History of the Jews in Mumbai

2021-07-23T15:12:33Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{see also|Bombay Jews}}{{Location map many|Mumbai|lat3_deg=18.954760|mark4size=3|label4_size=30|bg4=#FFFFDD|lon4_deg=72.832568|lat4_deg=18.928103|label4=[[Keneseth Eliyahoo]]|label3_size=30|mark3size=3|position2=left|position=right|label2_size=30|label1_size=30|bg=#FFFFDD|lon3_deg=72.836133|bg3=#FFFFDD|width=260|pos3=top|label3=Share Rason|lon2_deg=72.832071|lat2_deg=18.966961|mark2size=3|bg2=#FFFFDD|pos2=bottom|label2=[[Magen David Synagogue (Byculla)|Magen David]]|lon_deg=72.836373|lat_deg=18.95226|marksize=3|pos=right|label=[[Gate of Mercy Synagogue|Gate of Mercy]]|float=right|caption=Notable synagogues in Mumbai}}The '''history of the [[Jews]] in [[Mumbai]]''' (previously known as '''Bombay'''), [[India]], began when Jews started settling in Bombay during the first century, due to its economic opportunities.<ref>Weil, Shalva. ''India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle.'' Mumbai: Marg Publications. 2009 [first published in 2002; 3rd edn.].</ref> The Jewish community of Bombay consisted of the remnants of three distinct communities: the [[Bene Israel]]i Jews of [[Konkan]], the [[Baghdadi Jews]] of [[Iraq]], and the [[Cochin Jews]] of [[Malabar region|Malabar]].<ref>{{harvnb|The Jewish Traveler|p=69|Ref=TheJewishTraveler}}</ref>

Bombay is home to the majority of India's rapidly dwindling Jewish population. At its peak, in the late 1940s, the Jewish population of Bombay reached nearly 30,000.<ref>{{cite news | title = Historic Community of Bombay, India | date = March 2008 | url = http://www.jewishtimesasia.org/bombay/264-bombay-communities/892-historic-community-of-bombay-india | work = Jewish Times Asia | access-date = 2013-09-01}}</ref>

==Arrival in Bombay==
The first [[Baghdadi Jews|Baghdadi Jew]], Joseph Semah, moved to Bombay from [[Surat, Gujarat|Surat]] in 1730<ref>Lentin, Samuel Sifra (ed) Weil, Shalva. "The Jewish Presence in Bombay."''India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle''. Mumbai: Marg Publications. 2009 [first published in 2002; 3rd edn.], pp. 22-35.</ref> and the first member of the [[Bene Israel]] community to move from the [[Konkan]] villages<ref>Weil, Shalva. ''The Jews from the Konkan: the Bene Israel Community of India''. TelAviv: Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora. 1981.</ref> south of Bombay to the city arrived in 1746 part of the Divekar family.<ref>{{cite news | first = Shalva | last = Weil | title = Background: A rich history now stained with blood | date = 2008-11-30 | url = http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Background-A-rich-history-now-stained-with-blood | work = [[The Jerusalem Post]] | access-date = 2013-09-01}}</ref> In 1796 Samuel Ezekiel Divekar (1730-1797) established "The Gate of Mercy" synagogue.<ref>Weil, Shalva. 2009 'The Heritage and Legacy of Indian Jews' in Shalva Weil (ed.) India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle, Mumbai: Marg Publications [first published in 2002; 3rd edn.], pp. 8-21.
In the early 20th century, the Sasoon family sponsored the emigration of Jews from Baghdad to Mumbai. In Mumbai they set up a Jewish school and a number of synagogues.
Weil, Shalva. 2007 'Bene Israel' (3: 335-339); 'Cochin Jews', in Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds) Encyclopedia Judaica, 1st ed., Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, CD-Rom.

Weil, Shalva. 2008 'Jews in India', (3: 1204-1212); ' in M.Avrum Erlich (ed.) Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Diaspora, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC CLIO.11. 2010a 'Bombay'; 'Calcutta'; 'India'; 'Pakistan'; in Norman A. Stillman (ed.) Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Leiden:Brill

Weil, Shalva. 2011 'Bene Israel', in Adele Berlin (Ed. in Chief) Oxford Dictionary of Jewish Religion, 2nd edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 131.

Weil, Shalva. 2011 'Bene Israel' in Judith Baskin (ed.) Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture, New York: Cambridge University Press. 59.

Weil, Shalva. 2013 "Jews of India" in Raphael Patai and Haya Bar Itzhak (eds.) Jewish Folklore and Traditions: A Multicultural Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, Inc. (1: 255-258)</ref>

==Present population==

Less than 4,000 [[Jew]]s live in [[Mumbai]],<ref name="TJPcrown">{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894477809&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Tales of a Wandering Jew: Jewish India's crown jewel|last=Rockower|first=Paul|date=2007-02-20|publisher=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=2008-11-27}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> formerly known as Bombay,<ref>Weil, Shalva. 2010 'Bombay' in Norman A. Stillman (ed.) Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Leiden:Brill.</ref> and there are
eight synagogues in the city.<ref name="JTA">{{cite web |last=Berkman |first=Jacob |url=http://jta.org/news/article/2008/11/28/1001246/chabad-confirms-its-mumbai-emisaries-ar-edead |title=JTA |publisher=JTA |date=2008-11-28 |access-date=2011-12-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318052859/http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/11/28/1001246/chabad-confirms-its-mumbai-emisaries-ar-edead |archive-date=2012-03-18 }}</ref> Today, the majority of Mumbai's Jews reside in Israel.<ref>Weil, Shalva. 2005 'Motherland and Fatherland as Dichotomous Diasporas: the Case of the Bene Israel' in Lisa Anteby, William Berthomiere and Gabriel Sheffer (eds) Les Diasporas 2000 ans d'histoire, Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, pp. 91-99.

Weil, Shalva. 2012 "The Bene Israel Indian Jewish Family in Transnational Context", Journal of Comparative Family Studies 43 (1): 71-80</ref>

==Activities==

The [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee]]<ref name="TJPcrown" /> runs a [[Jewish Community Center]] and has 500 members with classes on Hebrew and Judaism, holiday parties, youth discos and clubs for children and seniors.<ref name="COL">{{cite web|last=Paul |first=Ari |url=http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/religion/2006/religions/judaism/index.htm |title=Israelis Invade India "Dikla Kadosh" May 17, 2006 |publisher=Web.jrn.columbia.edu |access-date=2011-12-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201064415/http://web.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/religion/2006/religions/judaism/index.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008 }}</ref> Also, there is an "[[World ORT|ORT]]" (Organization for educational Resources and Technological training), an international Jewish organization with the mandate of helping impoverished Jews and which sells [[kosher wine]], [[challah]], chicken and baked goods.<ref name="COL"/>

Also, started in 2004 is the Hazon Eli Foundation for Jewish Life in [[India]], based in [[Thane]] (a suburb of Mumbai where many younger Jewish families are moving to), to teach Torah, Hebrew and Jewish law to the suburban population. A [[Sunday school]] is run there for children under 13, which attracts about 25 students weekly.<ref name="COL"/>

In Mumbai, there is also the Jewish founded "Sir Jacob Sassoon High School" and "Sir Elly Kadoorie High School". Today there are only a handful of Jewish students left, but they once had Hebrew and Torah classes.<ref name="COL"/>

==Terrorist attacks on Mumbai==
{{main|November 2008 Mumbai attacks}}

Until the [[November 2008 Mumbai attacks|terrorist attacks on Mumbai]] of November 2008, the Mumbai [[Chabad House]] Jewish outreach center was at [[Nariman House]], Hormusji Street. In the attack, six Jews were held hostage and murdered at the center, the 29-year-old Rabbi [[Gavriel Holtzberg]], his 28-year-old wife, [[Rivka Holtzberg|Rivka]], Rabbi Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum (37), Bentzion Chroman (28), Yocheved Orpaz (62) and Norma Shvarzblat-Rabinovich (50). The parents of Rivka Holtzberg have announced their intention to continue Chabad's emissary work in Mumbai, although the Chabad House may move to a new location in the city mostly in South Mumbai near Worli. <ref>The Jerusalem Post, 2008-12-2</ref>

==Communal relations==

Mumbai Jews' ties with their city's Muslim community have historically been strong and remain so even after the Mumbai attacks.<ref>Weil, Shalva. 2009'' India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle'', Mumbai: Marg Publications [first published in 2002; 3rd edn.].</ref> The two groups have been drawn together as minorities in a Hindu-dominated land – even by the similarities of their non-vegetarian diets of [[Kosher]] and [[Halal]] foods.<ref name="timesonline1">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5298367.ece |title=The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion |publisher=Timesonline.co.uk |access-date=2011-12-10}}</ref> "For these reasons, most Bene synagogues in Mumbai are in Muslim areas," Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, said. Mumbai's Muslim Council had ordered that the nine gunmen killed should not be buried in the city, a gesture which was highly appreciated by the Mumbai Jewish community.<ref name="timesonline1"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{commons category|Synagogues in Mumbai}}

==Bibliography==
<small>
{{cite book | last1 = Tigay | first1 = Alan M. | title = The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | year = 1994 | isbn = 9781568210780 | ref=TheJewishTraveler}}
</small>

== External links ==
* [http://www.mumbaijews.com/ Mumbai Jews The Movie 2016]

[[Category:Historic Jewish communities|Mumbai]]
[[Category:History of Mumbai|Jewish]]
[[Category:Jewish history by city|Mumbai]]
[[Category:Jewish Indian history|Mumbai]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Mumbai| ]]
[[Category:Jewish Iraqi history|Mumbai]]

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History of the Jews in Mumbai