Author: content
History of the Jews in India
When opposed to reading, listening is a more natural approach to learning. Although written language only dates back to roughly 3200 BC, oral language has been around for a long time. Now you can listen to the tremendous amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia (audio article). You might even learn subconsciously if you listen…
“Jews were persecuted throughout Europe & the Middle East, but never in India.”
“In Europe and the Middle East, Jews were persecuted, but never in India. India’s civilization has a unique quality to it.”
Bene Israel
The Bene Israel narrative appears to be based on the ten lost tribes of Israel that escaped persecution by Greek monarch Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 BCE. They were stranded on the Navigation shoreline, which is today home to an ancient Bene Israel cemetery. They are India’s oldest and largest Jewish community. Despite the loss of…
Divided into Two: ‘Gora’ and ‘Kala’, Bene Israel is a Jewish community from India
Indian Jews are also known as Bene Israels. There are 80,000 Indian Jews in Israel. The majority of Bene Jews believe they fled India because their community’s growth was diminishing. Over the last few decades, the Bene Israel, or “Sons of Israel,” are reported to have moved from India. Many people are surprised to learn…
Know Your City: How a subedars transfer brought the Jewish diaspora to Poona
The Bene Israel, or Sons of Israel, are small ancient people who have a long history of survival. They set off on a quest to escape the chaos and upheaval in their homeland, only to be shipwrecked near the Henery Kenery Islands. On March 16, 1863, Subedar Abraham David Charikar of the 3rd Bombay Native…
The Vanishing Jews Of Kolkata: The Last Jews That Love The City Of Joy
Apart from being India’s former British capital, Kolkata was once a migratory hub, with populations like Parsis, Armenians, Chinese, and Jews flourishing in its crumbling colonnades and fading world history. However, the culturally lively metropolis is seeing a decline in the Jewish population, with fewer than ten males available to observe the Jewish Sabbath or…
Baghdadi Jews
Jews from Arab countries and Iran arrived in India in the late 18th century. Baghdadi Jews are their collective name. Baghdadi Jews came to India for religious persecution and business reasons in their own countries. Before they came to India, most of them were traders and businesspeople. They first settled in Surat (Gujarat), then Bombay…
From Army to Bollywood, 8 prominent Jews who shaped modern India
For its reasons, India’s small but considerable Jewish community stands apart. What sets them apart is their ability to blend into the local culture while maintaining their individuality. There are currently roughly 6000 Jews in India who are tasked with safeguarding the country’s final vestiges of Jewish heritage, which include Jewish cemeteries, schools, and some…
Mira and Tara: Jewish Indian tweens
We recently received two ARCs about twelve-year-old girls whose mothers are Indian and fathers are Jewish, a viewpoint rarely seen in children’s novels. Mira Levenson is a British novelist (Mira in the Present Tense by Sita Brahmachari, Whitman, September 2013) “[With] long, dead-straight black hair and dark brown eyes that, according to my father, sometimes…