[BRIEF NOTE] The Bene Israel
Sep. 14th, 2007 01:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldReading the Toronto Star today, I came across an article by Prithi Yelaja ("Their tiny slice of India is Jewish") that revealed that Toronto has a significant population of Bene Israel, an ancient population of Indian Jews.
As this webpage by Aaron and Shulamith Solomon points out, the most popular theory of the origin of the Bene Israel claims that the community began with a shipwreck that left seven Jewish couples on the western coast of India in the 2nd century BCE. In subsequent centuries, the Bene Israel came to be incorporated into the Indian caste system and thus survived as a distinct subgroup in the Indian mosaic. By the time that the State of Israel was founded, some twenty thousand Indians belonged to the Bene Israel. Later waves of emigration, however, caused this community to nearly disappear, emigrants heading mainly to Israel but apparently also to Toronto. The pessimistic tone of the recent The Forward article "In India, a Historic Community Watches Its Numbers Dwindle" seems accurate enough.
Though his last name might be a hint, Opher Moses still gets puzzled looks when he asks for time off during the Jewish high holidays. Because of his skin colour and accent most people assume he is Hindu or Muslim. "I never get Jewish. Even in Israel they think I'm Palestinian," he says.
A 1999 immigrant from India, Moses is part of a tight-knit community of about 400 Indian Jews in the GTA – a fascinating minority that is misunderstood, at least initially, as often by their Jewish cousins as by the wider world, yet devoted to preserving their faith and heritage. They will gather to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, today.
Their Hebrew service includes elements familiar to all Jews such as the blowing of the shofar (ram's horn), but instead of honey cakes, halva (an Indian sweet made of semolina) will be served as part of the exuberant festivities.
"We wear Indian dress, distribute sweets and sing Indian melodies. Everything is the same way we had it back in India. Sometimes we even incorporate a Bollywood tune to make it more proactive with the audience," says Moses, 24, a mortgage consultant.
Adds Victor Abraham, 72, a lay cantor who officiates during the service: "It's our way of melding our Indian culture with our Jewish faith. Jewish people have always taken on the shades and culture from the part of the world they live in."
As this webpage by Aaron and Shulamith Solomon points out, the most popular theory of the origin of the Bene Israel claims that the community began with a shipwreck that left seven Jewish couples on the western coast of India in the 2nd century BCE. In subsequent centuries, the Bene Israel came to be incorporated into the Indian caste system and thus survived as a distinct subgroup in the Indian mosaic. By the time that the State of Israel was founded, some twenty thousand Indians belonged to the Bene Israel. Later waves of emigration, however, caused this community to nearly disappear, emigrants heading mainly to Israel but apparently also to Toronto. The pessimistic tone of the recent The Forward article "In India, a Historic Community Watches Its Numbers Dwindle" seems accurate enough.
Alibag and the surrounding villages and towns — Ravdanda, Panvel, Pen, Nandgaon, Navgaon, about 22 miles southwest across a gray-green harbor from Mumbai — were home to what was once a thriving and vibrant Jewish community known as the Bene Israel. So many Jews once lived here, in fact, that this dirt road is called Israel Lane. The facades of many of the houses along it still bear Stars of David and Hebrew lettering. Four families now remain, totaling about 20 people. Of those, Dandekar says, it’s not a question of whether they will leave, but when.
“If they get a nice price for their property, they will go,” he said. “They are waiting for money, or waiting for their children to finish their courses, and then they will go.”
