In the 1930s and 1940s, India’s leaders were faced with a new and urgent task: welcoming Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Europe. During the Holocaust, 5,000 Jews fled to India, a safe refuge. It was important in saving their lives. Honor the past, safeguard the future, and use the hashtag #WeRemember to share your photo….
Jews have lived in India for ages. The three main factions of the Jewish population in India are the Bene Israel, Cochin Jews, and Baghdadi Jews, who have adapted their original cuisines to local products and influences while maintaining kosher regulations. The result is a delectable confluence. The Jews of Cochin, India’s oldest Jewish community,…
Oren Rosenfeld, a Jewish filmmaker, and producer, is accompanying Moshe Holtzberg, 11, on his three-day trip to Mumbai, where he is filming a documentary about the city’s Jewish community. Moshe, his nanny Sandra Samuel, and the 26/11 terror assault, which killed 166 people in Mumbai in 2008, are featured prominently in his documentary. Rosenfeld has…
Next Sunday, Mahatma Moses’ Comedy Caravan features award-winning, clean, and witty standup comedy with Indian-Jewish comic Mahatma Moses as Samson Koletkar and friends in two shows (June 23). At 5 p.m., Koletkar will appear in a Marathi language show alongside Abhay Paranjape, Meg David, Shruti Nimkar, and Adwait Paranjpe. At 8 p.m., Koletkar will perform…
On the Malabar coast in southwest India, the Jews of Cochin make up a small and distinct population. While any putative Jewish forebears of the community are thought to have arrived as early as biblical times (King Solomon’s era), a Jewish community on the Malabar coast has only been attested since the 9th century CE….
Jael Silliman, an Indian Jewish writer, has a dazzling collection of epic fiction, moving memoirs, and cultural histories. Jael Silliman, an Indian Jewish writer, is a scholar, academic, activist, novelist, anthropologist, and archivist. (Perhaps a few more than Morris, the title character of her odd debut novel, The Man with Many Hats.) While her latest…
Fans of early Bollywood will notice that Sulochana—born Ruby Myers—and Pramila have a lot in common in their lives and professions. Both became superstars in the Indian cinema industry during a time when Indian women were rarely seen outside the home, both were known for their incredible dancing abilities, and both had unparalleled control over…
It’s a small community with surnames so intertwined that it’s difficult to distinguish an Indian Jew by their name, clothes, or outward appearance. But what about Aditya Roy Kapoor from Bollywood? Anish Kapoor, a British artist? Admiral Samson, the naval commander? Those are all sons of India with Jewish ancestors, and their names should ring…
Anish Kapoor (born March 12, 1954, in Bombay [now Mumbai], India) is a British sculptor of Indian ancestry who is recognized for his use of abstract biomorphic forms, as well as his use of rich colors and polished surfaces. He was also the first living artist to have a solo exhibition at London’s Royal Academy…
PUNE: Since the British landed in this area, Jews have been a part of Camp’s diaspora. They arrived in the Cantonment area almost two centuries ago, from a variety of backgrounds. However, nothing is known about the burial sites of the first inhabitants. The number of functioning Jewish cemeteries in India is declining. One such…