Cochin, India

Today we toured Cochin or Kochi. We saw the Chinese fishing nets and local fish market then went to Jew Town for a wonderful afternoon. We stopped by Sarah Cohen’s home (now museum) but it was closed.

‘Chinese Fishing Nets’ are fishing nets that are fixed land installations for fishing. Each structure is at least 10 meters high and comprises a cantilever with an outstretched net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes as counterweights at the other end. Each installation is operated by a team of up to six fishermen.

Jew Town: Following their expulsion from Iberia in 1492 by the Alhambra Decree, a few families of Sephardi Jews eventually made their way to Cochin in the 16th century. The Raja of Cochin gave them a piece of land next to his palace to build a place of worship.

They became known as Paradesi Jews (or Foreign Jews). The two communities retained their ethnic and cultural distinctions.
Among the 8 surviving synagogues, only the Paradesi synagogue still has a regular congregation. Today it also a historic site. The community’s presence dwindled with the migration of Jews to Israel and the death of senior citizens.

Sarah Jacob Cohen (September 4, 1922 – August 30, 2019) was the oldest living member of Kochi’s Jewish community, visited by The British royal family at Mattancherry, Kochi in November 2013. She was dedicated to keeping alive simple Jewish traditions like the humble kippah making in a far flung Jewish outpost.Read more