INDIA, KERALA – Not one, but two streets in Cochin, a prominent port city in southwest India, are named “Jew.” There’s Jew Street, which is lined with trinkets and is home to India’s oldest functioning synagogue, Paradesi, in the picturesque, touristy Mattancherry area, dubbed “Jew Town” by some. The second Jew Street is nine kilometers away, among the wholesalers selling plastic flip flops and fried banana chips in busy downtown Ernakulam. Another less-visited synagogue is hidden behind a pet fish and flower shop, its ark empty, its Torah scrolls gone — along with the congregation — to Israel.
