 2012, she was back in the city after more than five decades when she came upon another such housing organization near a synagogue in Thane. Given their dwindling numbers – many Indian Jews having now fled to Israel and other countries – the society represented a magnificent feeling of preservation.

Bombay Brides, David’s most recent piece, is based on a similar housing organization. The narrative transports us to the imaginary Shalom India Housing Society in Ahmedabad, which is largely populated by members of the Jewish community (who dwell in Block A, while other communities live in Block B). We meet a cast of characters including Ezra, the building secretary; Salome, the caretaker; Sharon, a music teacher, and the various tenants who move in and out of A-107, an apartment owned by Juliet and Rommel (Rahul), a Jewish-Hindu couple who marry and relocate to Israel, through interconnected stories.

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The Baghdadi Jews of Kolkota

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The Baghdadi Jews of Kolkota

The Baghdadi Jews of Kolkota are little recognized for a variety of reasons, one of which is their migration from India following Independence. Manjira Majumdar brings a book about this community’s remarkable food, lifestyle, and culture to light.

Despite the presence of some communities from outside India in India, little is known about their cuisine, for the simple reason that it was not popular outside of private households. Whatever resources were available outside of the community had to be carefully considered. Cuisine, when reintroduced in cafés and restaurants, can bring back memories and provide glimpses into the culture, as well as a sense of shared history. It instills a sense of optimism.

Source: https://www.oneindiaonepeople.com/the-baghdadi-jews-of-kolkota/

We’re the New Jews of India: Manish Tiwari on Brahmin Poster Row

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We’re the New Jews of India: Manish Tiwari on Brahmin Poster Row

Manish Tiwari, a member of the Congress, compared the plight of Brahmins in India to that of Jews in a tweet about the Twitter spat.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari claimed on Wednesday, November 21, that “anti-Brahminical patriarchy” is “the reality of Indian politics,” adding to the controversy over Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey carrying an “anti-Brahminical patriarchy” banner.

Tiwari compared the position of Brahmins in India to that of Jews in a tweet about the Dorsey disaster, saying, “We are the new Jews of India and we should just learn to live with it.”

Source: https://www.thequint.com/news/india/brahmins-new-jews-of-india-manish-tiwari-dorsey-poster-row