Judaism in India

[Simon]

I did extensive searches about the advent (and continued existence of Judaism) in India and came up with the following references/links.

Note that these are by no means all of the links/resources that I found. I will post more as I find the time.

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http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/indians.html

The Jews of India

India has a legacy of three distinct Jewish groups: the Bene Israel, the Cochin Jews and the White Jews from Europe. Each group practiced important elements of Judaism and had active synagogues. The Sephardic rites predominate among Indian Jews.

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http://adaniel.tripod.com/jews.htm

JEWS IN INDIA

The Jews of India aren't one singular community. Among themselves they are divided into different communities. Each community has its own different culture, background and origin. Each community claims its arrival in India in different ways and it is not always clear how they really came to India. The three main Jewish communities of India are: Bene Israel, Cochini and Baghdadi. Besides there were Ashkenazi Jews and a community in east India which claim Israeli origin and call themselves Bne Menashe. The first three communities had some social religious connections with each other but most of the social religious connections of each community were within their own community and they regarded the other as ‘outsiders’.


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http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/jun/07usspec.htm

A Jew in the Big Apple


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Who Are The Jews of India, And What Are Their Origins?

Many Indian Jews have reached great prominence.


(1) For example, the Sassons after whom the Sasson docks, the Sasson hospital, and two of Mumbais well known sites- the Jacob Circle, and Flora Fountain have been named.


(2) In the past years, there has been a Jewish mayor of Bombay (Dr. E. Moses), and a Jewish Chief of the Navy .


(3) In the Indian Army, Jews have reached very high posts. A General Jacobs , now the Governor of Goa, supervised the surrender of the Pakistani Army in the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.

(4) Maj. Gen. Samson who was awarded the Padma Bhushan, and a few other Jews reached prominence in the Indian Army.


(5) Two of India's leading literary personalities , poet Nissim Ezeickel, and cartoonist Abu Abraham are Jewish.


(6) Also the late famous Hindi film actor David , and the late "Sulochana" the Queen of Indian Silent Films, and the actress/dancer Helen.


(7) A Dr. Erulkar was the personal physician/friend of Mahatma Gandhi. His father, also a Dr. Abraham Erulkar, donated land for the synagogue in Ahmedabad, Gujrat. Dr. Erulkar's daughter is currently the 1st lady of Cyprus, married to the President of Cyprus. Another prominent Indian Jew is Dr. Jerusha Jhirad, who was given the title of Padma Shri by the Government of India.

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[Simon]

http://www.culturopedia.com/Religions/indianjews.html

RELIGIONS AND RELIGIOUS THOUGHTS OF INDIA

It is commonly accepted that the Jews have been in India for over 2,000 years ever since they first landed on the West coast of India. Indian Jews fall into four categories: Bene Israel, Cochinis, Baghdadi Jews and the Manipuri Jews. The Bene Israel, or the Children of Israel are the Marathi-speaking Jews who are more numerous than the other two groups. The Cochinis form a small Jewish community in Cochin, Kerala. The Baghdadis are the Jews who came to India as traders from West Asia, mainly from Baghdad. They are settled mainly in Mumbai, Pune and Calcutta.

Cochin Jews : About 10,000 Jews are said to have come to the Kerala


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http://www.freeman.org/m_online/sep97/ghosh.htm

JEW-HINDU RELATIONS
By Arvind Ghosh
There appear to be some inadequacies in a recent article on Jew-Hindu relations by an Anonymous Hindu and some uncalled for assumptions made, perhaps due to lack of information or perhaps due to a false sense of propriety which, of course, has no place in such evaluations.

It is not surprising that theologically the two religions, Judaism and Hinduism, have differences but unlike Mohammedanism and Christianity (specially Catholicism) there is no conflict between the two, as far as mutual conduct goes. The two religions were born and nurtured in totally different geographical and historical backgrounds and circumstances, one in what we know now as Israel and the other on the Indian subcontinent, with a distance of thousands of miles in between. It is well known that those Jews who had settled down in India, thousands of years ago, were treated gently and there never was any kind of persecution of the Jews under the Hindus, just as among two civilized peoples. On the other hand, when the Mohammedans came to India, a great upheaval took place throughout the land by virtue of the unethical code of conduct of the Mohammedans. The Mohammedans' proclivity toward Intolerance, Slaughter, Loot (or Anfal), Arson and Molestation of women of the enemy, came to be known as ISLAM.

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http://www.krysstal.com/rel30.html

Judaism
The Jewish Synagogue in Cochin (Kerala State, India).
A Jewish community has lived in India from 6th Century BC.


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http://www.library.wisc.edu/guides/SoAsia/religion/judaism.html

JUDAISM IN INDIA


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http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/judaism.html

Judaism


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http://www.amyisrael.co.il/asia/india/

History
Myths surround the origins of the Jews of India, particularly the Bene Israel and the Jews of Cochin. The Bene Israel claim to have arrived in India in the 2nd century BCE. The first documented evidence of this community dates from the 17th century. Isolated from the rest of Jewry, the Bene Israel adopted many Moslem and Hindu customs. Although they had no synagogues, the Bene Israel retained many Jewish practices, such as circumcision, observance of the dietary laws, and sabbath observance. However, they were unfamiliar with the Bible (except for the Shema, which was their only prayer) or later Jewish texts. Many members of the Bene Israel worked as oil pressers and were termed the Shanwar Telis, or "Saturday oil pressers," as they refrained from working on the sabbath. In the early 17th century, the Bene Israel came in contact with Jews from Cochin who brought them into the mainstream of modern Judaism.

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[Simon]

I might mention that this effort was started in response to questions posed by a poster on "Why they hate us......." who wished to be quoted some statistics on Jewish presence in India.

[Mediocrates]

This month's edition of Hadassah magazine has a piece on Jews in India.

[ibrodsky]

Thanks so much Simon.

We won't hold our breaths waiting for "Daveed" to admit he was wrong, though.

[elke]

Originally posted by ibrodsky
Thanks so much Simon.

We won't hold our breaths waiting for "Daveed" to admit he was wrong, though.

No, but I think we should thank him anyway for inadvertently leading to this! Very, very interesting! :) Good job, Simon! :cool:

[cerulean]

There is also some anthropological discussion about long-term historical links to Judaism in India going back thousands of years, as discussed in this article:

http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.08.16/news8.html

[Simon]

http://www.haruth.com/AsianIndia.html

JEWISH INDIA

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http://www.kashrus.org/asian/cochin.html

HISTORY:
One legend holds that the Jews first settled in India during the time of King Solomon, when there was trade in teak, ivory, spices and peacocks between the Land of Israel and the Malabar Coast, where Cochin is located. Others put their arrival at the time of the Assyrian exile in 722 B.C.E., the Babylonian exile in 586 or after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE No reliable evidence exists, but most contemporary scholars fix the date at some time during the early Middle Ages. It is the bible that contains the first mention of Jews in connection with India. The Book of Esther, which dates from the second century B.C.E., cites decrees enacted by Ahasuerus relating to the Jews dispersed throughout the provinces of his empire from Hodu to Kush. Hodu is Hebrew for India; Kush is Ethiopia. Talmudic and midrashic literature also mention spices, perfumes, plants, animals, textiles, gems and crockery which either bear names of Indian origin or are indigenous to the country. The earliest documentation of permanent Jewish settlements is on two copper plates now stored in Cochin's main synagogue. Engraved in the ancient Tamil language, they detail the privileges granted a certain Joseph Rabban by Bhaskara Ravi Varma, the fourth-century Hindu ruler of Malabar. According to the inscription, the ruler awarded the Jews the village of Anjuvannam, meaning "five castes," as the Jews were believed to be the lords of the five castes of artisans. The plates also state that Anjuvannam shall remain in the possession of the descendants of these Jews "so long as the world and moon exist."


http://www.kashrus.org/asian/bombay.html

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Who Are the Jews of India?
by Nathan Katz
220 pages
published by University of California Press


Of all the Diaspora communities, the Jews of India are among the least known and most interesting. This readable study, full of vivid details of everyday life, looks in depth at the religious life of the Jewish community in Cochin, the Bene Israel from the remote Konkan coast near Bombay, and the Baghdadi Jews, who migrated to Indian port cities and flourished under the British Raj. Who Are the Jews of India? is the first integrated, comprehensive work available on all three of India's Jewish communities. .........


A review of the book by an Indian

"In this enthralling book Katz explores the problems related to the understanding of identity of the Jews of India, certainly a tiny minority in the vast and variegated population of India. At the root of his examination of the marginality of the Jews in India lies the reality that the Jews are the smallest minority group in India and simultaneously, in India reside the smallest of the Jewish diaspora in the world. To Nathan Katz therefore goes the credit of bringing this tiny minority group in limelight and situating it in the perspective of the plural society of India. The significant point is the book not only presents many unknown facets of the socio-cultural life of the Jews in India, but the story of their accommodation into Indian society offers a refreshing understanding of the host society itself, i.e. India. By illuminating the little known chapter of the Jewish diasporic history, the author ably demonstrates that Jewish history is not merely European, but richly Asian too... The excellence of the book lies in its rich detaila of the rites and rituals of three Jewish communities, the lively accounts of the synagogues in Cochin, Bombay, Pune and Calcutta, and lovely black and white photographs, many of them being taken by Ellen S. Goldberg, Professor Katz's wife. The outstanding feature of the book is the author's fine tuning of empirical presentation with a flowing readability; Professor Katz has never lost sight of the human face of his subject... Nathan Katz's book drives home the point that the process of acculturation and not assimilation of minority communities is the crucial factor in the maintenance of the essential fabric of the plural socio-cultural milieu of India, and any attempt at reversing this process will only be calamitous for India and its hallowed civilization."
- Ranabir Chakravarti, Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta, in Journal of Indo-Judaic Studies Volume 4 (2001)

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[Simon]

THE LAST JEWS IN INDIA AND BURMA
Nathan Katz and Ellen S. Goldberg

http://www.jcpa.org/jl/jl101.htm

.........In this exotic corner of the diaspora, a realm in which Jews lived for millennia in freedom and dignity, bathed in the affection of their Hindu brethren, India was the most hospitable of homes, a nation which has been host for six distinct Jewish communities: the ancient and celebrated Cochinim, the once-forgotten Bene Israel, the courtiers of the Mughal emperors, Portuguese Marranos, the commercially and industrially prominent Baghdadis, the scattered Ashkenazim, and today's tribal Jews of the far northeast..........

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Long Live Indo -Israel Friendship

Long Live Israel

http://www.geocities.com/hsitah5/jews_of_india.htm

"Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Indian Jewish experience is the complete absence of discrimination by a host majority . The secret of India's tolerance is the Hindu belief which confers legitimacy on a wide diversity of cultural and religious groups even as it forbids movement from one group to another." - Raphael Meyer

[Simon]

Manuel: This thread is about informing Jews about Judaism in India. I have no idea why muslims such as you decided to denigrate this thread with your presence.

I am a hindu and if you have a brain (or even half-a-brain), you would ask yourself this questios:

Why has the hindu, who not only gets along with his three fellow religions (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) but Judaism as well in India, cannot get along with a barbarous religion like Islam.

Indians can proudly say that it is perhaps the only country in the world that has not had a single incidence of anti-semitism by the majority hindu community (or other Indian religions) against the Jews.

Instead of wasting bandwidth, Manuel (Too-ashamed-to-acknowledge-his-islamic-identity-like-Intellectualme), go preach your peace to the murderous muslims.

[Mediocrates]

Manners, people!

[Gilgamesh]

Simon,

I thank you for your posts about Jews of India. Although this is not news for me, since many Jews from india made Aliya (Aliya = ascendance) and now living in Israel. (a friend of mine, from the Army is fluent in sanskrit, as his family goes back on visits in india every once in a while).

However the detailed history of these Jewish communities and the contribution of Jews to India is heart widing. I do believe that the alliance between our two anciant civilizations is a good step in the write direction of mending the world. making it better, safer and more cultural then its present state. Stampping out the Islamist monstrousity should be our first joint effort to achive the above goal. The world deserves a better life and it is with in our joint powers to bring that about. Also, I hope other civilizations, old and new, will ally themselves with us.

Manuel.
There is no historic doubt that Hindu fought the muslems back, answered violance with violance. However, the fact that you, Manuel, refuses to differentiate between action and re-action, your unwillingness to differentiate between agressors and couter agressors, makes you, manuel, a fool or a hater.

The fact remains: Hindus are not haters. Muslems are. Hindues have the right of self defense just like anybody else. Sometimes, the best defense is an attack. I have perfect solidarity with all hindues in their war against Islamist facism. Islamist fundementalism is the current scourge of man kind.

[Mediocrates]

Man - I have my book handy but how long was India run as a muslim state and what is the legacy of that?

[Answerer]

Hi guys, whats about the life of Jews in China?

[Simon]

Mediocrates: The [deleted] muslims started invading aroung 970 AD. Actual occupations started around the 1100-1200 AD (i think) and coincided with the slow asphyxiation of hindu civilization. What the muslims left, the British slaughtered.

In effect, India and its ethnic religions had not controlled their destinies for almost a 1,000 yrs.


Manuel, [deleted] ;

The article that you posted above pertains to the Godhra (a town in Gujarat) violence which was started after your loving bastard muslims burnt alive 57 hindu men, women and children aboard a stationary train, the Sabarmati Express .

This heinous crime outraged even hindus, who have been almost immune to any shock created by muslim atrocities. They retaliated. As one hindu said, "How long are we going to allow ourselves to be terrorized by this bastard religion?" "Enough is enough," said another. "We must show these muslims that there is a price to pay for hindu lives henceforth." "No more unanswered muslim atrocities."

[Simon]

I wanted to have this thread be a repository for articles/links to Judaism in India.

Unfortunately, certain vile elements (actually one vile element), with a penchant for desecrating every thing that is good have screwed it up.

Could the moderator delete Manure, oops, Manuel's posts and subsequent posts that were made as a result of his??
Thanks

[Simon]

Last Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





To correctly point out an evil person is not hatred.

To identify an anti-semite is not hatred.

To identify an anti-hindu is not hatred.

To identify an islamic-terrorism-apologist is not hatred.

[sikanderhind]

We have a Indian jew as the head of our 4th Strike Corps presently.

Imagine the moslem Paki horror when a jew will make them bend over and make them clean his boots post surrender?

Fact #1:

During the 1971 Bangladesh independence war, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to India in a week.

India faced a new problem .. feeding and taking care of 93,000 useless POS.

This is the largest surrender of any army after WWII .

On of the conditions of the release set by the indian govt of these coward soliders was that their strike commanders would clean the boots of all indian ones in full TV/press view.

However, military ethics and our Army's tradition and chivalry prevailed.

The surrending commands were treated much better than what they deserved.


Fact #2
Indian Army soldiers have the largest number of Victoria crosses after Brits themselves. From both WW's.

Fact #3
The bravest/ toughest soilders of the WWII were not the Japanese or the Germans.
They were the the Indo-nepali Gorkhas.
Indian Army presently has the only Gorkha regiments in operation.

The Brits just have some for only ceremonial purposes.

Fact #4
Indian hockey team in 1936 Berlin Olympics under Major Dhyan Chand had one jewish player as part of the team/, I will post his name/pic soon.

India got Gold and defeated Germany in finals 4-1.

Hitler's desperation was so obvious ... dark-brown vegge hindus and a jew defeating his aryan pure bloods ...

[WarAgainstJihad]

Originally posted by Simon
Why has the hindu, who not only gets along with his three fellow religions (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) but Judaism as well in India, cannot get along with a barbarous religion like Islam.

Indians can proudly say that it is perhaps the only country in the world that has not had a single incidence of anti-semitism by the majority hindu community (or other Indian religions) against the Jews.


man oh man, arent all your movie stars in india muslim, i got a hindu friend and he said that muslims and hindus get along but there is def tension there,

and please dont lie like that, the hardcore hindus in india hate the few jews in cochin, they had a rally against them, so dont make it seem like the INDIANS are all nice and angelic when in fact they have alot of religions tenision there from hindus muslims christians sikhs and diff ethtinicites

[The Indian]

WarAgianstJihad,

I don't know where you are getting your information from, but there is NO hate between Hindus and Jews in India.

It appears you are trying to make something out of nothing. For more than a billion people in India, with all sorts of social, economic, political and security problems, there is in fact limited tensions within India.

[Leon Uris]

WAJ: Please back your assertions about tensions with hindu-jewish relations in India with appropriate references or put a cork in your mohammadian orifice.

[Mediocrates]

You have opinion on just about everything, doncha dear boy?