Who Are the Jews of India? by Nathan Katz

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Who Are the Jews of India? by Nathan Katz

Book Review by Ruchira Paul

 

Of all the Jewish communities in the Diaspora, the Indian Jews were

among the oldest and perhaps the most interesting. They adjusted

without assimilating within the larger culture and were not

persecuted in any way by the majority Hindu community. Nathan Katz's

book, " Who Are the Jews of India? " is an in-depth account of the

history of Indian Jews. For those who are interested in learning

about this once tiny (now fast disappearing) but influential

community, Katz's book will be a rich source of information.

Attractive black and white photographs accompany the text.

 

Within a year of each other, India gained independence from Britain

and Israel was established as a Jewish state. After these two

events, the majority of Indian Jews left for Israel, UK, Australia

and other places. Despite the presence of some prominent Jews on the

Indian cultural scene of my youth (poet Nissim Ezekiel, actors David

Abraham and Nadira, cartoonist Abu Abraham) and a Jewish distant

cousin in my family, I never paid much attention to the history and

heritage of Indian Jews until much later. Actually, not until I

became acquainted with Jews in America.

 

To paraphrase historian Bernard Lewis, Judaism flourished in Europe

and the Islamic world not inspite of but BECAUSE of the hostility of

the Christian and the Muslim hosts (Christians being much more

brutal than Muslims). Lewis concludes that it was the fear and the

adversity of living as a beleaguered minority that lent vibrancy to

Judaism and its scholarship in Europe and the middle east. He goes

on to assert that in China and India, two countries where Jews were

welcome and remained unmolested by the majority culture, Judaism

atrophied and assimilated into the host culture. Katz argues the

opposite - that it was precisely the welcome and respect accorded

to Indian Jews that enabled them to continue being fully observant

Jews while being respectful of the host nation's religions and

culture. According to Katz, " Indian Jews lived as all Jews should

have been allowed to live: free, proud, observant, creative and

prosperous, self-realized, full contributors to the host community.

 

Then, when twentieth century conditions permitted they returned en

masse to Israel, which they had always proclaimed to be their true

home despite India's hospitality. The Indian chapter is one of the

happiest of the Jewish Diaspora. " Whatever the truth, Nathan Katz

paints India as an idyllic and tranquil haven within the turbulent

and sometimes tragic Jewish history - somewhat like the present day

USA.

 

Jews arrived in India in three distinct waves. The exact date of

the earliest arrival is murky, wrapped as it is in several myths and

legends. The date goes back to as early as the destruction of the

first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, to the 2nd century A.D. The

second influx is thought to have occured around the 10th century A.D

and the last one in the 1800's. Three culturally distinct

communities of Indian Jews arose around these separate groups of

immigrants.

 

The Bene Israel (sons of Israel): The earliest arrivals on the

Konkani coast of western India close to Bombay, the Bene Israel, a

peasant community, practiced a vestigial, attenuated form of Judaism

and did not even call themselves Jews. They knew they had arrived

from outside India but could not recall from where. That they were

different from the surrounding communities of Hindus, Muslims and

Zoroastrians (Parsis), was clear only from a few unique observances

the significance of which the Bene Israels could not explain.

 

Without knowing why, they rested from sundown on Friday to sundown

on Saturday, circumcised their boys on the eighth day after birth

and called their prayer Shema. In fact their Judaism was recognized

by Christian missonaries and other Jews probably around the 18th

century when the name Bene Israel was bestowed on them. Up until

then, mostly employed in the business of pressing oil, they were

known as " Shaniwari Telis " or " Saturday Oil Pressers " - not because

they pressed oil on Saturdays but because they fastidiously avoided

doing so. On Saturdays, their Hindu neighbors tended to their cattle

because the Bene Israelis would not leave their homes to do any farm

chores. Thus, according to Katz, " the Shabbat kept the Jew rather

than the Jew keeping the Shabbat. "

 

The Cochin Jews: The most integrated of Indian Jews, this group

arrived in Kerala, a coastal state in south west India sometime in

the 10th or the 11th century. The Cochin Jews became prosperous

landowners, businessmen, influential with the local rulers and fully

aware of and conversant in their Jewish heritage. They built the

first synagogue in India. The beautiful Cochin synagogue which was

built next door to a Hindu temple, is to this day a tourist

attraction. Scrupulously observant of Judaism in their private and

public lives, it is interesting to note how the Cochin Jews

emphasized certain beliefs and invented practices to mirror the

religious beliefs of their Hindu hosts. For example, they introduced

a tradition of circumnavigating the synagogue with the Rabbi

carrying the torah and the congregation following in a procession,

much as the Hindus do around a temple with offerings for the

residing deity. They may even have practiced a form of caste system

by limiting social intercourse between dark and fair skinned members

of their community. The Jews of Kerala did not think of themselves

as anything but Indians. They served the Maharajahs, the British and

then participated in India's freedom movement like most other Indian

communities.

 

The Baghdadi Jews: This last group arrived in India from the end of

the 18th to the middle of the 19th century, mostly from Iraq but

also from several other countries such as Syria, Jordan, Yemen,

Afghanistan and also Iran to avoid persecution by Muslim rulers in

that region. This Arabic and Persian speaking group of Sephardic and

Mizrahi Jews was collectively known as the Baghdadi Jews. Unlike the

previous two communities, the Baghdadi Jews considered themselves

subjects of the British Raj rather than Indians. They never fully

integrated into mainstream Indian society, remaining aloof, choosing

to interact with Indians only for business dealings. They built

schools, synagogues, hospitals and cemeteries to service only

Baghdadi Jews. Considering themselves more authentic and a better

class of Jews, their treatment of the other two older Indian Jewish

communities, especially the Bene Israels was harsh and quite

contemptuous. In fact the Baghdadis may have practiced the first

real brand of Jewish " caste system " in India. Based primarily in

Bombay (Mumbai), Calcutta and Rangoon (Yangon), many Baghdadis had

been wealthy businessmen in their original homelands. In India they

started with import and export with the middle east, Turkey and

Europe. Later, they expanded their trade to the east into Burma,

Malaya, Singapore, China and even Japan. The Baghdadi Jews dealt

with merchandize as diverse as carpets, gems, textile and opium. In

fact, the first big money made in India by the most famous Baghdadi

Jewish family, the Sassoons of Bombay, was by acting as procurers of

opium for the British government which was at that time conducting

its notorious opium war in China. The Sassoon family later became

very, very wealthy by diversifying into real estate and textile

mills. Their vast wealth earned them the name of " Rothschilds of the

east. " Baghdadi Jews built some grand and ornate synagogues in

Bombay, Calcutta and Pune. It was this newly arrived Jewish group's

steadfast allegiance to the British Crown rather than to India, that

may have soured Indian - Jewish relations somewhat during India's

freedom movement. At the time of India's independence in 1947 and

the creation of Israel in 1948, the Indian Jews for the first time

felt conflicted about their " homeland. " Most chose Israel and the

exodus of Jews from India was nearly complete by the 1950's. The

number of Indian Jews in India is now very small and consists mostly

of elderly members.

 

Fast forward to the late twentieth and the early twenty first

century. Although India formally recognized Israel in 1950, the two

countries established full diplomatic relations only in 1992. Israel

has a soft spot for India because of the happy history of the Jews

of India. Now the two countries are quite close although India must

walk a tight rope to keep its friends in the Islamic world reassured

that friendship with Israel does not compromise older alliances.

Right wing fanatics in both countries would like precisely that - a

well armed hostile Indo- Israeli coalition against Muslims - a

dangerous alliance by any measure.

 

A light hearted aside on the new India - Israel lovefest. Israelis

are justifiably thrilled to have found a large friendly nation in

that part of the world which welcomes them and also offers some

spectacular tourism experience. Nowadays, many Indian cities and

small towns are awash with Israelis, especially the young who arrive

in throngs for much needed R & R at the end of their compulsory

military service. In areas popular with the Israelis, many

shopkeepers and hotel employees speak smatterings of Hebrew and

Internet Cafes offer Hebrew keyboards. Visiting Israeli military and

government officials declare expansively that in India they have

found one billion members of the lost tribe of Israel !

 

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