Page 2

Exploring the Rich History of Jews in India

0
Exploring the Rich History of Jews in India

The Jewish Standard of New Jersey — Two BGU academics recently gave presentations in New Delhi, India, during a two-day conference on Indian Jews.

The “Shirei Hodu,” or “Songs of India,” conference featured major global specialists on Indian Jews, a topic that is gaining new traction among young Jewish historians and cultural researchers.

Prof. Menashe Anzi of BGU’s Department of Jewish History is researching how Yemeni rabbis in the 18th to 20th century served as a link between rabbinic Judaism and Indian Jewish communities that were cut off from the rest of the Jewish world.

Source: https://www.americansforbgu.org/exploring-the-rich-history-of-jews-in-india/#

How a tiny Jewish Israeli community is trying to revive its fast fading distinct identity

0
How a tiny Jewish Israeli community is trying to revive its fast fading distinct identity

It looks like Nissim Moses is in a hurry, but he will be fine.

“In this case, we are the last people who can do this. They don’t know what India is like for kids who have grown up in Israel. When you look at people who were born in India, they are 70 years old. They are dying. It will not be possible for you to do that in the next generation, “Moses, who is 73, says this.

In the middle of the last century, many people started moving to the new country of Israel. His goal was to record the small Jewish community in India that thrived until then. As far as we know, this is how they came to be in India.

Source: https://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/how-a-tiny-jewish-israeli-community-is-trying-to-revive-its-fast-fading-distinct-identity/articleshow/49425736.cms?from=mdr

India and Israel mean business, in many new sectors

0
India and Israel mean business, in many new sectors

The tricennial of India-Israel diplomatic relations is being celebrated with fanfare on state broadcasters, commemorative livery and emblem, and a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Not long ago, India was a reluctant partner for Israel. One that was anxious to acquire Israel’s technology and weapons but, at best, hesitant to reciprocate political warmth. Even during this political chaos, defense deals remained stable. Their agricultural partnership was also fruitful. As a result, India-Israel relations have been viewed through a restricted prism of geopolitics and warfare, as well as agricultural cooperation, for far too long. Nonetheless, since 2014, as temperatures have risen, both countries have begun to engage in other realms that have remained under the radar.

Source: https://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/view-india-and-israel-mean-business-in-many-new-sectors/articleshow/89540411.cms

Writer Mira Jacob on Raising a Jewish-Indian Kid in Trump’s America (CYM Rewind)

0
Writer Mira Jacob on Raising a Jewish-Indian Kid in Trump’s America (CYM Rewind)

Mira Jacob is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, but it’s her most recent work, an astonishing graphic memoir called Good Talk, that we’re resharing with you this week in this “rewind” episode of Call Your Mother. Mira’s book is about assessing ourselves and our roles in our families, as well as in society. Is there anything better to think about at the start of a new year than these thoughts and ideas?

Mira talks to Jordana and Shannon about her memoir, which covers several years and begins with Mira’s youth in New Mexico as the daughter of Indian immigrants. We also talk about her life in Brooklyn as the mother of a Jewish-Indian son, and what it’s like to raise a multiracial child in a time and place where racial tensions are rising, especially when your in-laws’ political beliefs are far to the right of your own.

Source: https://www.kveller.com/writer-mira-jacob-on-raising-a-jewish-indian-kid-in-trumps-america/

The Fascinating Cuisine & Traditions of the Bene Israelis of India

0
The Fascinating Cuisine & Traditions of the Bene Israelis of India

Dwitiya Raghavan prepares entire meals based on an intriguing novel about the Bene Israeli community of Danda, Maharashtra, and forges an intimate bond with people she has never met.

Books and cuisine both have the power to take me to new places, introduce me to cultures I’d like to learn about, and introduce me to individuals I’d like to sit down and talk with. Esther David’s novel Book of Rachel does all of this and more. It chronicles the narrative of Rachel Dandekar, a brave and determined Bene Israeli Jewish woman trying to save her beloved synagogue in Danda, Maharashtra, and takes the reader on a culinary and cultural tour across the Bene Israeli Jewish community.

Source: https://www.goya.in/blog/the-fascinating-cuisine-traditions-of-the-bene-israelis-of-india-book-of-rachel

Marginal Westerners in Shanghai The Baghdadi Jewish community

0
Marginal Westerners in Shanghai The Baghdadi Jewish community

This chapter focuses on presenting the Shanghai Baghdadi Jewish community from a new angle, that of its marginal status within Shanghai’s Western community. David Sassoon established a trading firm upon his arrival in Bombay, and in less than a decade, he had become the most respected member of the local Jewish community. The chapter tries to define the Baghdadi Jewish merchants’ operating procedures in the India-China trade in the second half of the nineteenth century. It compares the commercial role of Baghdadi merchants to that of Parsi and Ismaili merchants. The chapter examines the Baghdadis’ relationship with the British, focusing on several interconnected issues like nationality, Anglicization, and social interaction. Its goal is to clarify the Baghdadis’ confusing relationship with the British and demonstrate that their marginalization did not pose a serious barrier to their stay in the Shanghai foreign settlements as a whole.

Source: https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/9781526119742/9781526119742.00011.xml

Ahmedabad’s Bene Israeli community and the larger question of Indian Jewish identity

0
Ahmedabad’s Bene Israeli community and the larger question of Indian Jewish identity

This article talks about the Bene Israeli community in Ahmedabad, as well as Jewish identity in India as a whole. When it comes to antisemitism, the Indian Jewish community is thought to be the only one not to have been harmed by it. The history of the Jewish community on the subcontinent goes back more than 2,000 years.

Unlike the Parsis, the Jewish people in India aren’t as well-known as the Tatas. Their numbers are even smaller, and they don’t have the same “brand name” as the Tatas. Besides, many Jewish Indians speak Marathi and have Marathi or Konkani names, so people often think they are Hindus because they look like them.

Source: https://www.networks.h-net.org/node/22055/discussions/167526/ahmedabads-bene-israeli-community-and-larger-question-indian