The book of Esther in the Bible tells the story of a Persian monarch named Assures who ruled over nations from Ethiopia to India and had a beautiful Jewish wife named Esther. Haman, on the other hand, plotted evil against Jews to persecute them. Esther, on the other hand, requests that all Jews fast for…
She hovers over the sizzling fat, tossing in pinches of cumin, turmeric, and hot chili seeds, filling the room with spicy vapor. Miriam Daniels, 56, is making a Passover dinner that may seem like a contradiction in terms to many Jews: a glatt kosher lamb curry. She says, “I like it spicy.” “At the seder,…
According to some legends, Jews first came to India as King Solomon’s merchants in search of materials for his first temple in Jerusalem. After the collapse of the Second Temple, South Indian Christian tales confirm that Jews settled in Cochin in the first century C.E. Over the next several centuries, other societies arose, including the…
The Jewish New Year, also known as Rosh HaShanah, begins tonight, September 18th. According to the Jewish calendar, this is the 5781st year. While the community will commemorate the anniversary for three days till September 20th evening, the celebrations will be different than usual due to the pandemic. This does not, however, prevent Jews from…
Before BREDCO built Il Palazzo in 1972, the area was home to India’s wealthiest family, the Sassoons, who made their fortune in the cotton and opium industries. Malabar Hill is a famous structure in one of India’s most affluent areas. It’s a structure known as “Il Palazzo,” which was constructed by the illustrious real estate…
Growing up Jewish in India is a book on India’s Jews told from a range of perspectives, including history, culture, art, and religion. Ori Z. Soltes, the editor, is a Georgetown University professor of art history, religion, philosophy, and political history. He is fascinated with Indian Jew’s”material culture,’ and he paints compelling depictions of synagogues…
The Jewish community in India is one of many communities that have settled in India after migrating from outside the country’s modern territorial borders. What distinguishes the Jews, though, is their ability to integrate into the local culture. A humble appearing structure tucked away in a corner of the high-end Humayun Road near Khan Market,…
YAHEH HALLEGUA is Mattancheri’s last Jewish woman of childbearing age. Keith and Len, her cousins, are the final remaining bachelors. But neither of them appeal to her. As a result, the 400-year-old Jewish community in the port village of Kerala, India’s southern state, would be gone in a few decades. Mattancheri is the most well-known…
Sudha Bharadwaj, who was imprisoned in Mumbai’s Byculla Jail for a month, wrote the following critique by hand. Bharadwaj was diagnosed with heart disease as her friends and family were typing the text for potential publication. Appeals for her bail are still pending while she remains imprisoned in an overcrowded prison based on disputed allegations…
In European history, Jews are the most important race. Though they originated in ancient Israel (from Hebrew people), they were unable to establish their own country until the United Nations Organization formed Israel in 1945. As a result, Jews were distributed all over the world until then, and as a result, they arrived in India,…