When Jews leave their homeland, they leave behind a very small group of people called Cochin (Cochin Jews) or Cochin Jews. The Cochin Jews live in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. They first came to the Malabar coast about 2,000 years ago as sailors on the fleets of King Solomon. They came to buy…
The study of Jewish topographies has taken on new directions. This essay tries to relocalize Jewish space by expanding it beyond European and American cityscapes to include a broader Jewish geographic vision. As an example of a previously undiscovered Jewish area, the article looks at the summer resort of Alwaye (or Aluva), which is home…
NEW DELHI: Dr Kenneth Robbins and Rabbi Marvin Tokayer have presented a collection of writings detailing the presence of Jews in India, which has been molded into two books: “Jews and the Indian Art Project” and “Western Jews in India.” Dr. Kenneth Robbins, a psychiatrist by training, says he set out with the goal of…
The amazing differentiation of the Baghdadi Jewish community in India from the end of the eighteenth century till their dispersal to Indian diasporas in Israel and English-speaking countries around the world following India’s independence in 1947 is explored in this book. In chapters on schools, institutions, and culture, the author shows how Baghdadis in India…
The West Indian Bene Israel Jewish group is a unique people whose history before the 18th century is mostly unknown. Members of Bene Israel consider themselves to be Jewish descendants, however, the identity of Jewish forebears and their arrival dates in India is uncertain, with estimates ranging from the 8th century BCE to the 6th…
In 1760, the Persian Gulf port of Basra became a trading center for the British East India Company, and many Jews who had played a significant part in English trade in the region progressively migrated on to India from Basra–and Baghdad. They originally arrived in Surat, a port on India’s west coast. Nearly 100 Jews…
June 4, 20212:42 AM NEW DELHI, India, 2 June (Reuters) – More than 100 Jews from India’s northeastern state of Manipur have had to postpone their plans to relocate to Israel after family members contracted COVID-19 and were quarantined in New Delhi. Soizagin, 40, describes his permanent transfer to Israel as a “great opportunity” because…
This book examines both Indian sentiments toward the subcontinent’s Jewish populations and the way Jews and Judaism have been represented in Indian discourse in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite the fact that India’s Jewish population is one of the country’s tiny minorities, local Jews’ interactions with other communities are an important aspect of the…
This twelve-minute film looks at how young people’s religious identities can be linked to their practice of the visual arts, and how this can change over time. When Sonia Narang made this film for Practical Matters, an Indian Jewish visual artist worked with high school students at the SAR Academy, a Modern Orthodox day school…
The Baghdadi Jewish community owes a significant debt of gratitude to Indian cinema because its women were among the first to act in films, at great danger to their reputation, at a period when women’s participation in performing arts was frowned upon. The majority of India’s cinematic stars during the silent era were Jewish. However,…