For facts on Cochin Indian Jews, please click here or use the drop down at top.
For facts on Bene Israel Indian Jews, please click here or use the drop down at top.
Misc. Facts below:
The traditionally matrilineal structure of many Hindu castes has encouraged education for females, giving many Jewish females a chance for education, and giving the area of Kerala a 94% literacy rate, 87% for women compared to 52% for the rest of India.
Source: english.emory.edu/Bahri/Jews.html
Both the Cochin and the Bene Israel were agricultural communities and still practice ancient traditions, such as the grinding of the mazzot for Passover or oil pressing.
Source: english.emory.edu/Bahri/Jews.html
Weddings are an interesting mix of Jewish and Indian culture. Most marriages are still arranged in traditional communities, there is a mehndi ceremony and Indian garb, yet the couple is still married under a huppah in a synagogue.
Source: english.emory.edu/Bahri/Jews.html
Syrian Malabar Nasranis (or Nasranis) are Christians in south-western India who trace their origins to early Nazarene Jews. They are Jews by genealogy and descent and also related to the Cochin Jews and to Ashkenazi Jews as proved recently by DNA studies on the community. Some of them also are reported to carry the Cohen gene marker, Cohen Modal Haplotype, indicating Aaronic descent for some.
Source: http://adaniel.tripod.com/beneisrael.htm
The Bene Israel community grew and they became a guild or an Indian caste with the profession of oil pressers. They left their first village, Navgaon, and dispersed to other villages and towns in the coast of Konkan becoming the oil producers and oil pressers of their respective villages. From the names of the villages and towns; like Roha, Pen, Pali or Ashtam; they derived their surnames like Rohekar; Penkar; Palkar; Ashtamkar and such others. The Bene Israels used to abstain from any work on Saturday (which wasn’t an acceptable feature in India) and were therefore called ‘Shenwar Teli’ meaning ‘Saturday oil pressers’.
Source: http://adaniel.tripod.com/beneisrael.htm
The Bene Israels have a few Jewish customs almost unique only to them. The community members almost in every thanksgiving ceremony maintain a ritual called ‘Malida’. Malida is a home ritual in which the men sit around a plate full of roasted rice, fruits, spices and flowers. In this ceremony they sing songs praising the Lord. In the main song they also praise Prophet Elijah as the precursor of the Messiah. The Bene Israel legend also narrates of two occasions when Prophet Elijah visited them and returned to heaven. The first occasion occurred immediately after the arrival of Bene Israel to the coast of Konkan. On this occasion he revivified the unconscious Bene Israels who swam to the beach from the sea. The second occasion occurred at a much latter period. At this visit the Bene Israel believe, Prophet Elijah also left a footprint from where he rose to heaven. In this place in the village of Khandala near Alibag (there is also a tourist town by the same name near Pune in Maharashtra and that’s a different place) the Bene Israels used to have religious rituals. Another custom unique to the Bene Israel was abstaining from eating beef. The majority of Indians are Hindus. The Hindus believe that cow is sacred and therefore to maintain good relations with their Hindu neighbors they abstained from eating beef and instead eat mutton. Another custom of the Bene Israel inspired by their Hindu neighbors was, not remarrying of widows and not maintaining the levirate marriage (a Jewish custom which commands marriage between the widow and her dead husband’s brother if the man dies childless) . The Bene Israels were also less strict about the Kosher laws. They didn’t keep two complete sets of kitchen utensils but only two sets of cooking utensils.
Source: http://adaniel.tripod.com/beneisrael.htm