I wanted to share our incredible experience from the other day in Cochin, Kerala where one of three Jewish communities in India resides. We visited the Paradesi Synagogue, built in the 1567, and we met an elderly female Indian Jew for the first time.
Alex & I rented biked to ride the 4km to "Jew Town" which was a peaceful ride since, as a predominantly Christian area, stores on our route were closed for Sunday.
The streets approaching the synagogue were lined on top with silver flags, and a floral rainbow marked the last bit of lane-way. As the only functioning shul in the area, it is a heritage site and thus receives many visitors...so there are many shops with surprisingly large and high-quality antique items, mostly statues but also including Judaica such as menorahs.
Outside the entrance to the shul is a red gateway with Magen Davids and menorahs, and a clock tower which is a more recent addition. As we entered to pay the rs 5 fee (10 cents) we noticed signs that forbids photography so we have no pictures of the sanctuary but are bringing postcards & a brochure with some history of the local Jewish community and the synagogue for you all.
Inside was a small sanctuary that very much reminds me of the shuls in Safed, Israel. The bimah is surrounded by a small brass fence and stands in the middle of the room...with benches around it and along the perimeter of the room, which means that all who are there are equidistant to the Torah being read. The floor is covered with 1000 Chinese tiles that have blue landscape designs on a white background, and although there are several similar scenes each one is unique. There is an upper balcony for female worshippers, as in Safed.
From the ceiling hang magnificent glass latern-like chandeliers, with an eloborate centre-piece lamp burning coconut oil continuously in front of the Ark. The Ark is framed by gold-painted engraved wood and draped with Indian cloth with embroidered Hebrew at the top. On either side of the Ark the walls have been painted with tablets containing Hebrew prayers such as the Shema, and on the other side with the 10 Commandments. Outside one of the windows are several old gravestones (presumably because some parts of local cemeteries have been built over). We were able to acquire replicas of copper-plates inscribed with a mixture of the local language of Malayalam and Tamil which were given by a local King (Maharaja) to the leader of the Jewish community (some scholars say from the 11 century, but many agree they are from the 4th century) stating that they would have their own land and be granted special privileges such as some tax exemptions. I will send the translation in full. The earliest Jews arrived to India in 73 C.E.!!
Since I am here to interview people for my dissertation, and am including some small sample groups from the Abrahamic traditions in India, I asked who I could connect with in the local Jewish community which numbers at about 60. I was told to talk to Sarah Cohen. We found Sarah's Embroidery Shop not too far on the shul lane-way and entered to see a Muslim fellow in the front main area which was lined with books, embroidery and many pictures of Sarah (including one of her inaugurating something with a ribbon-cutting ceremony). Upon entering we saw two elderly women in the front room, one doing embroidery and another sitting in a chair...Alex said "I hope that's her!" because the woman in the chair was adorable even from a distance. The Muslim fellow, Thaha Ibrahim who keeps the shop for Sarah & is a close companion, led us into the other room and sat me down beside her. She asked where we were from and when we said Canada, she lit up and started talking quickly in the local language of Malayalam. Thaha was all smiles and told Sarah we only spoke English, but I tried to speak a bit of Hindi with her as well, which she is also familiar with. She told us that on this day many Israelis came to see her! We learned that she is 92, has lived her whole life in Cochin and would never leave India, and had a late husband named Jacob who she married in the 40s but they had no children. She is the last Cohen of the area.
As we chatted I burst into tears of joy, and we took some pictures. She often talked about how much she loves singing and how they sing prayers in Hebrew and Malayalam. Sarah told us her attendant, the other elderly Keralan woman, had to give her a bath and she would be back soon. Thaha then showed us a documentary he has been making about the Jews and synagogues of the area, featuring old footage (including clips that show Sarah as a young woman!) and contemporary interviews with some Indian Jews and Muslim historical experts on the subject. Sarah returned all fresh and in a new dress, and as she walked into the room unaccompanied she started singing along to the Jewish Malayalam songs that was over old wedding footage. She told us we must see a wedding, and the brides wear beautiful gold...so much gold!!
We then watched old videos of Sarah and her late husband Jacob at a celebration. They were being praised and garlanded. We noticed from the videos that, unlike other Indians, this community is very kissy (just like us Toronto Jews!)! Sarah too liked to touch hands while chatting...which doesn't happen much in the context of gender relations in India, save some younger people of the modern generation.
Thaha then invited us to go see the other synagogues in the area with him later in the week and connected me with a friend of his with very good English who is a Muslim Hebrew calligrapher and who I will interview tomorrow. Thaha long ago fell in love with the Cohens and is very jovial and invested in documenting the history of the local Jews...he told us he does not understand why there is fighting between Jews and Muslims since they are so similar. He is very sweet and an inspiring fellow.
I bought a book on the synagogue (and there are several books I will be bringing back on the history of Indian Jews) as well as a blue keepah made in their shop. We said farewell to Sarah and told her we would see her again soon, and I said "see you soon" in Hindi and she said in deep song "ohhhh...phir melengay!" with her head wobbling. What an utter delight!
I will send a follow-up email with links to a couple of videos of Sarah & I chatting and singing together.
I am so full of joy! This has been a long-term dream come true.
(pics to come...I had trouble loading them when posting this for some reason...)
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