Cherai

In Esther 1:1 we read, “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus -- he was the Ahasuerus who reigned from Hodu to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces”. HODU is Hebrew for India.

Kochin is nicknamed “God’s Own Country”. Our visit to “JEW TOWN” was quite a surreal experience. In addition, the belief that Jews were here in Kochi in biblical times after 68 AD, there were still many generations of Jews that settled in this part of India since the 15th Century after persecution by the Portuguese. Until 1948 the Jewish Community had over 2000 members. There are now only two Jews left in this town. There are 14 people (5 families) that are Jewish in the state of Kerala. They still maintain a Synagogue mostly through the donations from visitors and they have Shabbat and High Holyday services. In spite of this sounding sad, they have left quite a legacy and permanent mark as the place where Judaism began in India.

Jews had a strong presence in Mattancherry. At one point, Jew Town had seven Synagogues. Yes, it was and is called Jew Town, not in a derogatory sense but rather to be proud of the fact that Jews were given this area by the King of Kochi in order to established this thriving town. The Jews in this area are known as Paradesi Jews, or foreign Jews, as they are believed to be from Portugal.

We visited the Paradesi Synagogue, the oldest in India, built in 1568 A.D. when Jews were Malabari Jews and Sephardic refugees from the Portuguese religious persecution of Jews in Spain and Portugal. It was built next to the Mattancherry Palace Temple, sharing a wall, maybe that is indicative of the sharing community. In 1968, the 400th anniversary of the synagogue was celebrated in a ceremony attended by Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister. Maybe just as significant is that Sarah Cohen attended the 450th anniversary in in 2018 (see below).

The synagogue houses 1600 year-old copper plates (led by Joseph Rabban) which has on it the community charter of independence granted to the Jewish community inscribed. Outside the synagogue, there are iron gates decorated with a Jewish Star. On top is a Dutch-style square clock tower with four clocks featuring four different numerals: Hebrew numerals facing the synagogue, Roman numerals facing the palace, Malayalam (Indian) numerals facing the harbor and Arabic numerals facing the public. The floors are covered in hundreds of individually unique hand-painted porcelain tiles brought from China. The Torah, beautifully adorned could only be seen in photos (and the postcards I got) since the ark is only opened on Shabbat morning.

A beautiful story told is of Sarah Cohen (she died in 2019 at 94). A religious and spiritual Jew that lived most of her life here across from the Synagogue and was the glue that kept the community together. She sat in her window facing the street and spoke to everyone that visited the Synagogue and always wore a colorful outfit with a matching kippah that she made. Her and her husband Jacob of 46 years got to know a Muslim souvenir vendor, Thaha, that sold his goods there. She helped him by allowing him to sell his goods in the doorway so the weather would not affect him. They became good friends and eventually Thaha began helping them out at home and in their store.

Sarah owned a small shop, Sarah’s Embroidery Shoppe, near the Synagogue that sold Kippah, Challah covers and tablecloths. Sarah taught Thaha tailoring and crafts and he helped in her store down the street. Before Jacob died in 1999 after 47 years of marriage, he asked Thaha to watch over Sarah. He said he found this a “Godsend” to take care of the icon of the Community. He did and he and his wife Jasmine have been watching over her and their legacy ever since.

Thaha, who looked after Sarah for more than 30 years (including 10 years before her husband Jacob died), decided to make Sarah’s home into a Jewish Museum that he takes care to preserve including polishing all the relics and still tailoring and chronicling Jewish history here. As he says (yes, we got to meet him when we visited Sarah’s store), “This is an attempt to preserve the Jewish history for the future generations”. Sarah left the store and her house to Thaha to carry on the traditions of the store, a museum and the synagogue. He continues to sell Sarah’s embroidery and also beautiful Judaica in a town with few Jews. Thankfully, visitor come to see the Synagogue and to meet Thaha. Of course, we purchased a beautiful kippah which Thaha explained to me was the design and colors of Kochin. I wore it that Shabbat evening as I led Services on the ship.

The fact that such a beautiful relationship could develop and survive between this Muslim family and Jewish family in India is a testament to what is possible.Read more