The largest Jewish community of Indian
Jews is that of the Bene Israel. Earlier the Bene Israel lived in the
villages of west Maharashtra in the Konkan coast. In
the nineteenth century they started moving to the cities, mainly to Bombay
(now called Mumbai) and to other cities
among them Pune, Ahmadabad and
Karachi which is now part of Pakistan. From 1950 onwards they started
immigrating to Israel. The
Bene Israel community was completely isolated from most of the other Jewish
communities of the world. They are known as Bene Israel because that’s how
they called themselves. The Bene Israel believe that their forefathers
arrived in India before the destruction of the second temple. The accepted
version is that their forefathers were sailing in a commercial ship from the
Land of Israel to India. The ship wrecked near the coast of Konkan. From the
ship survived 14 people, seven men and seven women. They swam towards the
land and arrived at the village called Navgaon. All their belongings drowned
in the sea. The dead bodies of the others from the ship were buried in the
village. The survivors somehow managed to settle in the village and started
working in agriculture and oil producing which later on became their main
profession. As time passed the descendants of the survivors forgot Hebrew and
their religious tradition. But they carried out some of the Israeli
tradition. The Bene Israels observed Sabbath
(Saturday) and abstained on this day from any work. They circumcised their
sons on the eighth day after birth. They didn’t eat fish which didn’t had
fins and scales. They observed a few Israeli festivals and called them by
Indian names, but until their association with other Jewish communities they
weren’t aware of the Hanukkah festival and the ninth of Ab fast. These two
traditions became part of Jewish tradition after the destruction of the
second Temple and therefore the belief that the Bene Israels forefathers
arrived in India before the destruction of the second temple. On each
religious occasion such as marriage; circumcision or death the Bene Israelis
used to recite the ‘Shema’ verse. The Bene Israel community grew and they
became a guild or an Indian caste with
the profession of oil pressers. They left their first village, Navgaon, and
dispersed to other villages and towns in the coast of Konkan becoming the oil
producers and oil pressers of their respective villages. From the names of
the villages and towns; like Roha, Pen, Pali or Ashtam; they derived their
surnames like Rohekar; Penkar; Palkar; Ashtamkar and such others. The Bene
Israels used to abstain from any work on Saturday (which wasn’t an acceptable
feature in India) and were therefore called ‘Shenwar Teli’ meaning ‘Saturday
oil pressers’. According to Bene Israel tradition,
somewhere between 1000 AD to 1400 AD a Jewish merchant, David Rahabi, arrived
in west India. The Bene Israels believe that Rahabi was Moses Maimonides (a
very respected Jewish scholar also called ‘Rambam’) brother. Rahabi was
surprised to find this Bene Israel community which followed some Jewish
traditions and festivals. He decided to enlighten them with all the Jewish
traditions. He chose three men from the Bene Israel community and taught them
Talmud and other Jewish books. These three people became to be known as
‘Kaji’ (meaning judge in Arabic) and were religious and social leaders of the
Bene Israel community. And so, it is believed, began the revivification of
the Bene Israel Jews towards Judaism. Later on in the eighteenth century Cochini
Jews and other Jewish communities also began to associate religiously with
the Bene Israel Jews. A very important non-Jewish community
that had an impact on the Bene Israel was the Christian
missionaries. In the eighteenth century many Christian missionaries came to
India. Some of them had anthropological interest in India. They began with
their own theories about the origins of Bene Israel and other researchers
including the Bene Israel themselves also began theorizing the origins of the
Bene Israel. Different researchers came to different conclusions. Among the
theories there were a few which came to conclusion that the Bene Israel’s
forefathers arrived in India before the destruction of the second Temple and
this is because the Bene Israel (meaning children of Israel) did not call
themselves Jews (In the narrow sense the Jews are descendants only from the
two of the twelve tribes of Children Of Israel, Yehuda and Benjamin) . For
the same reason others concluded that the Indian Bene Israel are from the
‘Lost Tribes’ which are the ten tribes (of the twelve tribes of the Children
Of Israel) whom the Assyrians exiled from the Land Of Israel in 800 BC and
what happened of them is not known (and are therefore called Lost Tribes) .
Others concluded that the Bene Israel originate from the tribes of Zvulun and
Asher and that’s because the Bene Israel engaged in the profession of oil
pressing which is believed to be the profession popular among the tribes of
Zvulun and Asher. Other reasons that support the theory that the Bene Israel
Jews are in India for over 2000 years is the fact that they weren’t aware of
the main Jewish tradition which evolved in Judaism between 200 BC to 300 AD.
Others concluded that the Bene Israel are Jews who came to India from Arab
countries at a much later period, somewhere around the seventh century AD.
And there are other theories, among them is that the Bene Israel aren’t at
all of Israeli origin. With the revival of Judaism among the
Bene Israel by David Rahabi, he selected three men to be the religious
leaders of the community and called them ‘Kaji’. These Kajis fulfilled all
the religious jobs of the community. The Kaji’s profession was hereditary.
From the eighteenth century the Bene Israel developed contact and
communication with other Jewish communities especially with the ‘Cochini’
Jews who lived in the southern part of India the present state of Keralla and
with Jews from Iraq and Yemen. The contacts and communication with the Yemen
Jews started when Bene Israels, who were soldiers in the Indian-British army,
were posted at Aden in Yemen. The Bene Israel in Aden had their prayer hall
in Aden and later on brought Yemenite Jewish cantors to India and so adopting
the Yemenite style of praying (Because of the
Yemenite way of praying some researchers wrongly presume that the Bene Israel
originate from Yemen). In the first synagogues of the Bene
Israel Jews the cantors were mainly Yemenite or Iraqi or Cochini. After the
cantors, the Bene Israel began to bring to India Jewish circumciser and
butchers from Yemen and so the Kajis lost their traditional position as head
of the community. Yemenite cantor
listens while a Bene Israel blows the shofar The Bene Israels have a few Jewish
customs almost unique only to them. The community members almost in every
thanksgiving ceremony maintain a ritual called ‘Malida’. Malida is a home
ritual in which the men sit around a plate full of roasted rice, fruits,
spices and flowers. In this ceremony they sing songs praising the Lord. In
the main song they also praise Prophet Elaija as the precursor of the
Messiah. The Bene Israel legend also narrates of two occasions when Prophet
Elaija visited them and returned to heaven. The first occasion occurred
immediately after the arrival of Bene Israel to the coast of Konkan. On this
occasion he revivified the unconscious Bene Israels who swam to the beach
from the sea. The second occasion occurred at a much latter period. At this
visit the Bene Israel believe, Prophet Elaija also left a footprint from
where he rose to heaven. In this place in the village of Khandala near Alibag
(there is also a tourist town by the same name near Pune in Maharashtra and
that’s a different place) the Bene Israels used to have religious rituals.
Another custom unique to the Bene Israel was abstaining from eating beef. The
majority of Indians are Hindus. The
Hindus believe that cow is sacred and therefore to maintain good relations
with their Hindu neighbors they abstained from eating beef and instead eat
mutton. Another custom of the Bene Israel inspired by their Hindu neighbors
was, not remarrying of widows and not maintaining the levirate marriage (a
Jewish custom which commands marriage between the widow and her dead
husband’s brother if the man dies childless) . The Bene Israels were also
less strict about the Kosher laws. They didn’t keep two complete sets of
kitchen utensils but only two sets of cooking utensils. The Bene Israels divide their community
into two groups. ‘Gora’ and
‘Kala’. Gora (meaning white) are
majority in the community and their both parents are of Jewish religion. Kala
(meaning black) is the smaller group whose father is
of Israeli origin but mother is non-Jewish. These two groups use to pray
together but the Goras didn’t accept the Kalas as complete Jews and didn’t
mingle with them, nor did they marry with them. The Goras also didn’t allow
the Kalas to hold the ‘Sefer’ or to blow the ‘Shofar’. The first Bene Israel synagogue built by
Samuel Divekar in 1796. Divekar with other Bene Israels served as a soldier
of the British in India. In one of the wars against the kingdom of Mysore in
south India, he with other British Indian soldiers was captured. The King of
Mysore, Tipu Sultan, was a Muslim. He
used to execute the captured soldiers, but when his mother heard of the Bene
Israel captives, she begged her son to spare the Bene Israel soldiers because
the Bene Israel are referred to in the holy Muslim Koran as the Chosen People
of the Almighty. Many claim that if the Bene
Israels had called themselves Yehudi (Jew) and not Bene Israel they would
have been executed because the Koran looks negatively at Jews but in more
positive way at the Bene Israels. After being
spared Samuel Divekar decided to thank the Lord by building a synagogue.
Later on more synagogue were build by the Bene Israels in India. There was
even a Reform Jewish synagogue built in 1925. Among the synagogues, the
synagogue in the town of Panvel (near Mumbai) is considered special and
sacred where it is believed, prayers are fulfilled. Until the twentieth century the Bene
Israels referred to themselves as Bene Israels or Israels and not as Jews. In
the twentieth century they slowly began to
refer to themselves as Jews but normally they used to refer to themselves as
Bene Israel and to the Jews from Arab countries who settled in India
(Baghdadi Jews) as ‘Yehudi’. In some of the birth certificates and other
legal documents of the early twentieth century their religion was specified
as ‘Bene Israel’ and not Jew. Many Indians (non-Jewish) of west Maharashtra
even today refer to Jews as Bene Israel or Israel and not as ‘Jew’. The Bene Israel as a community weren’t a powerful influential
community in their local areas but there were among them some who advanced to
high ranks in the armies of local rulers. Some of them also got land from the
local rulers as a prize for their services. After the British arrived to
India, many Bene Israels joined the British forces in India and fought for
the British Empire in their different wars around the world. Later on the
Bene Israels adopted the profession of building contractors and other new
modern professions that emerged in India such as office clerks, law, modern
medicine and other professions. There
were some Bene Israels who reach to high positions of judges, lawyers,
doctors, institute managers and administrative or other high ranking officers
in government services. The Bene Israel’s population at their height was perhaps 30000 in
India and that was in the 1950s. Proportionally they weren’t even 0.01% of
the Indian population. Since the 1950s most of the Bene Israel have
immigrated to Israel, and some to English speaking countries like Australia
and England. Today in India there are less than 5000 Bene Israels, most of
them live in Thana a suburb of Mumbai (Bombay). India's
Bene Israel by Shirley Isenberg. A Comprehensive Inquiry and
Sourcebook:-Even though this book isn't always
available at Amazon.This is the book for those interested in the Bene Israel
community. This book has lot of information about the Bene Israel community
and also about Jewish culture and history. In this book you will also find
information about Indian society. |
Orle-Israel Synagugue, Nandgaon Beth-El
Synagogue,Rewdanda
Aaron Solomon (Ph.D.)
& Shulamith Solomon (Ph.D.)
1. History
Languages
spoken: Marathi, English
Population:
1940's
was 26000
1980's
was 6000
1990's
4000
Arrival : The Bene-Israel claimed to be descendents of the ten tribes of
Israel who were shipwrecked off the west coast of India, near Nawgaon on the
Konkan Coast in the second Century B.C.E. Only seven couples survived and their
offsrings were cut off from other Jewish communities for centuries (Sadok
Masliyah, 1994). They were jews who escaped persecution in Galilee in the
Second century BCE. They maintained the practices of Jewish Dietary laws,
circumcision and observance of Sabbath as a day of rest. In the 18th century
they were discoverd by traders from Bagdad and at that time they were
practicing just a few outward forms of Judaism. However, different Theories
suggest they arrived from Palestine, Yemen, Persia, Babylon.
Assimilation: The Indian caste system enabled the
Bene-Israel to blend into the Indian Society without losing their own
distinctive Jewish Character. The Evils of the caste system in India, proved to
intact this Jewish group as the caste system did not allow intermarriage with
other castes. Thus the Bene-Israels were not totally assimilated into the Hindu
society. (Sadok Masliyah, 1994) The community seemed to have eroded through emigration
to Israel during the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's. In Israel a number of them
prospered but faced sometimes subtle, sometimes blatent discrimination and had
to eventually fight a political battle to be recognized as Jews in instances of
marriages with other ethnic groups. (Frank Conlon 1994) The Bene-Israel
coomunity are found in Israel in cities such as Ashdod, Lod, Ramle, Beersheba.
Information on
the Charikars (from the book by H. S. Kehimkar, 1937)
The Churrikars (Charikars) take up the first place in the place, in the
point of chronological order. We have have no authentic information as to the
founder of this family, except that one Aaron belonging to it supposed to be
its founder was appointed Nayek or Commander of a fleet by Khanoji Angria about
the beginning of the 17th century. He performed his duties so satisfactorily
that he recived some land in Inam (gift) from the chieftains. It is still in
possession of his descendent, and is enjoyed in perpetuity, though they have it
is said to pay some land tax to the the prsent government. The Churrikars held
the most important and responsible post of Naik or Comammder of the Angria
fleet until it was burnt by the Peshwas in 1793. Besides the land granted to
them in Inam they received a Sanad (honor) entitling them to receive a special
honor and precedence from the local members of the Bene-Israel community.
2. Names and
addresses of Synagogues in Bombay (marked with an asterisk
are Bagdadi Synagogues)
Bombay
a. Magen
Hassidim Synagogue, 8 Morland Road, Agripada, Bombay.(built 1904)
b. Gate of
Mercy, (Shaar Harahamin) 254 Samuel Street, Mandvi, Bombay 400003. (built
1796)
c. Knesseth
Elyahhoo, 43 Dr. V. S. Gandhi Marg, Fort, Bombay 400001. (*) (built 1884)
d. Magen
David Synagogue, 340 Sir J.J. Road, Byculla, Bombay 400008. (*)
(built 1861)
e. Shaar
HaShamaim Synagogue, Jansetji Maneckji Raod, Tembi Naka, Thane 400601 (built
1878)
f. Shaare
Rason Synagogue, 90 Tantanpura Street, Kodak, Bombay 400009. (Built 1840)
g. Tifereth
Israel Synagogue, 92 K. K. Marg, Jacob Circle, Bombay 400011. (built 1886)
h. Etz Haeem Prayer
Hall, 2nd Lane, Umerkhadi, Bombay 400009. (built 1888)
i. Kurla
Bene-Israel Prayer Hall, 275 S. G. Barve Road, Kurla West, Bombay 400070.
(built 1948)
j. Bene-Israel
Prayer Hall, Bandra, Bombay. (built 1930)
k. Rodef
Shalom Synagogue Sussex road, Byculla, Bombay 400027. (built 1925)
Outside Bombay
Pune
a. Ohel David Synagogue, Pune Camp, Pune 411001.
(built
1867)
b. Succoth
Shelomo Synagogue, 93 Rasta Peth, Pune 411001 (built 1921)
Villages
c. Magen Aboth Synagogue, Alibag. (built 1848)
d. Bet-el
Synagogue, Revdanda. (built 1842)
e. Talekar
Synagogue, Post Chordee, Talekar. Closed
f. Beth El
Synagogue, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Panvel, 410206. (built 1849)
g. Knesseth
Israel Synagogue, Talley Ghosaley, Mangaon Tehsil. (built 1849)
h. Beth Ha
Elohim Synagogue, Pen (built 1863)
i. Hesed-El
Synagogue, Poynad (built 1866)
j. Shaare
Shalom Synagogue, Murud Janjira. (built 1869) Closed.
k. Ambepur Synagogue, Ambepur. (built 1882) Closed.
l. Bet- El
Synagogue, Ashtami, Roha. (built 1882) Closed.
m. Shahar
HaTephillah Synagogue, Mhesala. (built 1886) Closed
n. Or-Le Israel
Synagogue, Nandgaon. (built 1896) Closed.
Ahmedabad
Magen Abraham
Synagogue, Bukhara Moholla, Opp Parsi Agiary Ahmedabad . (built 1933)
Calcutta
Beth-El
Synagogue,26/1 Pollock Street, Calcutta.
New Delhi
Judah Hyam
Hall, 2 Humayun Road (near Taj Mahal Hotel), New Delhi 110003. (Tel: 463-5500)
Jewish
cemeteries in Bombay are located at Mazagaon Road, Grant Road, Haines Road and
Delisle Road (Bagdadi).
a. Sir Jacob
Sassoon High School, Sir J. J. Road, Byculla, Bombay 400008.
b. Sir Elly
Kadorie School,Mazgaon, Bombay.
c. ORT India,
Elly Kadorie School Compound, Mazgaon, Bombay 400010. Tel: 376-2430
d. ORT for
Girls, Worli, Bombay. Tel: 4968423, 4968457, 4962350.
d. E. E.
Sassoon School, Byculla, Bombay 400008.
4. Places of
Interest on the Bene-Israel
a. Nawgaon:
Site of their first landing. This is the site where the jews first landed in
India. It is a small village and a memorial structure has been erected here.
The graves of those jews who perished at this location is also found at this
village. There were 2 mass graves contsructed here one for the males and the
other for the females by the locals of this village.
b. Alibag: Synagogue. Alibag is a small town located 19
miles from Bombay. Here the Magen Aboth Synagogue was constructed in 1848. Many
jews owned in this town, plots of land used for farming, rasing livestock, etc.
Later many of these jews shifted to Bombay during the British period.
c. Pen:
Synagogue
d. Khandala
(off Alibag village). There is a legend in the Bene-Israel about the
horse shoe with carriage marks in a rock on this site. According to the legend,
the holy jewish saint Elyahou Ha'nnabi horse driven carriage was seen on this
site going toward heaven.
address for Aaron Solomon solomon@umbsky.cc.umb.edu
Shulamith Solomon, 2/8 Rekov Rambam, Azor Beth, Ashdod, Israel. Tel :
08-8564150.
a.
Haeem Samuel Kehimker. 1937. The History of the Bene-Israel of India. Dayag
Press, Tel-Aviv.
b.
Moses Ezekiel. 1948. History and Culture of the Bene-Israel in India. Bombay.
c.
Benjamin J. Israel. 1963. Religious evolution among the Bene-Israel of
India since 1750. Bombay.
d.
Shellim Samuel. 1963. Treatise on the Origin and early history of the Bene-Israel
of Maharashtra. Bombay.
e.
Schifra Strizower. 1971. The Children Of Israel: The Bene-Israel of India.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
f.
Carl Gussin. 1972. Bene-Israel of India: Political, Religious and systematic
change (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University).
g.
Ezekial Barber. 1981. The Bene-Israel in India: Images and reality. University
Press of America, Washington.
h.
Benjamin J. Israel. 1984. The Bene-Israel of India. New York.
i.
Thomas A. Timberg. 1986. Jews in India. Vikas Press, New Delhi.
j.
Shirley B. Isenberg. 1988. India's Bene-Israel: A comprehensive Inquiry.
Berkeley. J. L. Museum.
k.
Joan G. Roland. 1989. The Jews in British India: Identity in a colonial era.
Hanover, NH. University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press.
l.
Shulmith Solomon. 1991. Ph. D. Thesis. "The Bene-Israel of the Konkan
Coast of Maharashtra: An Ethanographic Study" Bombay Univeristy,
Bombay.
m.
Sadok Masliyah. 1994. The Bene-Israel and the Bagdadis: Two Indian Jewish
Communities in conflict. Judaism Volume 43, No3 pp279-293.
n.
Illana Sugbaker and Ammiel Alcalay. 1994. Memories of an Indian upbringing. The
Literary Review Volume 37. No2, pp266.
o.
Nathan Katz. Editor. 19-- . Studies on Indian Jewish Identity. Manohar
Publishers New Delhi.
Address of
the Israeli Embassy, Rabbi, Mohels, etc. in Bombay
Kailas, 50 G.
Deshmukh Marg, Peddar Road, Bombay 400026. Tel :386-2793/4/5
Name and
address of the Rabbi in Bombay: Mr. Abraham Benjamin, c/o Sir
Jacob Sassoon High School, Byculla, Bombay 400008..
Mohels: 1. Dr E.
Kolet 2. Mr. Moses Phansapurkar
Kosher
food (bakery, wine & meat products) in Bombay can be
obtained from ORT,Worli, Bombay. Tel: 4968423, 4968457, 4962350.
(Price of Kosher meat is approx Rs72/kg).
Jewish Organizations in Bombay
1. BZA (Bombay
Zionist Organization)
2. Council of Indian
Jewry, c/o Jewish Club, Jerro Bldg, 137 M. G. Road, Bombay. Tel: 271628.
3. Jewish
Federation of India
4. JRU (Jewish
Religious Youth)
5. Maccabi
Sports Association
6. American
Joint Distribution Organization. 3 Rodef Shalom, Susses Road, Byculla, Bombay
400008. Tel: 3760548, 3733444.
7. Young
Pioneers
8. Jewish
Relief Assocaition. Sheriar Mansion, Sir J. J. Road, Bombay 400008. Tel:
3079063.
Disclaimer:
This Web Site was created and is maintained for information regarding
the Bene-Israel and is not a guarantee for authenticity of dates and materials.
The authors disclaim any liability and information used is at your own risk.
The purpose of this web page was to have information and a collection of
links on the Bene Israel together on one comprehensive page. They have been
away from their homeland for centuries but still followed their Jewish customs,
attented Jewish schools, built Jewish Synagogues and observed Jewish dietary
laws, festivals and ceremonies thus truly and faithfully maintaining their
Jewish identity.
Site Created July 20, 2000 . (17,Tamouz-5760)
by DAVID SHALOM
& Benedicta Pereira
Last revised: January 22,2001 (27-Teveth-5761)
This web page is always under
© David Shalom& Benedicta
Pereira
2001-2002
5761-5762
allowed to use with acknowledgements