{"id":38859,"date":"2016-04-06T17:05:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=38859"},"modified":"2016-04-02T09:10:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T07:10:52","slug":"05-00-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=38859","title":{"rendered":"Only 26 Jews left in this Indian city \u2014 and they still can\u2019t get along"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Only 26 Jews left in this Indian city \u2014 and they still can\u2019t get along<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Danna Harman<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"
\n The wedding of Sarah Cohen. At 93, she is Cochin’s oldest Jew. Courtesy of Sarah Cohen<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Jewish community of Cochin faces a dwindling population, neglected synagogues and cemeteries, and internal conflict that dates back centuries.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

KERALA, INDIA \u2013 Cochin, a large port city in southwest India, boasts not one but two streets named \u201cJew.\u201d There is the trinket-lined Jew Street in the pretty, touristy Mattancherry neighborhood, known by some as \u201cJew Town,\u201d which is home to India\u2019s oldest functioning synagogue, Paradesi. And nine kilometers away in crowded downtown Ernakulam, amid the wholesalers hawking plastic flip flops and fried banana chips, is the second Jew Street. Hidden behind a pet fish and flower shop, is another, less visited synagogue whose ark is empty, its Torah scrolls gone \u2014 along with the congregation \u2014 to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are just two of the seven synagogues in the coastal state of Kerala. (Another one, the striking Parur synagogue, is located 25 kilometers away on another Jew Street.) Despite these symbols, one thing Kerala does not have much of anymore is Jews. Today, there are only 26 Jews left in Cochin \u2014 though some don\u2019t speak to, or even recognize, the others.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\"\"
\nA worker sits on the back of a cart near a roadside crafts and antique stall in the Jew Town area of Cochin, India, May 29, 2015. \/ Credit Bloomberg<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

According to some accounts, the first Jews arrived in Kerala as merchants in the 11th century B.C.E. and sent ivory, monkeys and parrots from here back to King Solomon\u2019s temple in the Kingdom of Israel. Other narratives suggest they showed up later, after the destruction of the second temple, settling in Cranganore, the ancient capital of Cochin.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela visited India around 1170, he reported that there were about 1000 Jews in the south, \u201call of them black.\u201d He was referring to the Malabari Jews, so named after the Malabar coastline. Starting in the late 16th century, the Malabaris were joined by other, lighter skinned Jews arriving from Portugal, Spain and elsewhere in Europe. The communities, by most accounts, never mixed well or at all, either because of racism, as the older community claims, or personal and cultural differences, as the others explain.<\/span>
\n Welcomed by the local rulers and populations, the communities thrived until the late 1940s, when both Israel and India gained independence within months of each other, spurring a mass exodus in both communities from here to the Holy Land.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 93, Sarah Cohen is Cochin’s oldest Jew. \/\u00a0Danna Harman<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Depending on what time of the day one catches her in her little home-turned-embroidery-and-trinket-store in Jew Town, she can sometimes seem a little confused.<\/span><\/p>\n

But when asked how many Jews remain in Cochin today, she doesn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cSix,\u201d she says. This is because she doesn\u2019t count the Malabari Jews downtown. She does count herself and the members of the Hallegua family three doors down \u2014 not enough for a minyan at the famous 1568 Paradesi Synagogue down the street.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we come together and sing songs,\u201d she says, putting on her glasses to see who she is speaking with.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose Jews [in Mattancherry] are idiots,\u201d snorts Josephai Elias, known to all as Babu, who is the unofficial leader of the Malabari Jewish community in Ernakulam. Babu, 60, owns the Ernakulam pet fish and flower shop and single-handedly cares for the Kadavumbagam Synagogue behind it, which has sat at this spot since the 16th or 17th century and has not been used since the 1970s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Josephai Elias, known as Babu, the unofficial leader of the Malabari<\/span><\/em>
\n Jewish community in Ernakulam. \/ Credit Danna Harman<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A trained kosher butcher, he says he refuses to \u201ccut chicken\u201d for the tiny white Jewish community, referring to Cohen and her neighbors. They reject him; he rejects them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Relations between Babu and the other Malabari Jews \u2014 most of them his own brothers \u2014 are not perfect either, he admits with a shrug. He is ready to pack up and leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwice I wanted to move to Israel,\u201d he says. Once, his grandmother begged him to stay. The next time, his mother made it clear she couldn\u2019t do without him. Of his nine siblings, four have made aliyah, and the rest have stayed in Kerala, but either married non-Jews or are no longer interested in Jewish community issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Babu prays alone most Shabbats, he says, sitting on one of the wooden synagogue benches, with orange, blue and green lamps lighting the room from above. \u201cWhat can I do?\u201d He asks. \u201cAt least I pray from the heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Babu\u2019s eldest daughter Avithal, 27, fell in love with Israel on a Birthright tour and stayed to do a master\u2019s degree at the Technion. Then she fell in love with an American Jewish immigrant from Maryland. The wedding is next month in Haifa. His younger daughter, 24-year-old Leya, moved to Mumbai for school and now works at the Jewish Community Center there. He hopes she\u2019ll move to Israel as well and find a groom there. \u201cShe is a very good cook,\u201d he says, \u201cand a wonderful dancer!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The only thing keeping Babu in Cochin is the synagogue. And he is not the only one concerned with the future and fate of this and other Jewish landmarks there. The 8,000 Cochin Jews living in Israel have discussed this issue at annual gatherings, and other Jewish communities around the world have also shown an interest. Meanwhile, the Indian authorities \u00ad\u2014 the government archeological survey in particular \u2014 have put their minds to the matter, along with a local ecotourism project.<\/span><\/p>\n

A threatened symbol of Jewish presence<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Prof. C. Karmachandran, a retired history and government<\/em><\/span>
\n teacher who is working to preserve a Jewish cemetery. \/ Danna Harman<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"One person who has dedicated years of his life to the question of preservation is a retiree who goes by the name of Prof. C. Karmachandran. A retired history and government teacher, Karmachandran, who is not Jewish, is passionate about \u2014 and some would say obsessed with \u2014 the fate of the Jewish cemetery in Mala, a sprawling town 50 kilometers north of Mattancherry and Ernakulam. It is the largest Jewish burial ground in India, he claims, and the final resting place of what he estimated to be between 2500-3000 Jews.<\/span>
\n \u201cThis is one of the few and most important surviving symbols of Jewish presence in Kerala,\u201d Karmachandran says.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last Jews of Mala, approximately 300 of them, left for Israel in early 1955. Before doing so, documents show, they signed an official agreement with the local municipality entrusting it with the care and conservation of the cemetery as well as the synagogue. The synagogue, it was stipulated, should never be used as another house of worship or turned into a slaughterhouse.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the former synagogue has been nominally watched over by authorities and used from time to time for educational or cultural functions, the cemetery down the road is a different story: A soccer stadium is slated to be built there.<\/span>
\n \u201cThe cemetery is being destroyed by the local authorities,\u201d says Karmachandran, charging them with cashing in on the real estate. \u201cIf we do not prevent this, there will be nothing to preserve for future generations.\u201d He adds, \u201cThe situation is pathetic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Karmachandran is not alone in this struggle. He belongs to a group of activists \u2014 among them Hindus, Muslims, and Christians \u2014 who have been fighting for the preservation of the Mala cemetery for several years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nOne of many “Jew Streets” in the state of Kerala, India.\/ Credit Danna Harman<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

So far, the tiny remaining Cochin community has voiced support for the campaign, but has not actively joined it, either because they are too old or too caught up in their own preservations struggles. Karmachandran understands this, but hopes the larger Jewish Indian community will spread awareness of the situation. Most helpful, he says, would be for Israeli leaders to raise the matter with the Indian government, which, under Prime Minister Narenda Modi, has become closer to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Karmachandran admits that after years of neglect, there is precious little to preserve. Today, only three tombstones remain, all with Hebrew engravings.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the fight is a matter of principle, stresses Karmachandran, as well as a test case of India\u2019s ability to safeguard its rich multi-ethnic heritage. \u201cWe have a tradition of protecting our minorities. They were never treated as second rate citizens in Kerala,\u201d he says. \u201cI am not Jewish, but I am proud of the Jewish culture. It is part of our Indian culture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"dana<\/p>\n

Danna Harman<\/strong>, Haaretz\u2019s former Europe correspondent, returned to Israel this year to write feature stories for the paper\u2019s new digital edition. Prior to joining Haaretz, Danna worked for the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) as their Africa Bureau Chief, based in Nairobi, as well as their Washington, D.C.-based national feature writer, and their Latin America bureau chief (in a joint appointment with USA TODAY), based in Mexico City.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Danna has further travelled the globe on special reporting assignments for CSM and other papers and magazines to everywhere from Iraq, Yemen, Burma and Afghanistan to the jungles of Papua New Guinea. She began her journalism career 16 years ago as an Associated Press local hire in her hometown of Jerusalem, and later became the Jerusalem Post\u2019s diplomatic correspondent, covering three prime ministers and half a dozen peace talks. Danna has a BA from Harvard University, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Cambridge University.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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twoje uwagi, linki, wlasne artykuly, lub wiadomosci przeslij do: webmaster@reunion68.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Only 26 Jews left in this Indian city \u2014 and they still can\u2019t get along Danna Harman The wedding of Sarah Cohen. At 93, she is Cochin’s oldest Jew. Courtesy of Sarah Cohen The Jewish community of Cochin faces a dwindling population, neglected synagogues and cemeteries, and internal conflict that dates back centuries. KERALA, INDIA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38859"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38969,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38859\/revisions\/38969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}