Bene Ephraim

2021-03-30T14:46:51Z

185.13.50.187:

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{refimprove|date=May 2013}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Bnei Ephraim
|population = 350
|popplace = [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]]
|langs = [[Telugu language|Telugu]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]
|rels = [[Judaism]]
|related = ''Tradition'' <br/>[[Jews]], [[Jews and Judaism in India|Indian Jews]]<br/>  <br/>''Ethnobiology'' <br/>[[Indian people|Indian]]
}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}}
The '''Bene Ephraim''' ({{lang-he|בני אפריים}}) ''Bnei Ephraim'' ("Sons of Ephraim"), also called '''Telugu Jews''' because they speak [[Telugu language|Telugu]], are a small community living primarily in Kotha Reddy palem, a village outside [[Chebrolu, Guntur district|Chebrolu]], [[Guntur District]], and in Machilipatnam, Krishna District, [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]], near the [[river delta|delta]] of the [[River Krishna]].<ref name=Yacobi>Yacobi, Sadok. [http://www.kulanu.org/india/bneiephraim.php "Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910083251/http://www.kulanu.org/india/bneiephraim.php |date=2015-09-10 }}, Kulanu</ref> They claim to be descendants of the [[Tribe of Ephraim]], of the [[Ten Lost Tribes]], and since the 1980s have learned to practice modern Judaism.<ref name="https://www.academia.edu/1849132/The_Children_of_Ephraim_being_Jewish_in_Andhra_Pradesh">{{cite journal|title=The Children of Ephraim: being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh|journal=Anthropology Today |volume=26|url=https://www.academia.edu/1849132|access-date=8 February 2015}}</ref>

==History==
The Bene Ephraim claim descent from the Tribe of Ephraim, and say that they traveled from Israel through western Asia: Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and into China for 1,600 years before arriving in southern India more than 1,000 years ago.<ref name="WATimes">[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/may/1/20060501-094458-5135r/ Shaikh Azizur Rahman, "Another tribe seeks rabbinical recognition"], ''Washington Times'', 1 May 2006, accessed 16 May 2013</ref> They hold a history which they say is similar to that of the shift of [[Afghan Jews]] and [[Persian Jews]], [[Bene Israel]], [[Bnei Menashe]] in the northeastern Indian states of [[Mizoram]] and [[Manipur]], who received recognition in 2005 from the [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel]]. (The latter people must still go through a formal conversion process to become citizens of Israel.)

During the medieval period, they have worked as farm laborers and many adapted regional cultures. While practicing [[Judaism]], they adopted some [[Christianity]] after the arrival of British [[Baptist]] [[missionaries]] during the early 19th century.<ref name="WATimes"/>

Their leader, Shmuel Yacobi, went to Jerusalem in the 1980s and became convinced they were of Jewish descent.<ref name="WATimes"/> Because of the long period in which the people were not practicing Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable ''Judæo-Telugu'' language or the dialect. (''See [[Jewish languages]]''.)

Since the 1980s, about fifty families in Kotha Reddy Palem have studied [[Judaism]], learned [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and built an operating [[synagogue]]. They celebrate all [[Jewish]] holidays and often use their [[Torah]] scroll. In the 1960s, some families migrated to Hyderabad, Telangana for high paying lucrative jobs, and better livelihood.

Today, Hebrew is used as a living language rather than limited to the liturgy. The [[community]] has been visited over the years by [[rabbi]]s from the chief rabbinate in Israel to study their Jewish [[tradition]] and [[Spiritual practice|practices]]. The Chief Rabbi has to recognize the community as being of Jewish descent. The rabbis have taught today's Judaism and converted many Indian Jews, while some women eventually married to a rabbi family, many married in the past to Jewish people, but not attached to homeland Israel they still must relocate.{{clarify|date=November 2019}} They have sought recognition from many rabbis around the world.<ref name="Yacobi"/> They always practiced their own Caviloth [Oral Traditions and customs] such as: burying the dead, marriage under a [[chuppah]], observing Shabbat and other Jewish festivals and maintaining an Elders Court System, etc.

According to the ''Washington Times'' in 2006

<blockquote>Many think the Bnei Ephraim Jews are trying to escape poverty and that they want to leave this region of Andhra Pradesh where six successive years of drought and crop failure have driven more than 3,000 peasants into debt and to suicide.<ref name="WATimes"/></blockquote>

Chandra Sekhar Angadi, a social scientist in neighboring [[Karnataka]], said of the Telugu Jews:

<blockquote>They are among the poorest of Jews in the world. They are desperate for the recognition by Israel’s chief rabbinate simply to be guaranteed a passport from that country where they can lead a much better life—away from this life of poverty and hunger<ref name="WATimes"/></blockquote>There are certain Oral Traditions among Bene Ephraim: traditions known as Cavilah Traditions. There are about 450 ancient halakhic customs, habits, and Hebrew Cultural Elements among them that continued since prehistoric times and Exodus. They shared some of those elements with the Ereb Rab Telugu people. Burying the dead, eating kosher animal meat, marriage under chuppah, burial customs, 7-day purification, bar/bath mitzvah, Hebrew words, sayings, and many other usages[10].

==See also==
* [[Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014|Andhra Pradesh]]
* [[Bnei Menashe]]
* [[History of the Jews in India]]
* [[Shavei Israel]]

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* Tudor Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe", in ''Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism,'' edited by Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E., London: Routledge Curzon.
* Shmuel Yacobi, ''THE CULTURAL HERMENEUTICS,'' an introduction to the cultural translation of the Hebrew Bible among the ancient nations of the Thalmulic Telugu Empire of India.
* Shmuel Yacobi, Manamevaru, Ereb Rab Telugu people and their links with Israel.
* Chilaka Abraham, Ten Commandments Constitution - A Sociological study - A.N. University, Guntur.
* Ministry of Interior, Israel, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer U.S - Letters to Shmuel Yacobi, member of Bene Ephraim Community

==External links==
* Francisco, Jason L., [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205120849/http://www.kulanu.org/india/telugu_jews.php "Meet the Telugu Jews of India"], Kulanu website
* Sussman, Bonita & Gerald., [https://web.archive.org/web/20090106194719/http://www.kulanu.org/india/indiajournal07.php "India Journal"], 2007, Kulanu website
* [http://www.kulanu.org/india/ Indian Jews], Kulanu Website index.

[[Category:Indian Jews| ]]
[[Category:Groups claiming Israelite descent]]
[[Category:Groups who converted to Judaism]]
[[Category:Jewish ethnic groups]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in India]]
[[Category:People from Guntur district]]
[[Category:Social groups of Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:South Asian Jews]]
[[Category:Telugu society]]

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Bene Ephraim