Misplaced Pages

#148851

49-565: The language originated among Jews living in various regions of Iraq. With the migration of Iraqi Jews to other countries, the language spread to those new locations. In Israel, the language was widely used among Jews who immigrated from Iraq, and to this day, many Israelis, including those whose parents immigrated from Iraq, continue to use it. The language was also used in the Baghdadi community in India and other communities of Jewish Iraqi immigrants in

98-594: A community of Sephardic Jews settled among the larger Cochin Jewish community located in Kerala , a coastal southern state of India. Paradesi Jews of Madras (now Chennai ) traded in Golconda diamonds , precious stones, and corals. They had very good relations with the rulers of Golkonda because they maintained trade connections to some foreign countries (e.g. Ottoman empire , Europe), and their language skills were useful. Although

147-534: A new synagogue and cemetery. They were traders and quickly became one of the most prosperous communities in the city. As philanthropists, some donated their wealth for public building projects. The Sassoon Docks and David Sassoon Library are famous landmarks still standing today. The synagogue in Surat was eventually razed; the cemetery, though in poor condition, can still be seen on the Katargam-Amroli road. One of

196-887: A scandal within Madras' colonial society. Governor Elihu Yale later achieved fame when he gave a large donation to the University of New Haven in Connecticut , which was then named after him — the Yale University . Elihu Yale and Hieromima de Paiva had a son, who died in South Africa. In 1670, the Portuguese population in Madras numbered around 3,000. Before his death, de Paiva established 'The Colony of Jewish Traders of Madraspatam' with Antonio do Porto, Pedro Pereira, and Fernando Mendes Henriques. This enabled more Portuguese Jews from Leghorn ,

245-565: A thriving Bene Israel community until the 1950s to 1960s, when many families from the community immigrated to Israel, where they are known as Hodi'im (Indians). The Bene Israel community has risen to many positions of prominence in Israel. In India, the Bene Israel community has shrunk considerably with many of the old synagogues in disuse. Unlike many parts of the world, Jews have historically lived in India with relatively little anti-Semitism from

294-629: Is concentrated in Mumbai , where 3,500 have remained from the 30,000 Jews registered there in the 1940s, divided into B'nei and Baghdadi Jews , though the Baghdadi Jews refused to recognize the B'nei Israel as Jews, and withheld dispensing charity to them for that reason. There are reminders of Jewish localities in Kerala still left such as synagogues. The majority of Jews from the old British-Indian capital of Calcutta (Kolkata) have also migrated to Israel over

343-510: Is contentious. The plates themselves provide a date of 379 CE, but in 1925, the tradition was setting it as 1069 CE, Joseph Rabban by Bhaskara Ravi Varma, the fourth ruler of Maliban granted the copper plates to the Jews. The plates were inscribed with a message stating that the village of Anjuvannam belonged to the Jews and that they were the rightful lords of Anjuvannam and it should remain theirs and be passed on to their Jewish descendants "so long as

392-477: Is controversial, and initially was not accepted by the Rabbinate in Israel. Since 1964 however they intermarried throughout Israel and are now considered Israeli and Jewish in all respects. They are divided into sub-castes that do not intermarry: the dark-skinned "Kala" and fair-skinned "Gora." The latter are believed to be lineal descendants of the shipwreck survivors, while the former are considered to descend from

441-492: Is generally considered pejorative or discriminatory and refers to relatively recent Jewish immigrants (end of the 15th century onward), predominantly Sephardim. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Paradesi Jews were Sephardi immigrants to the Indian subcontinent from Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries fleeing forcible conversion , persecution , and antisemitism . The Paradesi Jews of Cochin traded in spices. They are

490-628: Is mostly in Baghdad Jewish Arabic. It was the first movie filmed in Judeo-Iraqi Arabic. This article related to the Arabic language is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Israel -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of the Jews in India The history of the Jews in India dates back to antiquity . Judaism

539-458: Is no specific date or reason mentioned as to why they arrived in India, but Hebrew scholars date it to up to around the early Middle Ages. Cochin is a group of small tropical islands filled with markets and many different cultures such as Dutch, Hindu, Jewish, Portuguese, and British. The distinct Jewish community was called Anjuvannam . The still-functioning synagogue in Mattancherry belongs to

SECTION 10

#1732872946149

588-530: The Caribbean , London , and Amsterdam to settle in Madras. Coral Merchant Street was named after the Jews' business. Three Portuguese Jews were nominated to be aldermen of Madras Corporation. Three - Bartolomeo Rodrigues, Domingo do Porto, and Alvaro da Fonseca - also founded the largest trading house in Madras. The large tomb of Rodrigues, who died in Madras in 1692, became a landmark in Peddanaickenpet but

637-570: The Lost Tribes of Israel , the tribe of Menasseh. About 7,000 of the Bnei Menashe immigrated to Israel in 2011. The Bene Ephraim are a small group of Telugu -speaking Jews in eastern Andhra Pradesh whose recorded observance of Judaism, like that of the Bnei Menashe, is quite recent, dating only to 1991. There are a few families in Andhra Pradesh who follow Judaism. Many among them follow

686-469: The Madras Corporation . Three – Bartolomeo Rodrigues, Domingo do Porto and Alvaro da Fonseca – also founded the largest trading house in Madras. The large tomb of Rodrigues, who died in Madras in 1692, became a landmark in Peddanaickenpet, but was later destroyed. Samuel de Castro came to Madras from Curaçao and Salomon Franco came from Leghorn. In 1688, there were three Jewish representatives in

735-555: The Paradesi Jews , the descendants of Sephardim who were expelled from Spain in 1492 , although the Jewish community in Mattancherry adjacent to Fort Cochin had only six remaining members as of 2015. Central to the history of the Cochin Jews is their close relationship with Indian rulers, and this was eventually codified on a set of copper plates granting the community special privileges. The date of these plates, known as "Sâsanam",

784-453: The Shema and observation of Shabbat rest. They claim that they descend from 14 Jewish men and women, equally divided by gender, who survived the shipwreck of refugees from persecution or political turmoil, and came ashore at Navagaon near Alibag , 20 miles south of Mumbai, some 17 to 19 centuries ago. They were instructed in the rudiments of normative Judaism by Cochin Jews. Their Jewishness

833-559: The 16th century. The Jews lived peacefully for over a thousand years in Anjuvannam. After the reign of the Rabban's, the Jewish people no longer had the protection of the copper plates. Neighboring princes of Anjuvannam intervened and revoked all privileges that the Jewish people were given. In 1524, the Jews were attacked by the Moors brothers (Muslim Community) on suspicion that they were tampering with

882-694: The Caribbean, London, and Amsterdam who were of Portuguese origin and belonged to the Henriques De Castro, Franco, Paiva or Porto families. Jacques de Paiva , originally from the Amsterdam Sephardic community of Amsterdam, was an early Jewish arrival and the leader of the Madras Jewish community. He built the Madras Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery Chennai in Peddanaickenpet, which later became

931-503: The Indian city of Ernakulam , on land given to them by the Raja of Kochi. In 1644, the second Madras Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery Chennai was built by de Paiva, also from Amsterdam Sephardic community in Madras, Peddanaickenpet, which later became the south end of Mint Street. It was demolished by local government in 1934 and the tombstones were moved to the Central Park of Madras along with

980-704: The Madras Corporation. Most Jewish settlers resided in Coral Merchants Street in Muthialpet. They also had a cemetery , called Jewish Cemetery Chennai in the neighbouring Peddanaickenpet. Foreign notices of the Bene Israel go back at least to 1768, when Rahabi Ezekiel wrote to a Dutch trading partner that they were widespread in Maharatta Province, and observed two Jewish observances, recital of

1029-522: The Nazi regime. Most of these refugees arrived in India at the start of World War II and consequently were better positioned to find employment and shelter than many European Jews who were forced to leave amid war. Jewish refugees in British India were able to secure jobs in the arts and the service industry while a disproportionately large percentage of the migrants found employment in the medical field. Alongside

SECTION 20

#1732872946149

1078-428: The Portuguese population in Madras numbered around 3000. Before his death he established "The Colony of Jewish Traders of Madraspatam" with Antonio do Porto, Pedro Pereira and Fernando Mendes Henriques. This enabled more Portuguese Jews from Livorno, the Caribbean, London and Amsterdam, to settle in Madras. Coral Merchant Street was named after the Jews' business. Three Portuguese Jews were nominated to be aldermen of

1127-641: The Sephardim spoke Ladino (i.e. Judeo-Spanish), in India they learned Tamil and Konkani as well as Judeo-Malayalam from the Cochin Jews, also known as Malabar Jews . After India gained its independence in 1947 and Israel was established as a nation, most of the Malabar Jews made Aliyah and emigrated from Kerala to Israel in the mid-1950s. In contrast, most of the Paradesi Jews preferred to migrate to Australia and other Commonwealth countries, similar to

1176-607: The adoption of various Indian societal practices and customs, these jobs helped Jewish immigrants create a sense of their unique cultural place and identity as Jews within British India. Immigration policy within the British Empire in the late 1930s and early 1940s often complicated Jewish entry into British India. One requirement of wartime migrants entering British India was for their passports to be "valid for return," where British officials could repatriate refugees if they were deemed burdensome. The annexation of Austria in 1938 saw

1225-428: The army. One, Lt-Gen J. F. R. Jacob PVSM , became state governor of Goa (1998–1999), then Punjab , and later served as administrator of Chandigarh . Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham) became the first ever Miss India , in 1947. The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur who practice a form of biblical Judaism and claim descent from one of

1274-550: The choices made by Anglo-Indians . The East India Company (EIC) wanted to break the monopoly of Portugal in trading with Golconda diamonds and precious stones from the mines of Golkonda . The EIC entered India around 1600 and had built the Fort St. George (White Town) fortress by 1644 at the coastal city of Madras, now known as Chennai. EIC policy permitted only its shareholders to trade in Golconda diamonds and precious stones from

1323-630: The concubinage of a male with local women. They were nicknamed the shanivār telī ("Saturday oil-pressers") by the local population as they abstained from work on Saturdays. Bene Israel communities and synagogues are situated in Pen , Mumbai, Panvel, Alibag, Pune, and Ahmedabad with smaller communities scattered around India. The largest synagogue in Asia outside Israel is in Pune, the Ohel David Synagogue . Mumbai had

1372-564: The customs of Orthodox Jews , like wearing long beards men and using head coverings (men) and hair coverings (women) all the time. Judaism in Delhi is primarily focused on the expatriate community who work in Delhi, as well as Israeli diplomats and a small local community. In Paharganj , Chabad has set up a synagogue and religious center in a backpacker area regularly visited by Israeli tourists. Between 1938 and 1947, roughly 200 Jews illegally immigrated from Europe to India to escape persecution by

1421-513: The far east. In 1992, there were 120 Judeo-Iraqi Arabic speakers remaining in Iraq. In 2018, there were 94,000 speakers of the language in Israel. The best known variety is Baghdad Jewish Arabic , although other dialects were spoken in Mosul and elsewhere. The vast majority of Iraqi Jews have relocated to Israel and switched to Modern Hebrew as their first language . The 2014 film Farewell Baghdad

1470-842: The few remaining Cochin Jews. It is recorded that currently only 26 Jews live in Kerala, located in different parts of Kerala such as Cochin , Kottayam and Thiruvalla . John Jacob is one of Kerala's most senior Jews, who currently lives in Kaviyoor village, Thiruvalla , Pathanamthitta District. In Mala, Thrissur District, the Malabar Jews have a Synagogue and a cemetery, as well as in Chennamangalam , Parur and Ernakulam . There are at least seven existing synagogues in Kerala , although not serving their original purpose anymore. Jews also settled in Madras (now Chennai) soon after its founding in 1640. Most of them were coral merchants from Livorno ,

1519-605: The graves within is that of Moseh Tobi, buried in 1769, who was described as 'ha-Nasi ha-Zaken' (The Elder Prince) by David Solomon Sassoon in his book A History of the Jews in Baghdad (Simon Wallenburg Press, 2006, ISBN   184356002X ). Baghdadi Jewish populations spread beyond Bombay to other parts of India, with an important community forming in Calcutta ( Kolkata ). Scions of this community did well in trade (particularly jute and tea ), and in later years contributed officers to

Judeo-Iraqi Arabic - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-618: The last six decades. Paradesi Jews Paradesi Jews refer to Jewish immigrants to the Indian subcontinent during the 15th and 16th centuries following the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal . Paradesi means foreign in Malayalam and Tamil . These Sephardic immigrants fled persecution and death by burning in the wake of the 1492 Alhambra Decree and King Manuel 's 1496 decree expelling Jews from Portugal. They are sometimes referred to as "White Jews", although that usage

1617-518: The local majority populace, the Hindus . However, Jews were persecuted by the Portuguese during their control of Goa. The first known Baghdadi Jewish immigrant to India, Joseph Semah, arrived in the port city of Surat in 1730. He and other early immigrants established a synagogue and cemetery in Surat, though most of the city's Jewish community eventually moved to Bombay ( Mumbai ), where they established

1666-420: The migrants indistinguishable from their non-Jewish counterparts. By 1940, many Jewish refugees were suspected of being Nazi sympathizers or agents passing as Jewish. The majority of Indian Jews have "made Aliyah " (migrated) to Israel since the creation of the modern state in 1948. Over 70,000 Indian Jews now live in Israel (over 1% of Israel's total population). Of the remaining 5,000, the largest community

1715-589: The mines. The Company considered the Madras Jews to be interlopers because they traded separately through their Jewish community connections. Madras Jews specialised in Golconda diamonds, precious stones, and corals. They had very good relations with the rulers of Golkonda and this was seen as beneficial to Fort St. George, so Madras Jews were gradually accepted as honourable citizens of Fort St. George/Madras. Jacques de Paiva (Jaime Paiva), originally from Amsterdam and belonging to Amsterdam Sephardic community ,

1764-447: The more poetic expression of those days, "as long as the world and moon exist") for Jews to live freely, build synagogues , and own property "without conditions attached". A link back to Rabban, "the king of Shingly" (another name for Cranganore), was a sign of both purity and prestige. Rabban's descendants maintained this distinct community until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them named Joseph Azar , in

1813-590: The number as high as 50,000, but the community declined rapidly due to emigration to the newly formed Israel after the Partition of Palestine at the end of the British Mandate in 1948. The Indian Jewish community now comprises 4,429 people according to the latest census. In addition to Jewish expatriates and recent immigrants, there are seven Jewish groups in India. The oldest of the Indian Jewish communities

1862-409: The pepper trade and the homes and synagogues belonging to them were destroyed. The damage was so extensive that when the Portuguese arrived a few years later, only a small amount of impoverished Jews remained. They remained there for 40 more years only to return to their land of Cochin. Today it also attracts tourists as a historic site. Cochin synagogue at Ernakulum operates partly as a shop by one of

1911-672: The replacement of Austrian passports with German documents, meaning that Austrian Jews attempting to flee with Austrian passports no longer met British immigration requirements. Still, Jewish aid organizations in India (most prominently the Council for German Jewry and the Jewish Relief Association) helped to form policies that benefited Jewish immigrants and regulated how Jews were resettled in India. Since most Jewish refugees spoke German and originated from Germany or its neighboring countries, British officials and Indian locals often found

1960-480: The sixth in Madras-Patan. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Yemenite Jews started coming to Madras via Cochin. They were very religious. Some came from Najran . They were Rabbis and jewelry-makers. From the 19th centuries, Yemenite Jews and Portuguese Jews started intermarrying. The Paradesi Jews had built three Paradesi synagogues and cemeteries. In 1500, the first Madras Synagogue and cemeteries

2009-399: The south end of Mint Street . De Paiva established good relations with those in power and bought several mines to source Golconda diamonds . Through his efforts, Jews were permitted to live within Fort St. George . De Paiva died in 1687 after a visit to his mines and was buried in the Jewish cemetery he had established in Peddanaickenpet, which later became north Mint Street. In 1670,

Judeo-Iraqi Arabic - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-716: The time of the Biblical Kingdom of Judah , others claim descent from the Ten Lost Tribes of the pre-Judaic Israelites who arrived in India earlier. Still some other Indian Jews contend that they descend from the Israelite Tribe of Manasseh , and they are referred to as the Bnei Menashe . The Jewish population in British India peaked at around 20,000 in the mid-1940s, according to some estimates, with others putting

2107-741: The world and moon exist". This is the earliest document that shows that the Jews were living in India permanently. It is stored in Cochins main synagogue. The Jews settled in Kodungallur (Cranganore) of the Malabar region , where they traded peacefully until 1524. The Jewish leader Rabban was granted the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin, given the rulership and tax revenue of a pocket principality in Anjuvannam , near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses". The Hindu king permited in perpetuity (or, in

2156-676: Was an early Jewish arrival and the leader of Madras Jewish community. He built the Second Madras Synagogue and Jewish Cemetery Chennai in Peddanaickenpet, which later became the South end of Mint Street . de Paiva died in 1687 after a visit to his Golconda diamond mines and was buried in the Jewish cemetery which he had established, alongside the synagogue which also existed at Mint Street. After de Paiva's death in 1687, his wife Hieronima de Paiva fell in love with Elihu Yale , Governor of Madras, and went to live with him, causing quite

2205-583: Was built by the Amsterdam Sephardic community in Coral Merchant Street, George Town, Madras, which had a large presence of Portuguese Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Neither the synagogue nor the Jewish population remains today. In 1568, the first Cochin Paradesi Synagogue and cemetery was built in Cochin-Jew Street, adjacent to Mattancherry Palace , Cochin, now part of

2254-715: Was in the erstwhile Cochin Kingdom . The traditional account is that traders of Judea arrived at Cranganore, an ancient port near Cochin in 562 BCE, and that more Jews came as exiles from Israel in the year 70 CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple . Many of these Jews' ancestors passed on the account that they settled in India when the Hebrew King Solomon was in power. This was a time when teak wood, ivory, spices, monkeys, and peacocks were popular in trade in Cochin. There

2303-471: Was later destroyed. Samuel de Castro came to Madras from Curaçao in 1766 and Salomon Franco came from Leghorn. Isaac Sardo Abendana (1662–1709), who came from Holland, died in Madras. He was a close friend of Thomas Pitt and may have been responsible for the fortune that Pitt amassed. Portuguese Jews were used as diplomats by the East India Company to expand English trading. Avraham Navarro

2352-520: Was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in the Indian subcontinent in recorded history . Desi Jews are a small religious minority who have lived in the region since ancient times. They were able to survive for centuries despite persecution by Portuguese colonizers and nonnative antisemitic inquisitions. The better-established ancient Jewish communities have assimilated many of the local traditions through cultural diffusion . While some Indian Jews have stated that their ancestors arrived during

2401-402: Was the most prominent of these. In 1688, the famous Sephardi poet Daniel Levy de Barrios wrote a poem in Amsterdam, with historical and geographical meaning. His information was usually most precise and drawing upon him we may receive a panorama of Sephardi life in the seventeenth century. There were six Jewish communities — Nieves, London, Jamaica, fourth and fifth in two parts of Barbados, and

#148851