Author: Krishnaraj Iyengar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: September 3, 2006
Introduction: Krishnaraj Iyengar profiles
the Jew who eats theplas, works on Sabbath and raises a cry when a restaurant
calls itself Hitler's Cross
Waves of Arabian sea glisten as the crystalline
froth between them almost shapes itself like the Hebrew word for peace
- shalom. A few weeks ago, some men from Navi Mumbai played havoc with the
shalom of Jews. They named their eating joint 'Hilter's Cross'. And just so
that nobody missed the bold German connection, embellished the signage
with the Swastik.
Indian Jews protested against the insensitivity
inside the peaceable synagogues. But once they stepped outside, they
vanished. A minuscule minority in this country, Jews are hard to spot on the
streets.
On a Mumbai beachfront, a car stereo plays
Hava Nagila, a song rarely heard in vehicles parked on Mumbai's beaches. The
man in the driver's seat munches on homemade theplas. Then in chaste Gujarati,
he tells this correspondent, "Aaj daryo amney nava ghere lavyo (it's
the same sea that brought us to our new home)."
Shading his eyes with goggles, the man with
oiled hair and a kaleidoscopic kippah (Jewish skull cap) then rewinds to a
past his ancestors knew firsthand. They were Abraham's descendants, who
reached the shores of India some 2000 years ago, to escape persecution.
Legend has it that after the destruction of
the First Temple of the Great King and Prophet David by the Babylonians, Jews
fled from Israel. Residents of the northern city of Galilee, it is said, headed
south-eastwards. Some landed at Aden, while most arrived at the western Konkan
coast of India, where a supposed shipwreck caused them to settle at Navgaon
near Alibaug. The first to arrive in India were the Bene Israelis or the Children
of Israel. DNA tests conducted by historian Tudor Parfit are said to have
traced the bloodline of Bene Israelis to that of the 'Cohaneem' high priests,
who belonged to the tribe of Levy, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Till date,
graves of their earliest settlers are to be found there. And till date, their
descendants call coastal Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat, their home.
Bene Israeils are better known in Maharashtra
as Shanivar Telis (Marathi for Saturday oil pressers). Traditionally,
they would not press oil every Saturday, which is the Sabbath and weekly holiday.
They are also often indistinguishable from their Hindu counterparts in appearance
and many practices. Victor Sassoon, a prominent member of the community,
considers the 'Benes' as more Maharashtrian than Jewish. "India
is the only nation where 'anti-Semitism' was a mere word. Jews have witnessed
absolutely no persecution here."
It is not surprising then to find many synagogues
of Mumbai in a predominantly Muslim locality. David Magen is one such synagogue
at Byculla, which interestingly also has a Muslim caretaker. This is where
India's only qualified Jewish scribe (sofir) and renowned scholar Sharon Binyamin
Galsurkar, who trained in Jerusalem, often prays.
Exchanging the common Abrahamic salutation
(peace be upon you) with a few local Muslims, Sharon then makes his way to
the Jewish boys' hostel close by, where he lives with his wife Sharona, a
Hebrew teacher. Going through the scriptures and translating them from Hebrew
to Marathi, Galsulkar arrives at the passage in the 'Book of Esther'. It reveals
an ancient connection between India and the Jews, and their presence in the
Persian empire. It reads: "Now it came to pass in the days of Akhashverosh
(a Persian king) who reigned 127 provinces from Hodu (India) as far as Koosh
(Ethiopia)."
The bearded scholar then narrates fascinating
tales about the first Jewish settlers of Maharashtra. One story talks of a
visiting rabbi, who discovered a Jewish home in Maharashtra. Having
met the resident, he began teaching him the Shema'a prayer, the first step
to Iudaism. After the session, the rabbi left the town and sailed into the
sea. This is when the devotee, who had forgotten a line or two, is said to
have almost "run on the waves" following his departed teacher.
Pleased by his dedication, the rabbi told him that the Lord would pardon his
incomplete recitation for he was sincere at heart. That, says Sharon, is the
spiritual mentality of the Indian Jew.
The other Jews to be found in the country
are the Baghdadis, Cochinis and their freshly discovered north-eastern
brothers, 'Ben Menashes' of Manipur and Mizoram. India's only resident rabbi
Joshua Kolet dates the arrival of Jews in Kerala back to the Sephardic
(Spanish) inquisition. The Baghdadis, who have a few synagogues around Mumbai,
were originally traders from Iraq who settled in the coastal cities of Mumbai
and Kolkata, also in an attempt to escape persecution. The legendary philanthropist
David Sassoon was among the most prominent Baghdadis in India. While the ancestors
of both Benes and Cochinis are supposed to have fled their motherland
after the destruction of the Temple, the Sephardim came at a later time, and
was known as the Pardesi or the White Jew. Recently, a Christian tribe
from Manipur and Mizoram claimed its roots to the ancient Jewish tribe
of Ben Menashe. It has now also been officially recognised by Israel. It is
believed that an elder of the tribe had a vision, commanding his people
to return to their original roots.
The various communities of Jews have interacted
with each other through the centuries. While Bene Israelis have been influenced
by the Sephardic traditions in their basic rites and rituals, it is believed
that visiting rabbis exhorted Cochin Jews to provide them with detailed education.
Interestingly, certain rituals like the thanksgiving
Maleeda ceremony of the Benes, and the Mehendi, which supposedly travelled
with the Muslim influence on Spanish Jews, combined with the traditional
Maharashtrian saree and mangalsutra, are unique to the Indian Jews. On this
sense of pluralism, Victor Sassoon, who proudly places several tiny idols
of Ganesha in his office, says: "It is a symbol of someone's affection
and faith. How can I possibly disregard the idols by claiming the sole superiority
of my religion."
