June: The origins of India’s Jews remain uncertain, but according to some accounts, they may have come as emissaries from the court of King Solomon (950 BCE, 3,000 years ago). They established communities and lived peacefully with Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and, later, Muslims. The absence of anti–Semitism throughout this history has been a source of pride in India.
“This is one of the few countries where Jews never faced discrimination and persecution,” said Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, a leader of the Jewish community in New Delhi.
Jews played a prominent role in several coastal cities, but nowhere more so than in Mumbai (Bombay). Jewish merchants from Iraq, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries arrived in the late eighteenth century in what was then British Bombay and quickly established themselves as leading businesspersons, opening textile mills and international trading companies.
Only about 200 of these so–called Baghdadi Jews remain in Mumbai, with the rest having immigrated to Israel, Britain and the United States. But their legacy endures: synagogues, libraries and schools, many of which serve Jews and non–Jews. They also financed the construction of several city landmarks, including the Flora Fountain and the Sassoon docks.
Today, most of Mumbai’s Jews have roots in a group known as the Bene Israel community, which claims to be descended from seven Jewish families who were shipwrecked on India’s shore while fleeing persecution in the Galilee during the second century B.C. Over the centuries, they adopted Indian language, dress and cuisine. Since India became independent, these Jews have often played influential roles in Indian society, including in government and Bollywood.
The multi–century continuum of peaceful Jewish residence in India will be shattered before year’s end. During Thanksgiving Weekend 2008 to follow in November, the Chabad House (Nariman House) in Mumbai will be one of the targets of a multi–pronged terrorist attack in Mumbai. The Chabad Rabbi and his wife, plus two mashgicachs in Nariman House for Mincha (Jewish evening prayer) plus two additional Jewish individuals inside at the time, will all be murdered within 24 hours of the initial assault. Moshe, the bloodied 2–year–old son of the rabbi and his wife, will be scooped–up by the nanny/cook as the assault unfolds, and rescued from the bloodbath.