Growing Up Jewish in India is a historical description of India’s major Jewish communities, synagogues, and unique Jewish customs. It traces how Jews arrived in the vast subcontinent at various times and from various locations, both residing in various locations within the larger Indian community and eventually creating a diaspora within the larger Jewish diaspora…
Category: Books
The Last Jews of Kerala
Trade networks and the destruction of Jerusalem drove Jewish settlers to seek refuge across Europe and Asia two thousand years ago. Kerala, in tropical southwestern India, was home to one of the lesser-known groups. They flourished, eventually reaching in the hundreds and having eight synagogues. Some acquired huge estates and plantations, and many others benefited…
An Indian Play in Warsaw
On July 18, 1942, four days before the start of the Great Deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, the residents of its orphanage produced a performance. Janusz Korczak, the orphanage’s famed director, chose the Bengali poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore’s poem Dak Ghar (The Post Office) for the youngsters. It depicts the narrative of a dying…
‘Growing Up Jewish in India’ review: Here, there, and everywhere
History of Indian Jews in India, including their past, present, and future. Few communities feel a sense of connection to two countries they regard as their own: Jews refer to India as their motherland, and Israelis refer to Israel as their fatherland. Growing Up Jewish in India, compiled by Ori Z. Soltes, is a book…
The Jews of India
Many people may be aware of this. For over a millennium, India has had resident Jewish populations. Jewish merchants and sailors from West Asia have made regular visits for at least two millennia. This book tells the story of the three strands of Indian Jews—the ancient Bene Israel and Cochini Jewish communities, as well as…
The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity
“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. The book’s chapters on schools, institutions, and culture show how Baghdadis in India managed…
The Jews of Andhra Pradesh: Contesting Caste and Religion in South India
In today’s world, what does it mean to be Jewish? This book investigates the Bene Ephraim community of Madiga Dalits from rural Andhra Pradesh, India, who declared their allegiance to the Lost Tribes of Israel towards the end of the twentieth century, shedding new theoretical light on the subject. Yulia Egorova and Shahid Perwez present…
The Baghdadi Jews in India: maintaining communities, negotiating identities and creating super-diversity
“This book looks at how the Baghdadi Jewish community changed dramatically overtime during their stay in India from the end of the 18th century until they moved on to Indian diasporas in Israel and English-speaking countries around the world after India became independent in 1947. Chapters on schools, institutions, and culture show how Baghdadis in…
Jews in British India: Identity in a Colonial Era
Joan Roland focuses on the Bene Israel and Baghdadis in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, describing how identities formed under the Indian caste system changed under British colonial rule, and how the struggle for Indian independence and the establishment of a Jewish homeland raised even more questions. Source: https://www.brandeis.edu/tauber/publications/books/roland-india.html
Discover the world of Indian Jewish cuisine
Readers were curious why I opted to write “Bene Appetit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews,” which was published by HarperCollins. My response is straightforward. In India, there are 5,000 Jews, down from around 30,000 in the mid-1950s and 1960s. When a community’s population declines, traditional foods begin to vanish. Because food represents memory and culture,…