India is a land of stark contrasts and inconsistencies. “Anything you say about India, the reverse is equally true!” our local Indian guide told us right away. During our two-week trip to India, we discovered this to be true. In March, my husband, John Crouch, and I traveled to India with the Prime Minister’s Council…
Around Cochin at the turn of the twentieth century, the pardesi and Malabari Jews were a happy bunch. However, as time passed and the only country in the world that had never mistreated Jews gained independence from the British, the entire Jewish community of the region began to leave on their Aliyah, or call. There…
On an unassuming slate-gray sign, the words “Jew Town Road” are written in slate-gray English letters and Malayalam script, both of which are also outlined in white. If you’re from outside of India, you might find the name Jew Town to be offensive, but in Kochi—which historically has been known as Cochin—Jew Town is a…
In Hebrew, the Jewish people are referred to as am Olam, which can be translated as “a world people,” but means much more. Olam can be translated as “world,” but it is more accurately rendered as “universe” in the sense that it encompasses both space and time. Indeed, during the Protestant Reformation, the word Olam…
After living and prospering in India from ancient times, the Jews of Cochin immigrated to Israel in the 1950s. They established a synagogue and museum in the Nevatim community a few decades after settling in Israel. Other Indian Jewish communities in Israel, such as the Bene Israel and Baghdadi Jews, are also interested in showcasing…
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….
(JTA) — KOCHI, India — Today, a stroll along this seaside city’s “Jew street” will reveal lively Kasmiri businesses offering Persian antiques, pashmina shawls, and traditional Islamic handicrafts – a sharp contrast to the neighborhood’s heyday, when every household was Jewish. “In Jew Town, there are only two people left. Shalva Weil, a senior researcher…
The Jews of Cochin, India, combine two cultures in their city on the Malabar coast, much like a nice kosher dish. The Last Jews of Cochin: Jewish Identity in Hindu India (University of South Carolina Press; 352 pages; $39.95) by Nathan Katz, a professor of religious studies at the University of South Florida, and Ellen…
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…