Wednesday, May 15, 2024
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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. In Exodus 12:7, God tells Moses that he has to do something

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 Satamba. 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

Indian comedian charged with insulting Hindu deities after right-wing group crashes show

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Indian comedian charged with insulting Hindu deities after right-wing group crashes show

This is what happened: A group of right-wing Hindus stormed the show and confronted the comedian about jokes he allegedly made about Hindu deities. The Indian government has charged the comedian with “hurting religious feelings.”

After a stand-up show in the Indian state of Gujarat, Munawar Faruqui and four other people were arrested by the police on Friday. They were part of a fringe group led by Eklavya Gaur, son of an elected official from the ruling party.

The Hind Rakshak Sangathan members may have beaten Faruqui before taking him to the police station and demanding that he be charged. Mr. Gaur had a video of the show, and police said at the time that they did so based on that.

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/munawar-faruqui-case-hindu-deities-b1782027.html

A hidden Synagogue In Mumbai Tells The Tale Of How Bene Israeli Jews Found A Home In India

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A hidden Synagogue In Mumbai Tells The Tale Of How Bene Israeli Jews Found A Home In India

In the past, India has been a safe place for people of all religions to live. Across the world, Jews found safety in India. Synagogues they have built all over the country show that they have a history together.

Bombay has a lot of hidden gems, but one of them stands out above the rest. Samuel Street is one of them. If you look at this synagogue, you’ll see that it is called the “Gate of Mercy Synagogue.”

The Gate of Mercy, the first place of worship for the Bene Israel Jews of India, has a lot of interesting history behind it. But it’s still hidden in the history books.

Source: https://www.madrascourier.com/insight/a-hidden-synagogue-in-mumbai-tells-the-tale-of-how-bene-israeli-jews-found-a-home-in-india/

a vintage jewish cookbook from calcutta, india

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a vintage jewish cookbook from calcutta, india

This cookbook piqued my interest, and I thought you might be interested. Calcutta, India, released it in 1922. This book was given to me by my father-in-law, a Calcutta Jew. Calcutta’s Jewish community has a rich and colorful history. They’ve lived there for well over 200 years…

Barry scanned and emailed me a copy of the book, titled the Jewish Cookery Book. Mrs. H. Brooke published it, and East Bengal Press, 52/9 Bowbazar Street, Calcutta, printed it. I have a sizable collection of antique cookbooks (both Jewish and non-Jewish), but I had never heard of this one before. It includes some kosher Jewish Indian dishes, some of which I’d never heard of before.

This looked like the ideal time to delve deeper into Jewish Indian cuisine. I thumbed through the digitized pages of the cookbook, absorbing all of the recipes, unusual spices, and ingredients. Some of the recipes were old favorites, while others were brand new to me. I chose a dish that sounded appealing and proceeded to eat it!

Source: https://www.toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/a-vintage-jewish-cookbook-from-calcutta-india/comment-page-2/

Cochin: Jewish Women’s Music

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Cochin: Jewish Women’s Music

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 with the men in the synagogue, with their families at the Shabbat table, and other events. This was different from many traditional Jewish communities. Women also knew a lot of Jewish folk songs in Malayalam. Cochin Jews are mostly living in Israel today, and most of the songs they collected are no longer played or even thought about. Some songs, on the other hand, have been recorded in the field and the studio, and a group of women in Cochin is working hard to learn and perform traditional Malayalam songs.

Source: https://www.jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/cochin-jewish-womens-music

The International Symposium on Baghdadi Jews in India The Babylonia n Jewry Heritage Center 2

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Holy Land Ceremony Unites Seventeen Indian Couples

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Holy Land Ceremony Unites Seventeen Indian Couples

Members of the Bnei Menashe, a group that is said to be from the lost tribes, remarry in a ceremony in Israel.

People from the Bnei Menashe community in Northern India who moved to Israel were married on Aug. 5 in an Orthodox group wedding in Israel, and 17 of them married.

Because they were all married before, each couple was between 29 and 79 years old when they took part. As a group, the Bnei Menashe of India had to go through a formal conversion process before they could get married again in Israel.

Source: https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/holy-land-ceremony-unites-seventeen-indian-couples/

Baghdadi Trade Diaspora: Jews in Calcutta

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Baghdadi Trade Diaspora: Jews in Calcutta

Who are the Baghdadi Jews?

In the late 1800s, Jews from Arab countries and Iran came to India. They are called “Baghdadi Jews.” There were a lot of ‘Baghdadi’ Jews who came from Baghdad, but there were also a lot of Jews who came from Syria, Iran, Yemen, and other places in Iraq. Often, these Jews are called “Iraqi Jews.” Israelis were called “Israel,” and “Yehudi” was the name of the Jews from Bene Israel.

The ‘Baghdadi’ came to India because of religious persecution in their home countries, and also because they wanted to do business there, so they came to India.

As soon as they arrived in India, most of the people called “Baghdadis” were big merchants and businessmen. They settled down at major commercial cities like Bombay and Calcutta, where they lived for a long time. During World War II, the “Baghdadis” lived in these two cities and also in Rangoon, the capital of Myanmar, which is now called Myanmar (formerly Burma and part of British India).

Source: https://www.geni.com/projects/Baghdadi-Trade-Diaspora-Jews-in-Calcutta/12492

How One Town Is Preserving the History of India’s Oldest Jewish Settlers

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How One Town Is Preserving the History of India’s Oldest Jewish Settlers

It’s very rare for Indian Jews to have never been persecuted or anti-Semitic in their new country.

Thaha Ibrahim, 50, is putting together the belongings of a famous Jewish woman who lived there until a year ago. She is in Jew Town, a small town in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This is how you would say it: She was friendly, oldest, and maybe even most photographed Jew in the town of the Jews. As a skilled seamstress, Sarah Cohen was known for her beautiful embroidered kippahs (skull caps that Jews wear), the covers for their challans, and their Jewish wedding clothes.

Source: https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7apxn/how-one-town-is-preserving-the-history-of-indias-oldest-jewish-settlers

The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity (Routledge South Asian Religion Series Book 12)

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The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity (Routledge South Asian Religion Series Book 12)

This book looks at how the Baghdadi Jewish community changed dramatically overtime during their stay in India from the end of the 18th century until they moved on to Indian diasporas in Israel and English-speaking countries around the world after India became independent in 1947.

Chapters on schools, institutions, and culture show how Baghdadis in India were able to keep their communities together even though they had many different identities in a stratified and complicated society. Multiple disciplines are used to look at the Baghdadis’ super-diversity and how they were able to adapt to new situations during the Raj while still keeping some traditions and adapting to others. Contributors to the book give an in-depth look at the Baghdadi Jews, and they show that their legacy lives on for Indians and Jews today through landmarks and monuments in Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata, as well as through memories woven by members of the community who live in different parts of the world.

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51061347-the-baghdadi-jews-in-india

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