tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71129458748446106902024-03-13T04:19:20.930-04:00Jews of CochinHistory, anecdotes and interviews related to the Malabar Yehudan, the disappearing community of Cochin Jews in Kerala. Their history dates back to almost 2000 years - before their immigration to Israel. The community, Malabaris and Paradesis, has established roots in their ancestral land - but they still proudly identify themselves as 'Cochini'.Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-47732985431690086892020-10-03T13:57:00.003-04:002020-10-05T15:23:28.926-04:00Biography of 'The Jewish Gandhi of Cochin - A. B. Salem' released<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>By Bala Menon</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Happy to announce that the book ‘The Jewish Gandhi of Cochin - A Biography of Abraham Barak Salem - Indian Nationalist/Zionist’ by Bala Menon and Dr Essie Sassoon, has been released worldwide on many retail platforms (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Infibeam, Book Depository, Indiabookstore etc.)</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">An official launch will be made in Toronto this month...</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLjHLqMTBBnbXxeHobgSIcg5nW-yzpZf3odzlvR1o2Ho7Dbgyv7EHWHg9E7mFZioWBWtrfHyA9QYghayKl8s6A5q4ycyzXkgeZC_8voPAEDjf1u7dCZ2UsJwCfV9pZGIBj5aB9w_R84v8/s1513/Jewish+Gandhi+of+Cochin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1513" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLjHLqMTBBnbXxeHobgSIcg5nW-yzpZf3odzlvR1o2Ho7Dbgyv7EHWHg9E7mFZioWBWtrfHyA9QYghayKl8s6A5q4ycyzXkgeZC_8voPAEDjf1u7dCZ2UsJwCfV9pZGIBj5aB9w_R84v8/w516-h364/Jewish+Gandhi+of+Cochin.jpg" width="516" /></a></span></div><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here is a note on A. B. Salem</span></p><p>____</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Abraham Barak Salem was a brilliant lawyer, labour union organizer and ardent Indian nationalist and political leader in the erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin in the early 20th century. A strong follower of Gandhian principles of peaceful protests and civil non-cooperation techniques, he was one of the three general secretaries of the Indian States’ Peoples Party, the Congress Party wing in the princely states of India.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He was a member of the famous Lahore Session of 1939 which passed the resolution calling for complete independence or Poorna Swaraj from British rule.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Salem was a founding member of the Cochin Legislative Council way back in 1925, which set the stage for democracy later. If Kerala is known as the most literate state in India today, it was because of Salem who first introduced a bill for free and compulsory education for all in the early 1940s. He also pioneered great social reform bills like Pension for Widows and Food Rations For The Poor in the Cochin Kingdom. A powerful orator, the largest open ground in Cochin was once known as Salem Maidan. He was also part of the Gandhian temperance and lower caste temple entry movements in Kerala.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He was friends with top political leaders of the time like C. Rajagoplachary, Periyar Ramaswamy Naicker, Sardar K. M. Panikkar and Jawaharlal Nehru. In Teen Murti House there is a large photograph of Salem with Nehru - the only one where Nehru is shown with a single individual.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 16px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Salem was also the man behind the mass emigration of Cochin Jews to Israel, because of his friendship with Israeli leaders like Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Moshe Sharett, David Ben Gurion and others - although he and his family chose to stay back in his beloved state of Kerala. Salem, who died in 1967, is buried in Mattanchery in Cochin. There is a road named after him in the area.</span></p>Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-81871288476661056282018-12-09T21:09:00.000-05:002018-12-09T21:09:06.051-05:00Cochin Jews gather for 450th anniversary of Mattancherry Synagogue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1"><b><i>By Entrita Veliparambil</i></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>(Reproduced from her post in Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=%23ilovekochi&epa=SEARCH_BOX" target="_blank">#ILOVEKOCHI</a> - Picture by Vikas Fort)</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടണമെന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചിരകാല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മോഹത്തിന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മജ്ജയും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മാംസവും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നൽകിയത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മട്ടാന്ചേരി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സ്ഥാപിതമായതിന്റെ</span><span class="s2"> 450-</span><span class="s1">ാം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വാർഷികവേളയും</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചരിത്ര</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വേളയെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ധനൃമാക്കാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇസ്റായേൽ</span><span class="s2"> , </span><span class="s1">അമേരിക്ക</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">കാനഡ</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">ഇംഗ്ളണ്ട്</span><span class="s2">,</span><span class="s1">ആസ്ത്രേലിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നിവിടങ്ങളിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിന്നുമാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലേക്കെത്തിയത്</span><span class="s2">..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേലിൽ<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">ജൂതരുടെ<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">വിശേഷ<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">ആഘോഷമായ<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">പ്രകാശത്തിന്റെ<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">ഉത്സവം<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue;"> </span></span><span class="s1">എന്നറിയപ്പെടുന്ന<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%B9%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%82%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B9%E0%B5%8D?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s3">#</span><span class="s4">ഹനൂക്കാഹ്</span></a></span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">യോടനുബന്ധിച്ച്</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ദിവസങ്ങളിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ലഭിക്കുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവധി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മുതലാക്കിയാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രായം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെന്നവരും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കുട്ടികളുമടക്കം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കുടുംബ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സമേതം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തന്നെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എല്ലാവരും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലേക്കെത്തിയത്</span><span class="s2">..<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഇവരിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആദൃമായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലെത്തുന്നവരും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വർഷം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തോറും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സന്ദർശനം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പതിവാക്കിയവരും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒക്കെയുണ്ട്</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജീവിച്ചിരുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരിൽ</span><span class="s2"> 95%</span><span class="s1">വും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേലിലേക്കാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കുടിയേറിയിരുന്നത്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">അതുകൊണ്ട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തന്നെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെളുത്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിളിപ്പേരുളള</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8A%E0%B4%9A%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%9C%E0%B5%82%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%BC?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">കൊച്ചിജൂതർ</span></a> </span><span class="s1">അവിടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചേരുന്നതും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പതിവാണ്</span><span class="s2">...</span><span class="s1">പക്ഷെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നടത്തിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തുച്ചേരൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രതീക്ഷയ്ക്കും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അപ്പുറം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിറമുളളതായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മാറി</span><span class="s2">..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">സ്വവംശത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നില</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിറുത്താൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അതീവ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജാഗ്രത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുലർത്തുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സമൂഹമാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരുടേത്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">പക്ഷെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അര</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സഹസ്രാബ്ദത്തോടടുത്ത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തലമുറകളായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയോടു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുലർത്തിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സൗഹൃദം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒട്ടും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചോർന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പോകാതെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സൂക്ഷിക്കാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെളുത്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുതു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തലമുറക്കാർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അതീവ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജാഗ്രത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കാട്ടുന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നതാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഏറ്റവും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുതിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സന്ദർശനം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെളിവാക്കുന്നത്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മറക്കാനാവില്ല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തങ്ങളുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പൂർവ്വികരെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പരിപാലിച്ചതിനു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നന്ദി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉണ്ടെന്നും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പറഞ്ഞ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വേളയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സഹിഷ്ണുതയാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സ്മരിക്കപ്പെട്ടത്</span><span class="s2">.... <a href="https://jewsofcochin.blogspot.com/2018/12/jews-in-india-jews-of-india-conference_9.html" target="_blank">(</a></span><span style="color: #1c1e21;"><a href="https://jewsofcochin.blogspot.com/2018/12/jews-in-india-jews-of-india-conference_9.html" target="_blank">See also Conference about Cochin Jews in Kerala)</a></span></div>
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<span class="s2">44 </span><span class="s1">വർഷങ്ങൾക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മുമ്പ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിന്ന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേലിലേക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കുടിയേറിയ</span><span class="s2">, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%B6%E0%B4%AC%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A6%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%BD%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%A2%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%86?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">ശബ്ദായ്സാമുവൽകോഢറിന്റെ</span></a> </span><span class="s1">മകൻ</span><span class="s2"> 80 </span><span class="s1">തികഞ്ഞ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%A2%E0%B5%BC?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">സാനികോഢർ</span></a> </span><span class="s1">വീൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയറിലാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലെത്തിയത്</span><span class="s2">...</span><span class="s1">അദേ്ദഹം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സംസാരിച്ചതു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മലയാളത്തിലും</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേലിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">താമസിക്കുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തങ്ങളുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മക്കളും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മക്കളും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വീടുകളിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മലയാളമാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സംസാരിക്കുന്നതെന്നും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മലയാളത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിടാനാവില്ല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സാനി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പറഞ്ഞത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഓരോ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മലയാളിയുടെയും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മനസിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പതിയേണ്ടതാണ്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഉച്ഛാരണശുദ്ധിയോട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തന്നെയാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മലയാളം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൈകാരൃം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയ്യുന്നത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നതും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ശ്രദ്ധേയമായി</span><span class="s2">..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">കോമൺ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെൽത്ത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">രാജൃങ്ങളിലേതിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വച്ച്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഏറ്റവും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പഴക്കം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെന്നതും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്നതുമായ</span><span class="s2"> 1567</span><span class="s1">ൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പണി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കഴിപ്പിച്ച</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മട്ടാന്ചേരിയിലെ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%A6%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B6%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%97%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%97%E0%B5%8D?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">പരദേശിസിനഗോഗ്</span></a> </span><span class="s1">ഇതാദൃമായല്ല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒരുമിപ്പിക്കുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ശക്തി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കേന്ദ്രമാവുന്നത്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s2">1</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">968</span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ൽ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">സിനഗോഗ്</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">സ്ഥാപിതമായതിന്റെ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> 400-</span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ാം</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">വർഷം</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">സമുചിതമായി</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ആചരിക്കാനും</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ജൂതർ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ഒത്തുകൂടിയിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">..</span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">അതും</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">കൊച്ചിയുടെ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">സ്വന്തം</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">കോഢറച്ചയും</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ജൂതർ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">എന്ന</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">വടവൃക്ഷത്തിന്റെ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">തായ്</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">വേരുമായിരുന്ന</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> #</span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ശബ്ദായ്സാമുവൽകോഢറിന്റെ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span class="s1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">ആദ്ധൃക്ഷതയിൽ</span><span class="s2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">... </span></div>
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<span class="s1">അന്നത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇന്ഡൃൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%87%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A6%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%97%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A7%E0%B4%BF?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">ഇന്ദിരഗാന്ധി</span></a> </span><span class="s1">ആയിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആഘോഷം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉദ്ഘാടനം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയ്തത്</span><span class="s2">...</span><span class="s1">എന്നാലിന്ന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കോഢറച്ചയുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അസാന്നിദ്ധൃം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വരുത്തിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിടവ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നികത്താൻ</span><span class="s2"> 450-</span><span class="s1">ാം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വാർഷിക</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആഘോഷങ്ങളുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നേതൃത്വം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നൽകിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂട്ടായ്മയ്ക്കായില്ല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വാസ്തവം</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുതിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തുചേരൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉദ്ഘാടനം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയ്തത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അംബാസഡർ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%86%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A1%E0%B5%86%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B5%BB%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B1%E0%B5%BC?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">റെയ്നിഡെവിൻസ്റ്റർ</span></a> </span><span class="s1">ആണ്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഒരാഴ്ച</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നീണ്ട</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സന്ദർശനത്തിന്റെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവസാന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മൂന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ദിവസങ്ങൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗിൽ</span><span class="s2">,</span><span class="s1">പ്രാർത്ഥനയ്ക്കും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മറ്റുമായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചിലവിട്ടു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s2">1972</span><span class="s1">ൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെളുത്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എണ്ണം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അന്ചായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചുരുങ്ങിയപ്പോൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിശുദ്ധ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഗ്രന്ഥമായ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B9%E0%B5%8D?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">തോറാഹ്</span></a></span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേലിലേക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊണ്ടു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പോയിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">എന്നാൽ</span><span class="s2"> 45 </span><span class="s1">വർഷങ്ങൾക്കിപ്പുറം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B9%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8C?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">തോറാഹ്</span></a> </span><span class="s1">മായാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലേക്കെത്തിയത്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">പ്രാർത്ഥന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വേളയുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തുടക്കത്തിൽ</span><span class="s2"> #</span><span class="s1">തോറാഹ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വലംവച്ചു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">തുടർന്ന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ദേവാലയത്തിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രവേശിച്ച്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒന്നര</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മണിക്കൂർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നീണ്ട</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രാർത്ഥന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നടത്തി</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">വിശിഷൃ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വേളയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഏഴ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തിരി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നാളങ്ങളോട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടിയ</span><span class="s2"> #</span><span class="s1">ഹനൂക്കാഹ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിളക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കത്തിച്ചു</span><span class="s2">…</span></div>
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<span class="s1">സിനഗോഗിന്റെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തിരുമുറ്റത്ത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തയ്യാറാക്കിയ</span><span class="s2"> 82 </span><span class="s1">തിരി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നാളങ്ങളോട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആൽവിളക്കിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കാനഡയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിന്നെത്തിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ലോറിയനാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തിരി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തെളിച്ചു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ജൂതർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലായിരുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കാലത്ത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> 82 </span><span class="s1">ഓളം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കുടുംബങ്ങളെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രതിനിധീകരിച്ച്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആണ്</span><span class="s2"> 82 </span><span class="s1">തിരിനാളങ്ങൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിളക്കിനുളളത്</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">പ്രാർത്ഥനയ്ക്കു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ശേഷം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സൗഹൃദം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പന്കു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വച്ചു</span><span class="s2">....</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഒരുമിച്ച്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൃാമറക്കണ്ണുകൾക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മുന്നിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിരന്നു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">സ്ത്രീകളിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സാരി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വേഷധാരികളും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2">..</span></div>
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<span class="s1">പിന്നീട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൃൂ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സ്ട്രീറ്റിലെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പുരാതന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഭവനങ്ങൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സന്ദർശിച്ചു</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവശേഷിക്കുന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സാറാഹ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കോഹനടക്കമുളള</span><span class="s2"> 5 </span><span class="s1">വെളുത്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സന്ദർശിച്ചു</span><span class="s2">...</span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഭവനങ്ങളിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇവർക്കായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പരമ്പരാഗത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഭക്ഷണങ്ങളും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒരുക്കിയിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2">.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">ഇസ്രായേൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">രാജൃം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">രൂപപ്പെട്ടതോടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അങ്ങോട്ട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പലായനം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയ്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വെളുത്ത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതർക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജീവിത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ശൈലി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പിന്തുടരാനും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സ്വവംശത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പരിപോഷിപ്പിക്കാനും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അതിയായ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">താത്പരൃം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">അതു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊണ്ട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തന്നെയാണവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നന്നേയ്ക്കുമായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വിട്ടതും</span><span class="s2">...</span><span class="s1">ഒരർത്ഥത്തിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജീവിത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പന്കാളിയെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ജൂതരിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നിന്ന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തന്നെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ലഭിക്കാൻ</span><span class="s2">..</span><span class="s1">പക്ഷെ</span><span class="s2">,</span><span class="s1">തങ്ങളുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സമൂഹത്തെ</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">തങ്ങളുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സംസ്കാരത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പരിചയപ്പെടുത്താൻ</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">ജൂത</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചരിത്രത്തിന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയുമായുളള</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ബന്ധം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ദൃഢപ്പെടുത്താൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗിനോട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചേർന്ന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒരു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മൃൂസിയം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആരംഭിക്കാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പദ്ധതി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">തയ്യാറാക്കി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വരുകയാണ്</span><span class="s2">. </span><span class="s1">ഒരു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പക്ഷെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗിന്റെ</span><span class="s2"> 500 -</span><span class="s1">ാം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വാർഷിക</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആഘോഷത്തിനായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവർ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂടുമ്പോൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഗതക്കാല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചരിത്രം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പറയാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒരു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മൃൂസിയവുമുണ്ടാവും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മട്ടാന്ചേരിയിൽ</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s1">മാറി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മാറി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഭരിച്ച</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">രാജാക്കന്മാരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സഹിഷ്ണുത</span><span class="s2"> - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%9C%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%BC%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AE?source=feed_text&epa=HASHTAG"><span class="s4">#</span><span class="s5">രാജാരാമവർമ്മ</span></a></span><span class="s1">ഔദാരൃപൂർവ്വം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സിനഗോഗ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പണിയാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നൽകിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അനുവാദവും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അതിനായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സൗജനൃമായി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നൽകിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഭൂമിയും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചരിത്രത്തിൽ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അങ്ങനെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഏടുകൾ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂട്ടിചേർത്തു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുകയാണ്</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1">പക്ഷെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">മനസ്കതയ്ക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചേർന്ന</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സഹകരണം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കാണിക്കാൻ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നമ്മുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഇന്നത്തെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അധികാരികൾക്ക്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ആവുന്നില്ല</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">എന്നതാണ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഖേദകരം</span><span class="s2">...</span></div>
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<span class="s2"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1">ജൂതരുടെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഈ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">അവിസ്മരണ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഒത്തുച്ചേരലിന്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ശോഭ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൂട്ടാനാകുന്നത്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ചെയ്യേണ്ടതായിരുന്നു</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചി</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നഗരസഭയും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കേരള</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സർക്കാരും</span><span class="s2">…</span></div>
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<span class="s2">( #</span><span class="s1">ചിത്രം</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">നൽകിയ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">വികാസ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഫോർട്ട്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">സുഹൃത്തും</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">കൊച്ചിയിലെ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">പ്രമുഖ</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഫ്രീലാൻസ്</span><span class="s2"> </span><span class="s1">ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫറുമാണ്</span><span class="s2"> )</span></div>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-62919431900095307172018-12-09T19:02:00.000-05:002018-12-09T19:02:02.395-05:00'Jews In India, Jews of India' conference in Kerala - Jan 9-12, 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Shrihariprasad, Managing Trustee of the Sri Vishnu Mohan Foundation, has announced a conference with special sessions on the Jews in Kerala, the Bene Israelis of Maharshtra and the Baghdadi Jews of Kolkata as well as the contributions of Jews to South Asian society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The conference will be inaugurated in Ernakulam at the centuries-old Kaduvambagam Synagogue inside the Mather Bazaar in Ernakulam, which the SVMF is helping to restore.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">(A Sefer Torah from Israel arrived at the partially restored grand synagogue, with several Jews from Israel in attendance to pray and witness the placing of the Torah in its rightful place in the Ark).</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZWcIrD-2wjaVM1kLj5SxDuLFi80sSDLu5i-HHqSBzNHSW05wTuVx5lhRbdQKva4J8DlgV0nOL9dQtLf3aBZo0AFCbSQa_tpKVaxV3pHFvzVqaSRbPPKg158R_Y064R6_GDA4iDAFZM/s1600/babu_josephai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="880" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BZWcIrD-2wjaVM1kLj5SxDuLFi80sSDLu5i-HHqSBzNHSW05wTuVx5lhRbdQKva4J8DlgV0nOL9dQtLf3aBZo0AFCbSQa_tpKVaxV3pHFvzVqaSRbPPKg158R_Y064R6_GDA4iDAFZM/s400/babu_josephai.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>'Babu' Elias Josephai, caretaker of the Kadavumbhagam Synagogue. Pic: Bala Menon</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The conference will conclude with a Muziris Project boat tour including visits to synagogues in Parur and Chennamangalam and well as the Paliam Palace.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The palace overlooks a synagogue, mosque, church, and Hindu temple. A workshop will be devoted to creating a network of scholars, curators, archivists, librarians, collectors, and Indian Jewish groups devoted to the preservation of Indian Jewish material culture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">All are welcome. For further information, contact the SVMF at <a href="mailto:vishnufoundation@gmail.com">vishnufoundation@gmail.com</a> Scholars are invited to send lecture and workshop proposals of 250 words or less to both Shrihariprasad [<a href="mailto:vishnufoundation@gmail.com">vishnufoundation@gmail.com</a>] and Kenneth X. Robbins [<a href="mailto:rajanawab@kjrobbins.com">rajanawab@kjrobbins.com</a>].</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">For more info, you can also contact: </span><a href="mailto:nishaarjun9@gmail.com">nishaarjun9@gmail.com</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">SVMF is a non-profit research foundation in its formative period. The foundation “strives to harness interdisciplinary approaches and cross cultural contexts to rediscover, formulate and create pathways to transforming lives through original research, meaningful platforms, discussion forums, seminars and partnerships with organisations and individuals who are keen to bring forth knowledge and connection with the timeless, purifying, and transformational views of the teachers of mankind.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The SVMF is known for its annual Seminar on Peace and Reconciliation. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>nahi jnanena sadrsam pavitram iha vidyate</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>There is nothing so purifying as knowledge</i></span></span></div>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-19410385720148691832018-12-08T18:45:00.001-05:002018-12-15T14:26:42.324-05:00Links to Media reports on Paradesi Synagogue celebrations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here are links to media reports about the 450th anniversary of the Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry. Some 175 Jews from across the world - and many who settled in Israel decades ago - are visiting Kochi to celebrate Hanukkah and the synagogue celebrations.<br />
<br />
The Times of India<br />
<br />
<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/synagogue-to-mark-450th-anniversary/articleshow/66959047.cms">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/synagogue-to-mark-450th-anniversary/articleshow/66959047.cms</a><br />
<br />
The Times of India<br />
<br />
<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/jews-reminisce-about-childhood/articleshow/66993899.cms">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/jews-reminisce-about-childhood/articleshow/66993899.cms</a><br />
<br />
The Times of India<br />
<br />
<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/200-jews-arrive-in-kochi-to-mark-450th-anniversary-of-paradesi-synagogue/articleshow/66979476.cms">https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/200-jews-arrive-in-kochi-to-mark-450th-anniversary-of-paradesi-synagogue/articleshow/66979476.cms</a><br />
<br />
The New Indian Express<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/travel/2018/dec/07/they-descended-on-the-city-to-relive-the-halcyon-days-1908292.html">http://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/travel/2018/dec/07/they-descended-on-the-city-to-relive-the-halcyon-days-1908292.html</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwk5SX9jx7BLQtDwYzq3ErY3GLYNTO9EEmuKYKwCyI8gymoSWebS-D0G_fn0b_C9TD7lxVdmFbQqjq4JKLW9P7W6xFukYbPh_wQFSkwHDz0xVA_Xdk7QaT9vrWvGGz7nNXcm3Wh8NRaqA/s1600/synagogue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwk5SX9jx7BLQtDwYzq3ErY3GLYNTO9EEmuKYKwCyI8gymoSWebS-D0G_fn0b_C9TD7lxVdmFbQqjq4JKLW9P7W6xFukYbPh_wQFSkwHDz0xVA_Xdk7QaT9vrWvGGz7nNXcm3Wh8NRaqA/s400/synagogue.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The Deccan Chronicle<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/081218/kochi-home-for-jews-but-separate-legacies.html">https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/081218/kochi-home-for-jews-but-separate-legacies.html</a><br />
<br />
The Hindu<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/cochini-jews-assemble-to-celebrate-the-450th-anniversary-of-the-synagogue-in-jew-town-kochi/article25732723.ece">https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/cochini-jews-assemble-to-celebrate-the-450th-anniversary-of-the-synagogue-in-jew-town-kochi/article25732723.ece</a><br />
<br />
Metro Vartha<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.metrovaartha.com/news/16854/paradesi-synagogue-kochi-450th-anniversary-special-feature">http://www.metrovaartha.com/news/16854/paradesi-synagogue-kochi-450th-anniversary-special-feature</a><br />
<br />
NewsJizz<br />
<br />
<a href="https://newsjizz.com/94624-200-jews-arrive-in-kochi-to-celebrate-the-450th-anniversary-of-the-paradesi-synagogue.html">https://newsjizz.com/94624-200-jews-arrive-in-kochi-to-celebrate-the-450th-anniversary-of-the-paradesi-synagogue.html</a><br />
<br />
Manorama Online<br />
<br />
<a href="https://travel.manoramaonline.com/travel/travel-news/2018/11/21/mattancherry-synagogue-to-celebrate-its-450th-anniversary.html">https://travel.manoramaonline.com/travel/travel-news/2018/11/21/mattancherry-synagogue-to-celebrate-its-450th-anniversary.html</a><br />
<br />
Mathrubhumi - English<br />
<br />
<a href="https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/good-news/jews-return-to-mattancherry-to-celebrate-450th-anniversary-of-synagogue-1.3376949">https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/good-news/jews-return-to-mattancherry-to-celebrate-450th-anniversary-of-synagogue-1.3376949</a><br />
<br />
<i>(In the Mathrubhumi report, the name of David Hallegua is given as David Halligan - obviously an ignorant reporter! Also, he has mixed up the 'Torah'celebrations of the Kadavumbhagam Synagogue in Ernakulam with that of the Mattanchery one!)</i></div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-64808291235160704772018-12-08T17:50:00.000-05:002018-12-08T17:50:43.218-05:00A short film on the dwindling Jews of Cochin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here is a seven and a half minute short film on the Jews of Cochin released by Religion and Ethics Newsweekly - Hosted by veteran journalist Bob Abernethy and produced by Thirteen/WNET New York.<br />
<br />
The video features interviews with my friends Elias (Babu) Josephai, caretaker of the Kadavumbhagam Synagogue in Ernakulam, and Prof. C. Karmachandran, who heads the Mala Heriage Committe now fighting for preserving Jewish monuments in the beautiful settlement of Mala.<br />
<br />
The video and transcript can be seen in full at: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/05/13/jews-cochin-india/30450/" target="_blank">http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/05/13/jews-cochin-india/30450/ </a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="376" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.pbs.org/viralplayer/2365753864" width="512"></iframe>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-60995235805752752482015-10-06T15:25:00.000-04:002015-10-06T15:25:01.736-04:00Thomas Master and the Jewish monuments in Mala<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<i> Guest post by Prof. C. Karmachandran</i><br />
<i>Former Associate Professor (History)</i><br />
<i>C. Achuta Menon Government College, Kuttanellur </i><br />
<br />
The one
year long birth centenary celebrations of late K A Thomas master (b
1916- d 2011) who made a deep imprint in the history of Mala, more
exactly of central Kerala as a freedom fighter, political leader and a
social and cultural activist commenced on 2nd of October, 2015.<br />
<br />
He was the President of Poyya, the neighbouring Panchayat for 15 years
and the Chairman of Mala Development Block for ten years. He contested
against<span class="text_exposed_show"> the former Chief minister K Karunakaran and was defeated by a slender margin of mere 364 votes in 1967.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbfraMOChsnrQqkVZ28N1REhtdkeTqlI_dSkFlHXVc0UBZsU_Dzl27T84ZXwL2XJFwSw0F373hkgTfIjPQnjxi45PuhGsKIMSBLl3mOfrRjkKKZ18M1B0YP5gG-Cv_0_55tlEhHGEOYk/s1600/thomasmaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbfraMOChsnrQqkVZ28N1REhtdkeTqlI_dSkFlHXVc0UBZsU_Dzl27T84ZXwL2XJFwSw0F373hkgTfIjPQnjxi45PuhGsKIMSBLl3mOfrRjkKKZ18M1B0YP5gG-Cv_0_55tlEhHGEOYk/s320/thomasmaster.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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<div class="text_exposed_show">
During 80's he gradually withdrew from political activities and started
concentrating his attention on social and cultural activities when he
came across the pathetic condition of the millennium old Jewish
Monuments at the hands of Mala Panchayat. Despite the fact that it was
bound by an agreement of 1955 to preserve the Jewish monuments in Mala
the Panchayat chose to neglect the same.<br />
<br />
Towards the end of 80's it was
he who organised a popular movement in Mala for the first time demanding
the protection of the Jewish monuments. He was the founder chairman of
the Jewish Monuments Protection Committee that spearheaded the
activities to save the Jewish monuments in Mala. Under his able
leadership the committee organised public meetings and various other
forms of agitations such as satyagraha, demonstrations, and legal
activism.<br />
<br />
He gave representations to the Archaeological authorities of
the central and state governments for the purpose. He associated himself
with the Jewish organisation of Cochin who in 1994 approached the High
Court of Kerala for restraining Mala Panchayat from violating the
agreement of 1955.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjud_6f-knwp7O1yzCGpxlLXlDVoJysFNVGwy8hZgCswfcKfs4W1HI7ei9NIzXMDOReafoDllofWUc5Te2P0KE0Uzd9l0coZbBw71uO9WvArTuIlyaoWGsUoPobYKj9YDQ2UyNDctoolOo/s1600/Mala_syn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjud_6f-knwp7O1yzCGpxlLXlDVoJysFNVGwy8hZgCswfcKfs4W1HI7ei9NIzXMDOReafoDllofWUc5Te2P0KE0Uzd9l0coZbBw71uO9WvArTuIlyaoWGsUoPobYKj9YDQ2UyNDctoolOo/s320/Mala_syn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The Panchayat was constrained to give an affidavit in
the court that it would honour the agreement and preserve the Jewish
monuments. Unfortunately when he was forced to give up his activities
due to failing health and old age the Panchayat resumed its anti
heritage activities in the Jewish cemetery.<br />
<br />
It is significant to
note that despite being an atheist and a rationalist he championed the
cause of preserving a synagogue and a cemetery, both related to Jewish
religious belief. To him the Jewish monuments in Mala were the symbols
of the proud and lofty tradition of the religious harmony and cultural
inclusiveness that existed in ancient Mala and Kerala.<br />
<br />
Let us pay a glowing a tribute to his unforgettable memories on this occasion.</div>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-39444677537282696642015-01-01T22:25:00.002-05:002015-01-01T22:25:36.385-05:00Mala Activists Campaigning To Preserve Jewish Monuments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>By Bala Menon</i></div>
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The Mala Heritage Committee will observe the 60th anniversary of the historic 1955 Mala Jewish Agreement on Sunday 4th January 2015 in Mala. See earlier report here: (<a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2013/12/mala-jewish-cemetery-to-make-way-for.html" target="_blank">Mala, once a flourishing Jewish settlement, is located 32 km north of Cochin</a>). The event is being organized under the leadership of activists Prof.C. Karmachandran and K Venu. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONJ26eBhqs09nKahaBsqRAh3QYPiSMUyUdMEFan6-zpmSJmKmRcQz87afqq86aAK_dYTO21em2Ru9pz4WDUsqZ299wNnBJDoIsWM5PYenkQwnmIi4IuHwYQq5rWkNQv-gQY70AhoSmHY/s1600/mala1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONJ26eBhqs09nKahaBsqRAh3QYPiSMUyUdMEFan6-zpmSJmKmRcQz87afqq86aAK_dYTO21em2Ru9pz4WDUsqZ299wNnBJDoIsWM5PYenkQwnmIi4IuHwYQq5rWkNQv-gQY70AhoSmHY/s1600/mala1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The seminar announcement</b></i></td></tr>
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The Mala agreement is considered one of its kind in the world, where a Jewish congregation bequeathed, in good faith, its synagogue and cemetery for safekeeping to the town council, when emigrating to the Holy Land.<br /><br />It was on January 4, 1955 that the elders of the Mala congregation and the local town council signed the document in the Mala Sub-Registrar's Office. A member of the Ernakulam congregation named Avraham, a member of the famed Pallivathukkal family named Eliyacha, and one Eliah Bai from Chennamangalam were also signatories to the agreement along with Mala <i>panchayat</i> (local body) president A. D. Joseph. <br /><br />The document details (in its A Schdule) the 23 Cents (1/4th acre approx.) of property on which the Mala Synagogue is located and (in its B Schedule), 4 acres of land which was the Jewish cemetery in the heart of the town.<br /><br />The agreement stipulated that the <i>panchayat</i> would bear the expenses for maintenance and repair of the Synagogue building and the cemetery; that proper signboards would be erected to show that these are Jewish monuments and that these properties would never be encroached upon on used for other purposes. The Synagogue would not be used as a place of worship by any other community and that the tombstones in the cemetery would be left undisturbed along with the surrounding land; proper walls would surround the cemetery along with a gate and the land would be available for the burial of any Jew for all time.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the agreement was violated even before the ink dried on the agreement. No maintenance or repair work was ever done; the synagogue building was for some time used as a primary school and later as a community hall by all and sundry. The western side of the synagogue was sealed off to facilitate the building of a shopping complex and two decades later a two-metre-width length all along the synagogue property was used to widen the main street. On the eastern side, the main entrance was closed off after illegal encroachment of 1. 5 metres in width by politically powerful parties.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The seminar invitation (in Malayalam)</td></tr>
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The cemetery walls and the gate collapsed because of neglect and where there were once 50 elegant tombstones, only three survives today. The rest were all vandalized or the stones stolen and carted away. Political thugs in 2005 used a spurious argument about a non-existent court verdict and erected a wall diagonally across the cemetery and took possession of 2.5 acres of the land to build a gallery and soccer ground. Another 2 metres of land all round was taken away for road building. This encroachment is now being named for a former Congress chief minister of Kerala K. Karunakaran, and building work has commenced. </div>
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<br />The remaining 1.5 acres with its three tombstones are now being earmarked for a park by the state tourism department, in violation of a High Court order. The western wall of the cemetery was recently flattened with heavy equipment. It must be noted here that the Mala cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery in India.</div>
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<br />The Jews in Kerala and local conservation activists filed a case in the Irinjalakuda court and in a judgment on September 3, 2014, the court dismissed the Mala local government's contention that the 1955 agreement was null and void citing various circumstances, including the exponential growth of Mala town and the need of land for development in the town centre etc.</div>
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<br />The court directed that the municipality develop procedures to preserve the monuments according to the agreement. The local government has, however, appealed to a higher court to overturn the verdict.</div>
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•••••<br />The seminar will be opened by noted historian Dr. M. G.S. Narayanan, and speakers include Dr. K. Gopalan Kutty, Dr. Aju K. Narayanan, P. S. Manoj Kumar and Baiju Manathara.<br /><br />The second session will feature a roundtable conducted by P. K. Kittan, Prof. Kusumam Joseph and Prof. Sara Joseph. Participants are: Dr. A. Jayashankar, Civic Chandran, P.N. Gopikrishnan, Prof. George Menacheri, Prof. T. B. Vijayakumar, former Cochin Mayor K.J. Sohan, Riyaz Comu, Father John Kavalakatt, Sachidanandan Puzhankara, Kuzhoor Wilson, Sebastian, Dr. N. R. Gramaprakash, Prof. K. Ajitha, Satheesan, P.K. Bharatan Master, M. G. Babu, E. D. Davies, Advocate George Pulikuthiyil, Advocate George Thamban, M. Mohandas, K. V. Abdul Aziz, V.K. Bose, Haider Marekadu, Elias Joseph Hai (caretaker of the Kadavumbhagam synagogue in Ernakulam) and some members of the Kerala Jewish community. </div>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-88942738711486458752014-05-14T14:41:00.001-04:002014-05-14T14:41:14.426-04:00Cochini delicacies bag second spot in Tel Aviv cooking contest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
Ilanit Menachem from Atlit, a small town in the north of Israel, was the First Runner-up in a cooking contest "Cooking India, Flying India" organized by the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv recently.<br />
<br />
Ilanit, of <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2013/12/a-short-history-of-jewish-community-of.html" target="_blank">Cochin Jewish</a> descent, made the Vada (lentil fritters), the Cochini Hubba and the unique rosette-like, crunchy sweet of Kerala called Achhappam during the finals at the famed Tapas Ahad Ha'am restaurant (of Yonathan Roshfeld) in Tel Aviv. "Everything had to be completed within two hours and it was a great experience to cook in Roshfeld's kitchen," says Ilanit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80fczSzvArQOScpYadJNMzH7vWEkRUWPb_bxidFI-rtPyvEeVKXvrJ5lbHz2-_-iH6nabg2yaZpJecuw4WcL5029gVdFoKEaHr2Nk4h_rwX3i3PE-wq81c1QRHSInFTE40S56FBNTsgk/s1600/ilanit6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80fczSzvArQOScpYadJNMzH7vWEkRUWPb_bxidFI-rtPyvEeVKXvrJ5lbHz2-_-iH6nabg2yaZpJecuw4WcL5029gVdFoKEaHr2Nk4h_rwX3i3PE-wq81c1QRHSInFTE40S56FBNTsgk/s1600/ilanit6.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Ilanit with her dishes -achhappam, fritters & kubbah</i></b></td></tr>
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The five finalists – Yaffa Samson, Ilanit Menachem, Jacqueline Solomon, Orna Reuben SRK and Tamar Michael (all Jews of Indian ancestry) were given a list of ingredients and asked to devise a menu with a main dish, a side dish and a starter or dessert.<br />
<br />
The dishes reflected the diversity of Indian cuisine – <i>Fish Cutlets, Shrimp Curry and Pea Rice</i> (Yaffa Samson); Cochini Huba and <i>Achappam</i> (Ilanit Menachem); <i>Amritsari Fish, Masala Rice, Aloo Tikki</i> and <i>Halwa-Puri</i> (Jacqueline Solomon); <i>Punjabi Samosa, Tandoori Chicken with Rice </i>(Orna Reuben SRK); and<i> Palak Panner with Rice</i> and <i>Makkhani Lassi</i> (Tamar Michael). (It must be mentioned here that the Cochin dishes were the unknown factor - and which are not found on regular Indian restaurant menus. These dishes are also featured in the book <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2014/04/spice-kosher-book-on-cochin-food.html" target="_blank">"Spice & Kosher: Exotic Cuisine of the Cochin Jews</a>", published in August last year.)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAwzeFrpE0ozOCxyjYi-fO5UuTHhGK7LqDhkjlogXJny79kz0QKW53B8Z3sAiHUzIJ1OOUpI45BT7cSJd4cpGEI8NvFFAgRnJ0nGYALvegnmzfdbhJ_4BSkC3YRgKWcrjzn80rLJ0Gmg/s1600/ilanit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAwzeFrpE0ozOCxyjYi-fO5UuTHhGK7LqDhkjlogXJny79kz0QKW53B8Z3sAiHUzIJ1OOUpI45BT7cSJd4cpGEI8NvFFAgRnJ0nGYALvegnmzfdbhJ_4BSkC3YRgKWcrjzn80rLJ0Gmg/s1600/ilanit2.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivefK4e-8RKdQdzYI9AX3uRIIBY-YzQBhjDh_yn0sGT8A4CTCeRhDGw8TkvKXVALjoSOR0mFrquvCZ9mxi9k4vcYF2yQvck56UCRd7fUr5cWugAHwo74cxP1JV2CS2ufNYfvWhFmUxmpY/s1600/ilanit3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivefK4e-8RKdQdzYI9AX3uRIIBY-YzQBhjDh_yn0sGT8A4CTCeRhDGw8TkvKXVALjoSOR0mFrquvCZ9mxi9k4vcYF2yQvck56UCRd7fUr5cWugAHwo74cxP1JV2CS2ufNYfvWhFmUxmpY/s1600/ilanit3.jpg" height="134" width="200" /></a> Israeli Television Channel 2 (Keshet) aired the finals of the contest in their popular Friday morning show “Bokher Shel Keshet”, with the contestants dressed in traditional Indian attire when presenting their creations.<br />
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<i><b>Video of the finals of the 'Cooking India, Flying India' contest.</b></i></div>
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The panel of judges comprised: Yonathan Roshfeld, Israeli food critic Hila Alpert, Indian restaurateur Reena Pushkarna and Indian culinary expert Sarraju Narasinga Rao. There was a just a single point difference between Ilanit and the final winner, Ms Orna Reuben SRK, who won two return flight tickets to India and a weeklong holiday in Kerala (the home of the Cochin Jews). <br />
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Indian Ambassador to Israel Jaideep Sarkar noted in his address about the affection that Israelis had for India and Indian cuisine. Indian Restaurateur Reena Pushkarna showcased the diversity of Indian cuisine. The finale concluded with a vibrant Bollywood dance performance by choreographer David Nigrekar and his troupe of Bene Israelis. (Bene Israelis are Jews who settled in the Konkan region of Maharashrtra near Mumbai in ancient times). Sponsors of the contest included the Spices Board of India, Masa.co.il, Indigo Airlines, Tal Aviation, Government of India Tourism Office, Lev Cinema, Tandoori Restaurant, and Om Indian Store.<br />
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<i><b>Video of the semi-finals at Lev Cinema.</b></i></div>
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<i><b> </b></i></div>
The semi-finals at the Lev Cinema in Tel Aviv, a few days earlier, saw 19 candidates prepare about a hundred dishes for the judges, after which the five finalists were selected. Al semi-final candidates were invited along with their family and friends to watch the critically acclaimed Indian film The Lunchbox.— at the same venue. Ilanit 'idli' proved to be a big hit with Roshfeld "who liked it so much that he thanked me and showed me pictures of it on his cellphone."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZNv7mye1ri42okel0__mQiwgtXuvXWHIogWA-pzU6PosQbaY8mIc_xxsXTbswDqBr5TlnDPp1NTA7XgQZIDsRFWwAfgjsOSBEf4qWp4rDnExSi7nZBEqZFClknUD1Ao2mb26Ujf65l8/s1600/Ianit5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilZNv7mye1ri42okel0__mQiwgtXuvXWHIogWA-pzU6PosQbaY8mIc_xxsXTbswDqBr5TlnDPp1NTA7XgQZIDsRFWwAfgjsOSBEf4qWp4rDnExSi7nZBEqZFClknUD1Ao2mb26Ujf65l8/s1600/Ianit5.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>A composite picture of the contest finals</b></i></td></tr>
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As Ilanit says "It was an amazing experience for me and a great honour to participate in this competition and to represent the Cochin Jewish community. I did it with great pride!! Thank you all! Ilanit writes a popular blog related to Cochin Jewish cooking, called <a href="http://chipappam.blogspot.co.il/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chipappam</a>.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-88162436893000737942014-04-22T17:11:00.000-04:002014-04-22T17:11:19.413-04:00'Spice & Kosher' book on Cochin food featured in Asian Jewish Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
The latest issue of <i>Asian Jewish Life</i> (Issue 14, April 2014) has featured the book "<i>Spice & Kosher - Exotic Cuisine of the Cochin Jews</i>" by Dr. Essie Sassoon, Bala Menon and Kenny Salem. The special 'India Issue' has spread the feature across four pages and has published three of the unique Cochin Jewish recipes from the book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYbgf9ebSSd7Us4T_V1E5Rp_4AnKNmlw30CL_Tm7eMpo1WRil8KW7s8YYef6KG_vfBfQv7fS9rnbRoDLRb3IT0ZvmaX3DZ_PS_EpjI1Kglsc8cKT8xPWz0CnIcggai_9QRh2xT6RxVKA/s1600/AJL-hdr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYbgf9ebSSd7Us4T_V1E5Rp_4AnKNmlw30CL_Tm7eMpo1WRil8KW7s8YYef6KG_vfBfQv7fS9rnbRoDLRb3IT0ZvmaX3DZ_PS_EpjI1Kglsc8cKT8xPWz0CnIcggai_9QRh2xT6RxVKA/s1600/AJL-hdr.jpg" height="93" width="400" /></a></div>
The recipes covered are the famed <i>Polappam & Chikkiyathu</i> (a type of crepe made with black gram
and semolina and which is a breakfast dish unique to the Jews
of Cochin) <i>Chicken Pastel</i> (an ancient Cochin Jewish dish, mentioned in Dutch documents from Kerala of the 17th century), and the <i>Chukunda</i> (tiny baked/fried rice balls which were a popular treat for children during the festival of <i>Shavout</i>).<br />
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AJL Editor-in-Chief Erica Lyons says in an editorial, "...Also looking at the beauty of Jewish culture from Cochin, we have Bala Menon who has contributed recipes from <i>Spice & Koshe</i>r ... (the book) is much more than a cookbook; it is a walk through history and a snapshot of Jewish life."<br />
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Other articles featured in the issue include one on the legendary David Sassoon of Bombay by Dr. Shalva Weil, a Passover story "<i>A Cup of Te</i>a" by Sophie Judah, an interview with artist Siona Benjamin and an article by Michael Bender of Florida about his impressions on Cochin. There is also an interesting article on the supposed fascination in India with Hitler by Navras Jaat Aafreedi.<br />
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All articles in the issue can be read online at: <a href="http://asianjewishlife.org/">http://asianjewishlife.org/</a><br />
<br />
<i>Asian Jewish Life</i> is a quarterly publication "designed to share regional Jewish thoughts, ideas and culture and promote unity. It also celebrates our individuality and our diverse backgrounds and customs." Asian Jewish Life is a registered charity in Hong Kong. AJL operates under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, a US organization.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-25785106846120060072014-04-19T16:54:00.001-04:002014-04-19T18:02:10.722-04:00Focus on Jews of Cochin at Florida University lecture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
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For more than 2000 years, a small community of Jews in Cochin, then a small kingdom in a remote corner of South India, "enjoyed security and prosperity, fully accepted by their Hindu, Muslim and Christian neighbors."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMCotRLTwo-ImV4_hCdIS8POc6_an2VjuqwNbbnydb12XvWhqS1ZPFeDUtMFDq-IAjGoM5SnIi6rtqf9aWhLd0rsJu75q593GLBLfIvrQmyiJ4rMZUFUnlD13FN9xjp2yD99ZxvgMmTA/s1600/katz1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMCotRLTwo-ImV4_hCdIS8POc6_an2VjuqwNbbnydb12XvWhqS1ZPFeDUtMFDq-IAjGoM5SnIi6rtqf9aWhLd0rsJu75q593GLBLfIvrQmyiJ4rMZUFUnlD13FN9xjp2yD99ZxvgMmTA/s1600/katz1.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></a></div>
This story of the Cochin Jews was the theme of a presentation by one of the leading scholars of Jewish communities in Asia, Dr. Nathan Katz, when he spoke about the three interrelated strategies for constructing and enacting the unique identity of the Cochin Jews. "This identity is at the same time, fully Indian (Malayali, to be exact) and Jewish (Sephardi)," Dr Katz stressed at a 'full house' conference at the Jewish Museum of Florida in Miami Beach recently.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XkoHYRUdx-r4EYGbqY79zHYBIixDpCHcf7mZCpa2qMkQ-3PqJb1ayA-7PKXZzNQRRyR51KdqW6CDBLG-OL2Jc5TmCT48MT5zcNZ-bWcaeXj98TOETBWJHUdyWltKR6rC9sVQ6XjVjM0/s1600/katz2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XkoHYRUdx-r4EYGbqY79zHYBIixDpCHcf7mZCpa2qMkQ-3PqJb1ayA-7PKXZzNQRRyR51KdqW6CDBLG-OL2Jc5TmCT48MT5zcNZ-bWcaeXj98TOETBWJHUdyWltKR6rC9sVQ6XjVjM0/s1600/katz2.jpg" height="234" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Pictures of late 20th century Jewish Cochin, taken by Ellen Goldberg</b></i></td></tr>
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Dr. Katz, a Florida International University distinguished professor and academic director, has extensively researched the Cochin community. He lived in the
Mattancherry settlement of the Paradesi Jews for more than a year,
making him the first foreign Jew to do so for that length of time, in
more than a century. <br />
<br />
Arriving in India in 1986 as a senior Fulbright research scholar, Katz spent a year experiencing and documenting life in Cochin’s “Jew Town,” as it is widely referred to. His experience yielded two award-winning books about the community, as well as other volumes on Jewish communities throughout the subcontinent where he travelled.<br />
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This was the gist of Dr. Katz's lecture:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAOXDkP49JvqC_zhYcY24KTogzVZ_Kv1WoOJ7thG-Qqi82utzEEHPAU8qHLqMTWE4yQkQG05ShrRY-j57lv_sW4r-gvo4CcfgyxDFDartp0VyjWmaQJolZhGPzBE9yAxhJmpP2H4tzSA/s1600/Nathan+Katz+headshot_157x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPAOXDkP49JvqC_zhYcY24KTogzVZ_Kv1WoOJ7thG-Qqi82utzEEHPAU8qHLqMTWE4yQkQG05ShrRY-j57lv_sW4r-gvo4CcfgyxDFDartp0VyjWmaQJolZhGPzBE9yAxhJmpP2H4tzSA/s1600/Nathan+Katz+headshot_157x250.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Dr. Nathan Katz</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"They (the Cochin Jews) spoke of themselves have having originated in Jerusalem and fled to Cranganore after the destruction of the Holy Temple. They were welcomed by Maharajas (kings of Cochin), held positions of authority as merchants, soldiers and diplomats, and lived fully as Jews in the affectionate embrace of their neighbors.<br />
<br />
"Touching on the two anchors of their identity - Jerusalem and Cranganore - and emphasizing the high social position, they were well-acculturated in local society."<br />
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"Second, they skillfully adapted Hindu temple behaviors in the autumn
High Holiday celebrations, especially for Simhat Torah, the Festival of
Rejoicing in the Law. They adapted Hindu practices, but always within
the framework of Judaic Law or Halakhah. Thus, their neighbors came to
know them, and they came to know themselves, as fully Indian and fully
Jewish." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfezDPfRLCE__PIevtbkoBS_wxl3dZBsoHkiBUTgsdSU6UkckDvs3irjZ9R1hGZ07_lKfoBjw-U5Ub7vTtGpvi_gQfiuT1yOFutXK2iNCDQ-Gaf1qEecws-zREyql3cjJkiaH4U7qI4A/s1600/katz3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxfezDPfRLCE__PIevtbkoBS_wxl3dZBsoHkiBUTgsdSU6UkckDvs3irjZ9R1hGZ07_lKfoBjw-U5Ub7vTtGpvi_gQfiuT1yOFutXK2iNCDQ-Gaf1qEecws-zREyql3cjJkiaH4U7qI4A/s1600/katz3.jpg" height="288" width="400" /></a></div>
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"Finally, they adapted to the local social structure, the caste system. To outsiders, the Jews were accepted as a caste, and like many castes, they were divided into endogamous subcastes. On this point, they violated Halakhah. But if this violation was Indian in origin, so was its resolution, as people from the lower subcaste adapted Gandhiji's <i>satyagraha</i> technique, eventually overcoming these discriminatory practices."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawfH156HFOQFq_G9HN6QSTdrRJ4FGnJYXFkFkNX30NXh71aEZ68ord3vbm84vvSrL-F-Q7S0UuFes0Tqvev56ueTvqrde4PvTGvr-cN5uQoyaSj6uqRmbGhBmdQTUVSzgwJRVZvY7AZM/s1600/katz4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhawfH156HFOQFq_G9HN6QSTdrRJ4FGnJYXFkFkNX30NXh71aEZ68ord3vbm84vvSrL-F-Q7S0UuFes0Tqvev56ueTvqrde4PvTGvr-cN5uQoyaSj6uqRmbGhBmdQTUVSzgwJRVZvY7AZM/s1600/katz4.jpg" height="400" width="387" /></a></div>
In this far-flung Indian corner of the Jewish diaspora, the community flourished. Yet when their two homelands attained independence from Britain, India in 1947 and Israel in 1948, virtually all of the community emigrated to Israel. Today, there are only about 40 or so Jews left in Cochin (Kochi) and the surrounding areas. In Mattancherry, which has the only functioning 446-year-old synagogue, there are only seven elderly Jews.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnP11o3ISiOL8nPi_xl32QCvAqH1tBukozjIo_a7mOe17RfZSouIn-X5hx7Dfr_OCgCu_5s9LaAK1gMpO4p1h9Qc22FT85uc5U_sG6EEyNagpSPMN4gIxl_5LafxPIDfKMhK1G1didV0/s1600/Cochin+Jewish+flyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUnP11o3ISiOL8nPi_xl32QCvAqH1tBukozjIo_a7mOe17RfZSouIn-X5hx7Dfr_OCgCu_5s9LaAK1gMpO4p1h9Qc22FT85uc5U_sG6EEyNagpSPMN4gIxl_5LafxPIDfKMhK1G1didV0/s1600/Cochin+Jewish+flyer.jpg" height="291" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ellen Goldberg, photojournalist and Dr. Katz's wife, had an exhibition of her photographs from Cochin, taken in 1986-87, as part of the lecture.<br />
<br />
Presented by Flordia International Jewish Studies Initiatives, the program was co-sponsored by the university’s Initiative for Global Jewish Communities and the President Navon Professorship of Sephardi Mizrahi Studies. The Jewish Studies Initiatives educates university students and faculty and the general South Florida community about Jewish history, culture, religion, literature, political science, and international relations.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YTnFqbF_hvW3cCZL69IX0Noo3lRmnpjWf83x3ay5CAuoVJb6NIOwSyRjQBt-zHi-AtoJe_-6BajgkAVMOO_X-nKpueaYP9_FwlEOfVpLF2ncNXSbQ_CoT45Apv7MoVPQZEU7ntvNumw/s1600/Jewish+museum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9YTnFqbF_hvW3cCZL69IX0Noo3lRmnpjWf83x3ay5CAuoVJb6NIOwSyRjQBt-zHi-AtoJe_-6BajgkAVMOO_X-nKpueaYP9_FwlEOfVpLF2ncNXSbQ_CoT45Apv7MoVPQZEU7ntvNumw/s1600/Jewish+museum.jpg" height="191" width="400" /></a></div>
The Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU is located at 301 Washington Ave., Miami Beach. For more information: call 305-348-3909.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-62550956699243887122013-12-22T16:52:00.001-05:002013-12-22T16:52:37.307-05:00A Short History Of The Jewish Community Of Cochin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Bala Menon</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the tiniest and most ancient of all Jewish
communities in the Diaspora is the Cochinim or the Cochin Jews in the
southwestern Indian state of Kerala. They trace their history on the Malabar
coast 2,000 years ago, first landing on those pristine shores as sailors in the
fleets of King Solomon to purchase spices, apes, peacocks and precious metals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Songs and
oral traditions of this community give us a glimpse of their early settlements in
Malabar in places like Paloor, Madai and the port of Cranganore (today’s city
of Kodungalloor), soon after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
They call this the ‘First Diaspora’. One of the stories suggests they are
descendants of Jews taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar in the 6th century BCE and
came to India after being freed by Persian king Cyrus the Great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
community is today disappearing quickly with only about 40 left in Kerala
state, seven in the town of Mattancherry in Kochi and the rest spread around
the city of Ernakulam and surrounding areas. There are no services or prayers
although one of the most famous of the synagogues, the Paradesi in
Mattancherry, is still open and functional during festival days when Israeli tourists
gather or when a Chabbad Rabbi visits from Mumbai. Most members of the seven
Jewish congregations left en masse for Israel during the 1950 with the
stragglers following them in the ensuring decades.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Recorded
history shows that Jews were present in Kerala in 849 CE. Hebrew names were
engraved on copper plates granted by a Kerala Hindu King Ayyan Adikal
Thiruvadikal of Venad (near modern-day Kollam or old Quilon) to Syrian
Christian settlers, led by one Mar Sapir Iso, who were part of a trade guild
called Manigramam. The Jews signed these Tharissapalli plates as witnesses,
along with others who signed in the Pahlavi and Kufic languages. The plates
were given on behalf of the Chera ruler Sthanu Ravi Varman.*<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7112945874844610690#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1000
CE, the legendary Kerala emperor Cheraman Perumal Kulashekhara Bhaskara
Ravi Varman, from his palace at Mahodayapuram in the Cranganore area, issued
two copper plates to a Jewish merchant Issappu Irrappan ( Joseph Rabban),
believed to be of Yemeni descent. The plates conferred on the Jewish community
72 proprietary rights equivalent to those held by the Nairs, the then nobles of
Malabar.** This was during the 100-year war between the Kerala Cheras and the Imperial
Cholas of the Tamil kingdoms and it is believed that the Jewish community
contributed men and material (especially naval forces) to help the Chera
emperor in the war efforts.***</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Replicas
of these plates were presented to a delighted then-Israeli Prime Minister
Shimon Peres on September 09, 1992, when he visited India6 - a heart-warming
piece of evidence that there was a safe haven for Jews in this little corner of
India, centuries before the dream of Israel became a reality.•
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
original copper plates are preserved in the magnificent 460-year<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>old Paradesi Synagogue in Cochin, the oldest
functioning synagogue in the Commonwealth. (Israeli president Eizer Weizman
visited the synagogue in January 1997, hailing Cochin as a “symbol of the
persistence of Judaism and of <i>aliyah </i>... I pay tribute to India for
taking care of the Jews and their places of worship ...”).••</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
copper plate inscriptions mention that several land rights and other honours
were being given to the Jews in perpetuity “as long as the earth and the moon
remain”. Rabban was also made chief of a powerful trade guild called
Anjuvannam. (Many early Western writers believed Anjuvannam to be a princely
state.) Thus began the privileged existence of the
Jews in Kerala. For almost five centuries, they thrived in their major</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"> settlement of Cranganore as
traders and artisans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">By the
17th century, there were 11 congregations with their own synagogues – three
in Mattancherry (Kadavumbhagam, Thekkumbhagam and Paradesi), two in Ernakulam
(Kadavumbhagam and Thekkumbhagam- yes, same names!), one each in Chennamangalam,
Mala, Paloor,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muttam and Tirutur, and a
splendid one in Paravur (at that time under the control of the King of
Travancore). Cochin Jewish songs also tell of a
synagogue in a place called Southi (this has not yet been identified!)†</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">In his 1920
book <i>Jews of Asia</i>, Sidney Mendelssohn tellingly wrote: “While the Jews
of Europe, from the 10th to the 16th centuries, were living under conditions,
which, for a portion of the period, were stigmatized by Milman14 as the ‘Iron
Age of Judaism’, and while persecutions drove the scattered race in turn out of
England, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Germany, as well as other less
important regions, their brethren in the
Far East, in the lands of the ... potentates of India, were living<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a life of peace and plenty, far away from the
bigots, the robber kings, the conversionists, the Inquisitors, and the
Crusaders."††</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 125%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7112945874844610690#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""></a>
It is of interest to note here that in the late 18th century, Cochin was more
important to the Jews than New York.Walter
Fischel, a scholar of Oriental Jewry, wrote: “Cochin, one of the oldest Jewish
settlements on Asian soil, had a much larger Jewish community than New York and
surpassedit not only numerically, but also culturally. The Cochin Jewish community
in 1792 had about 2000 Jews ... and 9 synagogues of considerable antiquity,
while New York had only 72 Jewish families and only one synagogue."†††<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7112945874844610690#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 125%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Today, there are several
flourishing Cochini <i>moshavim </i>(settlements in Israel) - Nevatim and
Shahar in the south, Aviezer, Mesilat Zion and Taoz. near Jerusalem and Kfar
Yuval in the far north. (Mesilat Zion boasts signs like Rehov Cochin and Rehov
Malabar - <i>rehov </i>means street in Hebrew - dating to the early 1950s.)
Sizeable numbers of Cochinis live in Binyamina,Petah Tikva, Rishon Le Zion, Ashdod,
Jerusalem and Haifa. Moshav Nevatim also boasts a beautiful Cochini synagogue.
The interior is a copy of the Kadavumbhagam synagogue of Ernakulam and the Holy
Ark and the Torah scrolls were all brought from various synagogues in Cochin. A
Cochin Heritage Museum has been set up near the synagogue.</span>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7112945874844610690#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span></span></a> <span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">* </span><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">Aiyya, V. N. Nagom, <i>Travancore State Manual, </i>p. 244.</span></span></div>
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"> **</span> Menon, Sreedhara A., <i>A Survey of Kerala History</i>, p. 45.</span> </div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">*** </span><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"> M.G.S. Narayanan, <i>Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala</i>, Kerala
Historical Society, Trivandrum, p .34.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">• http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/11stories/2003091108060400.htm</span></span><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">•• From video of Weizman’s visit to the Paradesi Synagogue. In
possession of Bala Menon</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"> </span><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">† </span></span></span></span>This was documented by a delegation of Jews from Amsterdam,
led by Moses Pereyra de Paiva, that visited Cochin in 1685. Pereyra wrote about
this visit in his <i>Nostesias os Judeos de Cochin </i>in 1687. (The
synagogues<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of Paloor, Muttam and Tirutur
have disappeared - believed to have been abandoned or destroyed.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">†† </span></span>Mendelssohn, Sidney, <i>The Jews of Asia</i>, Chapter VIII, p.
99.</span> </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;"><span style="font-family: "ArnoPro-Regular","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: ArnoPro-Regular;">†††</span></span> Walter Fischel - <i>From Cochin, India, to New York</i>, pp.
265-67, cited by Katz on page 102. <i>Harry Austrynn Wolfson Jubilee Volume</i>.
Jerusalem: American Academy for Jewish Research, pp. 255-75.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-4611759896715192622013-12-07T21:53:00.000-05:002013-12-07T21:53:16.529-05:00 Mala Jewish Cemetery To Make Way For Congress Memorial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
The centuries-old Jewish Cemetery in the town of Mala, some 53 km north of Cochin (Kochi), is slated for demolition, under pressure from the local Congress representative in the Kerala Assembly T.N. Prathapan, the online newspaper <a href="http://marunadanmalayali.com/index.php?page=newsDetail&id=27486" target="_blank"><i>Marunaadan Malayali</i></a> has reported. The plan is to build a memorial for former Congress chief minister K. Karunakaran. The cemetery is located in the heart of the town's upscale residential area.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyo3Ug8zLnPAq4vrl9Jo_o7QIFe6IuL_YWEjYir6ZbifEAFpDEYTGCyZxhPyj41-713mJ6gojgmKxfw9i5V3eW72QJQGOB6YmCVmISYhADddAp8dsrcDisAymIc25BIGQnX0fhprYjxQ/s1600/mala5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFyo3Ug8zLnPAq4vrl9Jo_o7QIFe6IuL_YWEjYir6ZbifEAFpDEYTGCyZxhPyj41-713mJ6gojgmKxfw9i5V3eW72QJQGOB6YmCVmISYhADddAp8dsrcDisAymIc25BIGQnX0fhprYjxQ/s1600/mala5.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Mala Jewish Cemetery - the sign says Mr. Karunakaran is the Member of Parliament for Mala</b></i>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It was in 1955 that the entire Mala congregation emigrated to Israel, leaving the synagogue and the cemetery in the hands of the local <i>panchayat</i> (ruling body). The conditions of the transfer deed was that the properties could not be sold or altered. It was agreed that the synagogue could be used as a community meeting place for the residents of Mala, but that the sanctity of the cemetery be preserved. It is said that there are more than a hundred graves in the cemetery. Three tombs are visible and stands above ground. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnS6an0fcmGKbhfuFFNH7Pgd8-qiKcwwDv5kCAlKPidYPD2-NPDR7ncrlUTVc0bzceLZ1jfGN68H0SOKPphDVWAHnJvHRyAVzb8EZH1uGHtu_Kw3DUrKkbQ8Edo_E_c9xnxELw5d4jtw/s1600/mala4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnS6an0fcmGKbhfuFFNH7Pgd8-qiKcwwDv5kCAlKPidYPD2-NPDR7ncrlUTVc0bzceLZ1jfGN68H0SOKPphDVWAHnJvHRyAVzb8EZH1uGHtu_Kw3DUrKkbQ8Edo_E_c9xnxELw5d4jtw/s1600/mala4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>A plaque on the cemetery wall, handing over the propery - dated April 01, 1955.</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
(Mala was one of the towns that the Jews sought refuge after being driven out from Kodungalloor by the Portuguese in the early 16th century.)<br />
<br />
In clear violation of legal and binding documents, local Congress leaders first encroached on the 4-acre burial ground carving out one and half acres for a park and soccer field. One of the clauses in the title deed reads:"…there will be no trespass or molestation of the tombs. Nor shall any portion of the cemetery be dug or unearthed. The compound wall bounding the cemetery on all sides and the gate in it shall be preserved…"<br />
<br />
The process began in 1994, but the Jews of Ernakulam heard about the plan and approached the Kerala High Court which granted a stay on all construction until 2005. However, the local governing body went ahead and constructed an open-air stage. Neither the Jews from the Mala congregation in Israel and the Jews in Ernakulam knew anything about this event until later.<br />
<br />
The new plan, recently launched by MLA Prathapan and his supporters is to use the remaining 2 1/2 acres of land to build a memorial for Karunakaran, who died on December 23, 2010. (Karunakaran was born in Mala in 1918 and represented the constituency for many terms.)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9ZDNjYUtzT31nhSmrES_OV2xxymAUb-BBwNPePMyGCXbGEt1dPUqzIZxN1LWcLY7_CZzsnxX8YOqN7JjNReoHcFHnJBBv5S69BP-LS1zyuIAr5YteSk7WV__5z5qlvJYfLzm8Zg-u6Y/s1600/Mala03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH9ZDNjYUtzT31nhSmrES_OV2xxymAUb-BBwNPePMyGCXbGEt1dPUqzIZxN1LWcLY7_CZzsnxX8YOqN7JjNReoHcFHnJBBv5S69BP-LS1zyuIAr5YteSk7WV__5z5qlvJYfLzm8Zg-u6Y/s1600/Mala03.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Workers and equipment on the cemetery grounds. - Pic: Marunadan Malayali.</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The project - which has already commenced - calls for $2 million to be invested first in a Karunakaran Sports Academy in the cemetery. Two Ernakulam Jews Dan Elias and Aby Abraham have now approached the High Court again asking for an injunction against to all construction. The project also calls for the construction of a shopping complex and washroom facilities on the cemetery grounds.<br />
<br />
Several residents in Mala and the town of Kodungalloor (the ancient Shingly of the Cochin Jews) have also banded together to oppose the project, saying it is a desecration and a move to erase an important part of Kerala history. It is also ironic that the project is being pushed through in total contradiction to the international publicity being given by the Kerala government to the Muziris and the Spice Route projects, it has been pointed out. <br />
<br />
Mala was one among the eight major congregations of the Cochin Jews - the other seven being Chennamangalam, <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/11/restoration-of-paravur-synagogue.html" target="_blank">Paravur</a>, two in Ernakulam and three in Mattancherry (including the <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/10/paintings-in-paradesi-synagogue.html" target="_blank">Paradesi</a>).</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-70579208444797583372013-11-22T12:23:00.000-05:002013-11-22T13:44:22.426-05:00"Where The Heart Is" - Film on Cochin Jews premieres in Kochi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>By Bala Menon</i></div>
<br />
A documentary film on Cochin Jews and shot in Kerala and Israel - "Where The Heart Is - Jerusalem, Byzantium and Then...Ernakulam" - had its world premiere at the David Hall Art Galllery and Cafe in Fort Cochin on Friday, November 22.<br />
<br />
Directed by my friend Rohan Sabharwal and co-produced with Irshad Daftari, the 50-minute film tells about the wonderful experience that the Jews had in Kerala over the past 2000 years.<br />
<br />
As Rohan puts it: "Unlike virtually every other place in world where Jews have lived, the Jews of India have never experienced persecution, discrimination, and massacres from Indians for being Jewish. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that, despite the community being relatively microscopic in size compared to other minorities in India, it's socio-economic contribution has been very high."<br />
<br />
This clip is Chapter 1 (The Introduction) of five that goes to make the complete film. More than a dozen interviews were conducted in Kochi, Ernakulam and in many cities of Israel with Cochini Jews who have settled in the Holy Land - and these have been incorporated into the film.<br />
<br />
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/43601541?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
The narration begins with the time the Jews began arriving in Kerala and the grant of the famous <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2013/07/cochin-jewish-copper-plates-theme-of.html" target="_blank">copper plates by the Chera Emperor</a> Bhaskara Ravi Varman in about 1000 CE, in which the Jews were granted several privileges 'for as long as the world and the moon endure."<br />
<br />
It then goes on to interview some members of the Jew Town community from Mattancherry (Sarah Cohen, Mathew Anthony), the caretaker of the Kadavumbhagam Synagogue in Ernakulam (Babu) Elias Josephai and then to community members in Israel. Some of them include Dr. Essie Sassoon (who recently co-authored a book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Kosher-Exotic-Cuisine-Cochin/dp/0991915704/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384122800&sr=1-1&keywords=spice+%26+kosher+exotic+cuisine+of+the+cochin+jews" target="_blank">"Spice & Kosher - Exotic Cuisine of the Cochin Jews"</a>), Saul Basil Koder, Avithal Elias, Eshter Hallegua-Simon, Yaniv Koder etc.<br />
<br />
View the main trailer of "Where the Heart Is" here:<br />
<br />
<iframe width="500" height="395" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7kxEZHXFXKM?modestbranding=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
In Rohan's words:"I must confess that this is not my first rendezvous with Cochin, particularly the Fort Cochin and Mattancherry areas. Sometime ago I had the pleasure of interacting with the famed and now nearly extinct Jewish community in Jew Town, Mattancherry. I visited and spoke to the last remaining members of the community and interviewed their descendants now settled in Israel. It was a journey of great historic importance to our country and the world. It spoke about prosperity and acceptance. It spoke about conflict, struggle, preservation and equality..."<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyTSu9ITLhcnxxPrPrRPA53sKrguOp1qPEtRE5VCRWlAFhA3gW1Vygc83wJ3dq4ykmJ0uhTS2CEjR0XLkS6AHYd49eSYldA6_IBrHrdUwIBgWNegIZZWxjX78iHFRFP3QqDLlu6Jm4jU/s1600/rohan_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyTSu9ITLhcnxxPrPrRPA53sKrguOp1qPEtRE5VCRWlAFhA3gW1Vygc83wJ3dq4ykmJ0uhTS2CEjR0XLkS6AHYd49eSYldA6_IBrHrdUwIBgWNegIZZWxjX78iHFRFP3QqDLlu6Jm4jU/s400/rohan_poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Filmkaker Rohan Sabharwal (left) and the poster for the film.</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"In retrospect, one can see how the Jews thrived in Kerala. It is a state where cultures prevailed and communities thrived, a state that’s abundant in natural resources, flora and fauna. It’s an intellectual state that has the highest literacy rate in the country. There are more college and university graduates in Kerala than anywhere else in India and perhaps the world. People are civic-minded and considerate, agriculture thrives, capitalists are humane and community well being is of utmost importance."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.earthcallingonline.com/#!where-the-heart-is/c8ix" target="_blank">"Where the Heart Is</a>" (See Website here) was completed in October 2012 but release was held up because Rohan wanted to premiere the film in Kochi. One of the biggest companies in Kerala, CGH Earth Group, offered one of their major properties <a href="http://www.davidhall.in/" target="_blank">David Hall</a> for the screening. <br />
<br />
Rohan Sabharwal is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. He is well known in the short film arena both in India and the UK with his films having been screened at the Festival de Cannes, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, The Regency Fairfax Cinema, Hollywood and the Kalaghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai. His work has been picked up for distribution by Journeyman Pictures, Europe’s largest distributor for factual entertainment.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-56396989855207749362013-11-14T20:12:00.001-05:002013-11-14T20:43:59.654-05:00Prince Charles in Synagogue Lane and in Paradesi Synagogue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall, was in Jew Street, Mattancherry on November 14 - which was also his 65th birthday.<br />
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He walked the length of Synagogue Lane, stopping to accept birthday wishes from people who lined the street. In the <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/10/paintings-in-paradesi-synagogue.html" target="_blank">Paradesi Synagogue</a>, the Prince was received by warden Queenie Hallegua, who talked about some historical aspects of the Cochin Jewish community.</div>
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A traditional Jewish prayer of blessing was held for the Royal Family. The Prince and Duchess were then shown the ancient Torah scrolls and the ancient copper plates given by Emperor Cheraman Perumal to Jewish leader Joseph Rabban in 1000 CE.</div>
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"The prince examined the copper plates presented by the Raja of Cranganore to Joseph Rabban... These plates granted special privileges to our community, which included the waiver of taxes and the right to use palanquins and parasols. Written in ancient Tamil, these plates say that the Jewish community could enjoy these rights till the time the sun and moon exists," said Hallegua to media persons later.</div>
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They were also shown the gold and silver crowns that adorn the Torah cases. The Royal Couple spent more than 30 minutes in the synagogue and they were presented with a photograph of <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2012/05/when-queen-elizabeth-ii-visited.html" target="_blank">Queen Elizabeth</a> when she visited the synagogue in 1997, along with photographs of the famed blue Chinese tiles and a replica of the copper plates.</div>
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Present in the synagogue were members of the Cochin Jewish community from Mattancherry, Aluva, Paravur and Ernakulam, along with Dr. Kocha Varma of the Cochin Royal Family, who is also the founding-patron of the Cochin Royal Family Historical and Heritage Society. The Prince was also greeted by P.P. Mathew, president of the Kerala Chapter of the Indo-Israeli Friendship Society.</div>
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It has been reported that Prince Charles (although not Jewish) was circumcised as a child by a "<i>royal mohel</i>" - a person trained in the the practise of <i>brit milah</i>, the 'covenant of circumcision'. There is also said to be historical data linking the English royal family to ancient Jewish roots - through the royal house of the Mergovingians in Europe. Mary, Queen of Scots, acknowledged her Jewish ancestry.<br />
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<i>Video Courtesy: The Daily Mail online.</i></div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-7379869142318536622013-11-10T19:57:00.000-05:002013-11-10T19:57:37.900-05:00'Onam' In The Land of Israel: Nostalgic About Kerala<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
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The main festival of Kerala is known as Onam† and is celebrated by Keralites with food and cultural programs wherever they settle. However, it took around 50 years for the Cochinis in Israel to begin public Onam celebrations. Many say they marked it in their own homes even through the early years of hardship and the difficulty of getting the required ingredients for the various recipes. <br />
<br />It was the late Sima Molly Muttath Pal of Hadera, a town close to Haifa, who first organized a community Onam feast. In her book, <i>Being Indian, Being Israeli</i>, Prof. Maina Singh Chawla, quotes Sima as saying in 2008: “We have been talking nostalgically about Onam as we celebrated it with our childhood friends in Kerala and in 2004 we decided to call in a few friends ... and more people joined in every year.”* Chawla adds that Onam “became an occasion for the Jews of Cochin to bond together along ethnic lines and reconnect symbolically with an Indian past.”<br />
<br />Over the next few years, the festival grew exponentially and in 2011, the Onam celebrations, with a variety entertainment program and a traditional feast, attracted more than 2,000 people at the Central Bus Terminal hall in Tel Aviv. Apart from the Cochin Jews, there is also a sizeable population of non-Jewish Keralites working in Israel today in the health and long-term care sector on work permits. Onam feasts are strictly vegetarian with food served on banana leaves. The spread is sumptuous and comprise 14 or more dishes, ending with one or two desserts called<i> payasams</i>.•<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIFY9HDraM8ufA-tGEbLwfgkLWWHnv4hpy3bopCCCMwPMvlCKZIQSMeeuBuWt1Xad1HXk4-s9hUTOM89JhKeeS2eVQgtI9GDaBNuu-6J5Lrl0rc9by8hWiQLzR-fWBSBUMSvHmkgwiPE/s1600/audience_jaffa.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIFY9HDraM8ufA-tGEbLwfgkLWWHnv4hpy3bopCCCMwPMvlCKZIQSMeeuBuWt1Xad1HXk4-s9hUTOM89JhKeeS2eVQgtI9GDaBNuu-6J5Lrl0rc9by8hWiQLzR-fWBSBUMSvHmkgwiPE/s400/audience_jaffa.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>A section of the audience at the Jaffa Onam celebrations</b></i></td></tr>
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Recently, the Israel Malayalees Tel Aviv Community held a grand Onam celebration at the St. Anthony' s Church in Jaffa in the southern and oldest areas of Tel Aviv. Jaffa - known as the Queen of the Sea, is a cosmopolitan city of about 50,000, with sizeable Jewish, Arab and Christian populations. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>A song and dance sequence at the celebrations</i></b></td></tr>
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Prof. Ophira Gamliel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (who is a fluent Malayalam speaker and scholar on Cochin Jewish traditions) was a special guest at the event. Here is what she has to say: "Hundreds attended, prepared food and shared it, prepared a lovely program of laughter and songs, and recreated Kerala in my native place (how exciting!). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvAUZxeNayaIrE-AcBCXHnpkUpjk6kSfQ3bKiq42OekeV7zB3OqbiEHsufwE9t2npYmCYr9J2BjNTPHrLNnNBv7x17HKRpGVS9YEvW74KDxYDZ6o5N1CMo0_Y_LUYwCPe7BYEbiOGS_Y/s1600/Onam_jaffa2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikvAUZxeNayaIrE-AcBCXHnpkUpjk6kSfQ3bKiq42OekeV7zB3OqbiEHsufwE9t2npYmCYr9J2BjNTPHrLNnNBv7x17HKRpGVS9YEvW74KDxYDZ6o5N1CMo0_Y_LUYwCPe7BYEbiOGS_Y/s400/Onam_jaffa2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Keralites in Israel at the St. Anthony's Church in Jaffa</i></b></td></tr>
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"I was asked to say a few words, utterly unprepared, and basically what I could think of off hand in Malayalam (of course!) was to say something like: This old city of Jaffa is <i>kadal-amma</i> (sea goddess), and She brought over here King Maveli all the way from Kerala to meet his people in this land. It was an awesome function."<br /><br />There were many Cochin Jews also in the gathering, along with Indian embassy officials with "all of us sitting respectfully in the first row…"<br /><br />Apart from this public gathering, there were private Onam celebrations in many Cochin Jewish homes. As one of them, Sini Shifra Mutath-joshua commented on social media:"Onam in Holy Land!!! A tradition built by my dearest sister-in-law Molly…her love and dedication for her motherland Kerala …your family and friends are continuing the tradition with lots of happy memories of you on this day…"<br />
<br /> <i>†Onam is a harvest festival falling in August/September. Legend has
it that a demon-king called Mahabali once ruled over a prosperous
Kerala. The Gods were envious and connived to push him down into the
netherworld, allowing him to visit his people only during Onam.
Keralites celebrate this homecoming.)</i><i> </i><br />
<i>*Chawla, Singh Maina, Being Indian, Being Israeli, Manohar, New Delhi, 2010, p. 185. </i><br />
<i>• Paragraph is excerpt from a recent book <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Spice-Kosher-Exotic-Cuisine-Cochin-Jews-Dr-Essie-Sassoon/9780991915705" target="_blank">"Spice & Kosher: Exotic Cuisine of the Cochin Jews".</a></i></div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-59650812782155762152013-11-01T13:24:00.002-04:002013-11-01T14:32:36.373-04:00Mourning In Mattancherry: Rachel Sassoon Cohen Passes Away<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
By Bala Menon<br />
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Jew Town, Mattancherry, is in mourning. One of its members Rachel Sassoon Cohen passed away early on November 1 after a long and debilitating illness. The funeral is on Sunday and she will be buried at the Jewish cemetery on A.B. Salem Road just off Synagogue Lane.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISQxqBIZIiU77Hn8qNdZYOcGvHI_wY6_7sZ1BwxXr-TwSDUFieWxbL0mtZZrZAPSwayr-npmlSlwARSYTW6qLH9vuZb9RkfL8KvN7J7xxu2TqfAbGuji8bFHbowy4DggFnk-1WMBMyUA/s1600/Rachel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiISQxqBIZIiU77Hn8qNdZYOcGvHI_wY6_7sZ1BwxXr-TwSDUFieWxbL0mtZZrZAPSwayr-npmlSlwARSYTW6qLH9vuZb9RkfL8KvN7J7xxu2TqfAbGuji8bFHbowy4DggFnk-1WMBMyUA/s320/Rachel.jpg" width="264" /></a>Rachel (pictured) or 'Patha' as she was known affectionately in the community, was in her early 80's and lived alone in a house opposite the Paradesi Synagogue. Her husband Sunny Cohen passed away several years ago. They had no children. <br />
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Rachel had one brother Haim Sassoon, who lived in Ashdod (Israel). Haim died a few years ago. Her sister-in-law Ruby and nephews and nieces live in Ashdod.<br />
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With the death of Rachel Sassoon Cohen, there are only seven people left among the Paradesi Jewish Community in Cochin. </div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-83310679273998498652013-10-31T19:02:00.002-04:002013-10-31T19:02:26.724-04:00Prince Charles To Visit Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
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Prince Charles of Great Britain will visit the Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry, Kochi, on November 11.<br />
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Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Park Bowles are scheduled to tour India from November 6 to 14, ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Their itinerary includes visits to Dehradun, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Kochi.<br />
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However, Charles will be visiting Kochi alone while Camilla will be at the Doon School in Dehradun at the same time. Charles will be meeting with the remaining members of the Kerala Jewish community at the synagogue and sign the Visitors' Book. He will also make an 'off-road' trip into what officials called 'an elephant corridor'. The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest functioning synagogue in the Commonwealth.<br />
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Prince Charles's love of elephants is well-known and is attributed to the influence of Mark Shand, Camilla's brother, who runs a charity in London called <a href="http://www.elephantfamily.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/projects/tirunelli-kudrakote-elephant-corridor-kerala/" target="_blank">Elephant Family</a>. Shand is also a noted travel writer and has visited Kerala several times. The Kerala Elephant Corridor is a 2,200-acre (6 x 1.5km) strip of land within the largest stronghold of Asian elephants in the world. It is officially known as the Tirunelli-Kudrakote Corridor and is part of the Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The interior of the <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/12/paradesi-synagogue-at-beit-hatfutsot.html" target="_blank">Paradesi Synagogue </a>in Mattancherry.</i></b></td></tr>
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It was in October 1999 that his mother <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2012/05/when-queen-elizabeth-ii-visited.html" target="_blank">Queen Elizabeth made a memorable trip</a> to Synagogue Lane and met members of the Kerala Jewish community at the Paradesi Synagogue. She was received at the time by then warden of the synagogue the late Sammy Hallegua and his wife Queenie.<br />
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Prince Charles' Clarence House residence officials told media in London that this will be his eighth official visit to India and the third with Camilla. ""They will undertake a broad range of engagements to promote the strong UK-India partnership in key areas such as conservation, education, growing business links, women's empowerment and training," the statement said.<br />
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"They will also have the opportunity to celebrate religious diversity, creativity and the vibrant individual family ties between the two countries."<br />
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Prince Charles will be celebrating his 65th birthday in Colombo with 'some singing and a cake' (and there will be a small birthday eve party in Kochi) and royal sources insisted the Prince “doesn’t want any fuss” about the fact that he will be eligible for his free seniors' bus pass once he returns to Britain. Charles will be representing Queen Elizabeth, the head of the Commonwealth at the 53-member heads of government meeting in Colombo.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-45075684586834736642013-09-22T21:17:00.000-04:002013-09-22T21:17:32.908-04:00'Western Jews in India' also talks of Cochin Jews & A.B. Salem<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
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Noted American psychiatrist, collector of south Asian art and Jewish scholar, Dr. Kenneth X. Robbins MD, has just published his new book, along with co-author Marvin Tokayer, "Western Jews in India", with some chapters devoted to the Jews of Cochin.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8hY-bt2cwurk-TThDFV8lt7zMRVPUN1t8kG5xgkugGjPsmSH4G44HqLFkDhDIlTWmItDu5oAKcaow2UDUhg63p0rfgavEiZbyhjMq7bTEeuAv5BxULjJXjBm3-rdueu1JY_WZ1d4FXQ/s1600/FRONT+COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8hY-bt2cwurk-TThDFV8lt7zMRVPUN1t8kG5xgkugGjPsmSH4G44HqLFkDhDIlTWmItDu5oAKcaow2UDUhg63p0rfgavEiZbyhjMq7bTEeuAv5BxULjJXjBm3-rdueu1JY_WZ1d4FXQ/s320/FRONT+COVER.jpg" width="232" /></a>I have been in contact with Dr. Robbins for a long time now, especially with regard to his knowledge of the erstwhile Cochin Kingdom, its Jewish population and their artifacts and the <a href="http://kairalinotes.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">martial traditions of Kerala</a>. (Marvin Tokayer was Rabbi of the Jewish community of Japan and Vice-President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Southeast Asia and the Far East. He has authored more than 20 Japanese books on <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/11/judaica-of-cochin-jews.html" target="_blank">Judaica</a>.)<br />
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Dr. Robbins' book is the first of its kind describing the role of Western Jews in South Asian political affairs, medicine, painting, architecture and religion and is part of a 8-volume project about Indian Jews, including the military history of the Bene Israelis, Holocaust refugees and Jews in Bollywood. <br />
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In a personal communication this week, Dr. Robbins said: "The opening chapter is an extensive timeline dealing with all Jews in South Asia, summarizing the contributions of European and Indian Jews to the Indian Subcontinent. Many of the foreign Jews left behind their Jewish identities after coming to Inda. Others remained Jews, but functioned as individuals unconcerned with implementing any 'Jewish agenda'”. <br />
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Dr. Robbins adds: "The Mother, a great mystic and leader of the famed Aurobindo Ashram, was a French artist with a Turkish Jewish background. Maurice Frydman (Bharatananda), an important associate of Nisargadatta Maharaj and other gurus, tried to create a Gandhian democracy in Aundh. Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) was an important Islamic political thinker and government official in Pakistan. (The Mother of Aurobindo Ashram was born <span class="st"> Mirra Alfassa in Paris in 1878 and ran the Aurobindo Ashram for nearly 50 years.)</span><br />
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"Jews provided the Portuguese, who persecuted them, with language skills and access to trading networks. Jean-Baptiste Ventura became commander of the Sikh armies. In 1921, Lord Reading and Edwin Montagu were the two highest British officials governing India. <br />
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"Garcia da Orta was a founder of tropical medical botany in the sixteenth century. Waldemar Haffkine, who created anti-cholera and plague vaccines, undertook large-scale vaccination programs in India. Louis Kahn created the iconic National Parliament House in Bangladesh. The buildings of Moshe Safdie, Joseph A. Stein, and Stanley Tigerman are very well known in India and Bangladesh."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>A.B.Salem at the Simchat Torah celebrations in the Paradesi Synagogue in 1965.</i></b></td></tr>
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The book has articles written by a distinguished international group of scholars along with hundreds of illustrations - paintings, photographs, maps, medals, stamps, documents and pictorial essays on painters and architects.<br />
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There are two wonderful colour pictures in the book of Abraham Barak Salem, the foremost Cochin Jewish leader of the 20th century.<br />
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Dr. Robbins has published more than 60 articles dealing with Indian history, art, religion, philately, numismatics and medicine. He has also served as curator of more than a dozen exhibitions on these themes, some of them on the Jews of Cochin and South India. In 1989, he gifted a valuable collection of 45 photographs of Mahabat Khanji Rasukhanji Babi Bahadur, who was the last ruling Nawab of Junagadh in British India from 1911 to 1947 to the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5WH3XyeBHF7FjzCtBeyjUrs30a69zuhCfYjmJOiexqcb6Eg0pgvFISFmD6ftM3cllr5mSRhwI9tD64SmO_LbOZuHsztbTXHmb6rBoe6Xtej1TrzGgFEgVslJBUbAQe9p3eFnZfMr8kQ/s1600/cochin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR5WH3XyeBHF7FjzCtBeyjUrs30a69zuhCfYjmJOiexqcb6Eg0pgvFISFmD6ftM3cllr5mSRhwI9tD64SmO_LbOZuHsztbTXHmb6rBoe6Xtej1TrzGgFEgVslJBUbAQe9p3eFnZfMr8kQ/s1600/cochin.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Dr. Kenneth Robbins addressing the Cochin Royal Family at the 2005 event. </i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In 2005, Dr. Robbins led a delegation of B'nai B'rith International to Cochin to present an award to the curent members of the Cochin Royal Family in honour of their ancestors who welcomed and protected the Jewish community for centuries. <br />
<br />
In a foreword to the "Western Jews In India", Dr. Kocha Varma, Founder of the Cochin Royal Family Historical Society, says: "Over the centuries, my ancestors in the Ruling Family of Cochin accorded to Jews a status unheard of elsewhere. The Rajas befriended, protected and favoured Jews and encourage them to settle in Cochin and openly practice their religion…"<br />
<br />
Another foreword has been written by Lt. General J.F.R. Jacob,
PVSM (Retired), one of the heroes of India's 1971 war with Pakistan which created
the country of Bangaldesh. Gen. Jacob is a Baghdadi Jew from Calutta.<br />
<br />
Dr. Robbins is now working on organizing an exhibition on the Jews of India for New York's Rubin Museum of Art in 2015, collecting photographs and objects from various Jewish communities of the sub-continent. The museum is centred on themes related to Himalayan Asia.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>"Western Jews in India" is priced at $85:00 plus $5:00 postage and handling for American addresses. No credit card payments. Price of postage to other countries not yet set. Payments to be sent to Kenneth X. Robbins 5055 Seminary Road Suite 108 Alexandria, VA 22311.</i></span></div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-70718140782817587102013-08-28T02:05:00.001-04:002014-05-14T14:29:56.041-04:00Magnes releases Mandelbaum film clip on Cochin Jews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, one of the world's best-known repository of Judaica, has just released a video on 'Scenes of Jewish Life in Kerala', giving a glimpse of outdoor life in Jew Town, Mattancherry in the early 20th century. <br />
<br />
The 16 mm, silent, black and white film, archived at the Bancroft Library of the University of California in Berkeley, was made by anthropologist David Mandelbaum in 1937 when he visited the then Kingdom of Cochin to document the life and rituals of the Jews of the Cochin. (Note: not all the people shown in the film are Jews; the Simchat Torah celebration sequence was filmed at the Paradesi synagogue in Mattancherry.) <br />
<br />
It also looks like Mandelbaum has filmed the entire Synagogue Lane on which there were three synagogues at the time. At the north end was the Paradesi, at the south end was the Kadavumbhagam and in the middle there was the Thekhumbagam. Most of the Jews in the north end were small merchants and poultry sellers as opposed to the wealthier Jews of the Paradesi congregation. Mandelbaum has not filmed the Jews of Mala, Paravur and Chennamangalam, many of whom were wealthy farmers and owned coconut, rice and pepper plantations.)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ha91MldHZb4?modestbranding=1&rel=0" width="560"></iframe> <br />
<br />
David Goodman Mandelbaum, who was born in Chicago in 1911, was among the earliest of western scholars to undertake field trips to India for ethnographic studies. Before his focus on India, he studied the San Carlos Apaches of Arizona and later the Plans Cree First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada. He also spent about two years (1937-1938) studying the Kota and Toda tribes in the Nilgiri Hills in the then Madras Presidency.<br />
<br />
Most of the research material and photographs he collected in Cochin were published in "The Jewish Way of Life in Cochin" (Jewish Social Studies Vol 1, No. 4 - Oct. 1939) and in other articles. In the main article, Mandelbaum wrote of "life in Cochin is conducted strictly according to the precepts of the <i>Shulhan arukh</i>, the orthodox codex" and again "Judaism flourishes in Cochin because the syna- gogue complex embraces every phase of the culture and serves all the needs of social life."<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span><br />
<br />
During the Second World War II he served in the army as an officer in Southeast Asia. In 1946, he joined the Berkeley Department of Anthropology, working there until retiring in 1978. He, however, continued as Professor Emeritus, until his death on April 19, 1987, after a long battle with cancer. He was instrumental in the creation of the Kroeber Hall and the Lowie Museum of Anthropology and also played a key role in establishing the University's Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies.<br />
<br />
Mandelbaum's interests covered a wide spectrum of research areas, 'but India remained his greatest love and it is for his contributions to Indian studies that he is particularly well known."<span style="font-size: xx-small;">4</span><br />
<br />
The Magnes collection was known earlier as the Judah L. Magnes Museum. Founded in 1962 by Seymour Fromer (who died in 2009 at the age of 87) and his wife Rebecca Camhi, the Magnes has secured and restored several articles from Jewish Cochin. Among the treasures is the Torah Ark from the demolished Thekkumbhagam Synagogue (which was located near the Paradesi Synagogue) at Mattancherry. Dating to the early 17th century, the ark has elaborate carvings in red, green and gold colours. A draped central cartouche on top of four wooden pillars is inscribed with the words 'Crown of the Torah' in Hebrew.<br />
<br />
References: <br />
1. www.magnes.org<br />
2. The Jewish Way of Life in Cochin, David Mandelbaum, Jewish Social Studies/JSTOR<br />
3. http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf400003gz/<br />
4. http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb6z09p0jh&chunk.id=div00029&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text </div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-87707212434390421722013-07-14T20:16:00.002-04:002013-07-14T20:17:32.602-04:00Cochin Jewish copper plates - theme of installation at Biennale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Bala Menon</i><br />
<br />
The priceless copper plates of the Cochin Jews was a major topic of discussion at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. (The Biennale ran from December 12, 2012 to March 13, 2013 with a series of live performances, art shows, lectures, films and cultural events throughout the three months.) <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAFmcPCuXByFYVS49NffD-jX2cMaVExI03Q0dXg5aj8Xrn1Dt-b-JhmsjnabItEx1N1e7DskZxxl8SIEyWY0GF58ulmF-5Z1DEenFvclbm4AldsZnHNE2QC2HwYZscYDSj_L3FwPkDZY/s1600/sema6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPAFmcPCuXByFYVS49NffD-jX2cMaVExI03Q0dXg5aj8Xrn1Dt-b-JhmsjnabItEx1N1e7DskZxxl8SIEyWY0GF58ulmF-5Z1DEenFvclbm4AldsZnHNE2QC2HwYZscYDSj_L3FwPkDZY/s1600/sema6.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>One of the copper plates - in the Paradesi Synagogue in Mattancherry</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Jewish artist Joseph Semah made these plates the theme of an intriguing installation at the famed Aspinwall House (once a warehouse that stocked coconut, pepper and other valuable spices - commodities that the Jews of Cochin traded in for centuries.)<br />
<br />
It was in 1000 CE that the legendary Kerala emperor Cheraman Perumal presented the set of plates to a Jewish leader named Joseph Rabban, granting him 72 proprietary rights equivalent to the Nairs who were then nobles of Malabar. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLuGn149YGECgRpMUaRpTLTbbrV9Hx52t6yRWqsErD5AyEtyCNsHIZqlH5rADmLNsn5wwlWxK3Z4MQjepXJ7wSZkphyphenhyphenB4SLJqwP-E0VrBPOtGVBNk1Wuhxm4w9z-yuv1FTV8F6-Rg7T8/s1600/sema4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Emperor Kulashekhara Bhaskara Ravi Varman received Rabban in his palace at Mahodayapuram (near today's Kodungalloor) and made him the head of a powerful trade guild called Anjuvannam, conferring on him the special privileges "as long as the world, sun and moon endure."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeBxktDDSY-ADglPSyUqbpv_PAspnAItqabMQMM6fGZHcjfLNHNUiVAdHP-kC2vnroFG5UrgckaCMrPxBbsT3XCyokVs8WDzNKIK25xd2TQLJMfQ0jOKk86YY6cX9LJyVmv6bbzRYGPA/s1600/sema1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeBxktDDSY-ADglPSyUqbpv_PAspnAItqabMQMM6fGZHcjfLNHNUiVAdHP-kC2vnroFG5UrgckaCMrPxBbsT3XCyokVs8WDzNKIK25xd2TQLJMfQ0jOKk86YY6cX9LJyVmv6bbzRYGPA/s1600/sema1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Joseph Semah - with part of his installation</b><b> at Aspinwall House.</b></i></td></tr>
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The privileges included the use of aristocratic symbols like riding an elephant or palanquin, carrying weapons, lighting of special lamps, walking on a carpet, blowing trumpets and beating drums and the commercially important right to levy duties and tolls and exemption from taxes. The plates, written in the ancient Vattezhuthu script of Malayalam, were signed by seven governors of the provinces under the Chera emperor. The two rectangular plates are today preserved in the Holy Ark of the <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/10/paintings-in-paradesi-synagogue.html" target="_blank">Paradesi Synagogue</a> in Mattancherry. (Look out for a future blog on the copper plates.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLuGn149YGECgRpMUaRpTLTbbrV9Hx52t6yRWqsErD5AyEtyCNsHIZqlH5rADmLNsn5wwlWxK3Z4MQjepXJ7wSZkphyphenhyphenB4SLJqwP-E0VrBPOtGVBNk1Wuhxm4w9z-yuv1FTV8F6-Rg7T8/s1600/sema4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLuGn149YGECgRpMUaRpTLTbbrV9Hx52t6yRWqsErD5AyEtyCNsHIZqlH5rADmLNsn5wwlWxK3Z4MQjepXJ7wSZkphyphenhyphenB4SLJqwP-E0VrBPOtGVBNk1Wuhxm4w9z-yuv1FTV8F6-Rg7T8/s1600/sema4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Semah's installation - the table with copper plates and threads running through 22 holes.</i></b></td></tr>
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Semah's installation featured a 22-metre wooden table (representing the 22 letters in the Hebrew language), with 72 copper plates wedged in rows. Five thousand metres of thread (representing the circumference of the <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2012/07/there-was-jerusalem-before-there-was.html" target="_blank">Old <i>C</i>ity of Jerusalem</a>) were woven through holes (corresponding to the constellations above Jerusalem) and left snaking on the floor. The wall facing the installation displayed 72 drawings, each measuring 42 cm x 32 cms, done in Indian ink on tracing paper and sewn together with white thread into a sheet of music notes: the drawings made for a visual guide to the 72 privileges granted to Joseph Rabban. The whole installation dominated one entire warehouse on the second storey of the building.<br />
<br />
Joseph Semah was born in Baghdad, but grew up in Tel Aviv and later moved to the Netherlands. The 64-year-old is a self-taught artist and "today runs the Makkom Foundation in Amsterdam and executes projects based on interdisciplinary research in the arts."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDsh0TgJnIiMpBMkWpUV5S4CzKSVWGVUS5udjNK3XlqMK6GzuM9JG5lEUeKqc59SfhgzlQ1aIJXaw6WG_Ta1gsORirsbGJs6p4GIO01q1DECCktlpAhqdgCdoa6kIvXXTEGJHDwlOWko/s1600/sema3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDsh0TgJnIiMpBMkWpUV5S4CzKSVWGVUS5udjNK3XlqMK6GzuM9JG5lEUeKqc59SfhgzlQ1aIJXaw6WG_Ta1gsORirsbGJs6p4GIO01q1DECCktlpAhqdgCdoa6kIvXXTEGJHDwlOWko/s1600/sema3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Art enthusiasts light up the 'privileges' which were then placed in wine glasses.</i></b></td></tr>
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The installation was a major cultural event in Kochi, and the opening day saw "believers of the Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and secular traditions, standing back to back and reading from their holy texts." This was followed by an extempore dance by 72 children holding wine glasses. A recording of the performance (along with the glasses with a flame inside them) was later made part of the installation.<br />
<br />
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale attracted more than 400,000 people. As the organizers said: "Art was taken out the galleries and onto streets and everyday places." In Kochi, it was bungalows and ancient warehouses that became art centres, hosting 80 artists from 24 countries." The exhibits were located at 14 places, including Jew Town in Mattancherry, Fort Kochi, Ernakulam and Kodungalloor, the site of the legendary port of Muziris. <br />
<br />
References:<br />
<i>http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org<br />Malayala Manorama Online - http://www.manoramaonline.com<br />http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/kochi-gets-ready-for-a-dutch-treat/article4180760.ece</i></div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-8345523413829344622013-03-01T01:18:00.000-05:002013-03-01T01:25:53.679-05:00Famous 'Jerusalem Pattanam' song performed at Kochi concert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>By Bala Menon</i></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<br /></div>
<i style="font-family: inherit;">Jerusalem Pattanam</i>, a famous Judeo-Malayalam song of the Cochin Jews, was one of the attractions recently at the ongoing Kochi-Muziris-Biennale.<br />
<br />
The song was performed at a live concert organized at Changampuzha Park in Edapally (Ernakulam) on January 20. The Biennale began on December 12, 2012 and will end on March 13 and events are held at various venues in and around Kochi in Kerala.<br />
<br />
The <i style="font-family: inherit;">Jerusalem Pattanam</i> song was rendered along with a traditional <i style="font-family: inherit;">nauka</i> (boat) song by Carnatic vocalist and composer Dr. Sreevalsan Menon.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Sk--Ih-GvU8?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
The song talks of :<br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">"Glorious Jerusalem, <br />It will renew again...</i><br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">rise in all it glory and shine ..<br />...(in the land) you gave us, let us thrive<br />...all who praise you, protect every one..</i><br />
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Dr. Nathan Katz, Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, posted a Facebook note that he and his wife Ellen Goldberg had heard this song when they lived in Kochi in the early 1990s while gathering material for their book The Last Jews of Cochin. "The song was a favourite of the Jewish women there."<br />
<br />
At the concert, in a brief introduction, Dr. Menon thanked Dr. Aju Narayanan of U.C. College in Alwaye for assistance in getting the lyrics and Sarah Cohen of Mattancherry who sang this song for <i style="font-family: inherit;">Next Year in Jerusalem</i>, a 1991 documentary on the community. <br />
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The <i style="font-family: inherit;">Kappalile Kolum Kattum</i> boat song talks about the arrival of the Jews on the Kerala coast and their subsequent prosperity.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsayFwXMhDhx4XYbFbzpGFAHtO0O2ZGXc2pAhEu5_Uvj8a3hMQiwcdQVmh-MNwR3DZyzu2_kuDX7VA2PLEKSG66zf5ktwDrEg8Pioyn2YJcwimj-lr72ySO8bm1IORGFJZ2AdUUf4B90/s1600/Sreevalsan_J._Menon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsayFwXMhDhx4XYbFbzpGFAHtO0O2ZGXc2pAhEu5_Uvj8a3hMQiwcdQVmh-MNwR3DZyzu2_kuDX7VA2PLEKSG66zf5ktwDrEg8Pioyn2YJcwimj-lr72ySO8bm1IORGFJZ2AdUUf4B90/s200/Sreevalsan_J._Menon1.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Dr. Sreevalsan Menon</i></b></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: inherit;">Braving the storms and the waves,<br />we came on a ship…<br />now the bride gets into the bridegroom's boat<br />...the bridegroom gets into the bride's boat,</i><br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">…there are colourful silk clothes</i><br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">in bright green and red </i><br />
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>...there are pearls</i><br />
<i>...and with great happiness we all board the boat</i><br />
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Dr. Sreevalsan Menon was accompanied on stage by Edapally Ajithkumar on the violin, Changanacherry B. Harikumar on the <i>mridangam</i> and Vazhappally R. Krishnakumar on the <i>ghatom</i> (the last two are percussion instruments).</div>
<br />
Dr. Menon was an Oscar nominee this year for original music score for the movie <i>Saint Dracula</i>, a new interpretation of the original Bram Stoker tale of the Transylvanian prince. <br />
<br />
He is an Associate Professor at the Kerala Agricultural University in Thrissur, and got his Ph D in Agricultural Extension from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. He lives in the temple town of Thripunithura near Kochi. Dr. Menon has given Carnatic music performances and lecture demonstrations throughout India, the Middle East, UK, US, Canada and Africa. His albums include <i style="font-family: inherit;">Vanaprastham</i>, based on a celebrated short story by M.T. Vasudevan Nair; <i style="font-family: inherit;">Monsoon Anuraga</i> a take on Kerala's wonderful rains and <i style="font-family: inherit;">Vismaya</i>, a fantasy video album.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-26223701430152518562012-10-12T20:09:00.000-04:002014-05-14T14:39:32.783-04:00Ma Navu, The Cochini Chant That Everybody Loves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<i>By Bala Menon</i></div>
<br />
It was Elias (<i style="font-family: inherit;">Babu</i>) Josephai (pictured here), the ebullient caretaker of the Kadavumbagam Synagogue of the Cochin Jews in Ernakulam, who first told me about the enchanting Hebrew song <i style="font-family: inherit;">Ma Navu</i>. Josephai asserted that the music was composed by a member of the Kadavumbagam congregation. (The Kadavumbagam synagogue is not in use today).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIPOPBGTR1BJF812LszswjypBwrPiDqIOkX5Eyy4wnlHSgW3XJ6ZFsH2U3x2W3dAawSP0JcnWphDvP14au_KvKDk3-zLe9QSlNd58Mbkn-laPU4r9TXD0fhFtRiv-QsX_MYD4BcPrGjA/s1600/babu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIPOPBGTR1BJF812LszswjypBwrPiDqIOkX5Eyy4wnlHSgW3XJ6ZFsH2U3x2W3dAawSP0JcnWphDvP14au_KvKDk3-zLe9QSlNd58Mbkn-laPU4r9TXD0fhFtRiv-QsX_MYD4BcPrGjA/s200/babu.jpg" height="200" width="167" /></a></div>
<br />
Josephai's claim is true. I have come across many articles where the credit for the uplifting composition is given to <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2012/04/dr-johanna-spectors-documentary-on-jews.html" target="_blank">'Jews from Cochin'</a>. This Sephardic song in Aramaic is sung by every Jewish person from Kerala. Josephai says it was popular during the Simchat Torah celebrations in Cochin - because the lilting tune made all participants dance with abandon. <br />
<br />
Today, Ma Navu is sung worldwide, and in the United States it is popular at various dance festivals, including the Universiy of California and with church choirs across the country. A search on YouTube will show the many variants of the original Cochin tune, with dancers going round and round in circles, holding hands. There are also uploads of the song by the Cincinnati Folk Dancers, the Crowley Honour Choir, Newark Folk Dancers and several Israeli folk dancers singing and dancing to the same tune. This video of a song based on the Cochini tune features shots of the interior of Cochin synagogues, including the Ark from Paravur, the ceiling from Kadavumbagam, the Cochin synagogue in Nevatim in Israel and some pictures of Kerala. <br />
<div style="height: 320px; margin: 0 auto; width: 420px;">
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<br />
The words of the Ma Navu song are taken<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> fro</span>m Isaiah: Chapter 2, line 7.</div>
<br />
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<i>Ma navu al heharim <br />raglei mevaser,<br />mashmia shalom, mashmia tov, mashmia yeshua, <br />omer letziyon <br />malach Elohayich</i></div>
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<i>How beautiful on the mountains </i></div>
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<i>are the feet of the messenger of good tidings, </i></div>
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<i>proclaiming peace, </i></div>
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<i>proclaiming good, </i></div>
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<i>proclaiming salvation; </i></div>
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<i>saying to Zion, your God reigns.</i></div>
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<tr align="center"><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD6IrnaICTqz1U10Yfo25hR9H49Q5zIDyG5Yu7fEDcSD0VYUEyNiJ7IjPTQJfFPCVN2efYrNNlQ-JXPOtfmp6OFvEiuOe8VCmqMZO4kH4Z1yQ6_OjDET3teBdfqgqif8Y-DxzGDPVCBU/s1600/cinci.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD6IrnaICTqz1U10Yfo25hR9H49Q5zIDyG5Yu7fEDcSD0VYUEyNiJ7IjPTQJfFPCVN2efYrNNlQ-JXPOtfmp6OFvEiuOe8VCmqMZO4kH4Z1yQ6_OjDET3teBdfqgqif8Y-DxzGDPVCBU/s1600/cinci.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>The Cincinnati Folk Dancers perform Ma Navu</i></b></span></td></tr>
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Recently, a a group of 12 singers from Estonia - Vox Clamantis - with
interest in ancient songs, picked the Cochini chant, for their
path-breaking CD <i>Filia Sion</i>.<br />
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One review of the CD reads: "Vox
Clamantis' imagination and musicality makes for an absorbing and
inspiring spiritual encounter. The reviewer says:"The Ma Navu track, a
chant from the Jewish enclave of Cochin, India, that has its own kind of
uplifting harmonies, leaves you wanting more..."</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9pM2_ZTXcQujsbzSaTxvAipQP2VVnsFNlb3aekG7G3B-q6MfrI_w0JPy8HYyCkgK0sagwhgEWit8recZNLoFhRzx3VrYWLl2zIBE4VzD5Kg9MGMf3-MbVx81uoccNfafX-xELhyphenhyphenP64k/s1600/clamantis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9pM2_ZTXcQujsbzSaTxvAipQP2VVnsFNlb3aekG7G3B-q6MfrI_w0JPy8HYyCkgK0sagwhgEWit8recZNLoFhRzx3VrYWLl2zIBE4VzD5Kg9MGMf3-MbVx81uoccNfafX-xELhyphenhyphenP64k/s400/clamantis.jpg" height="209" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b>The Clamantis music group from Estonia</b></i></span></td></tr>
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In July this year, the Central Arkansas Children's Choir learnt and sang Ma Navu as part of a 20-song repertoire, the idea being to open 'their eyes to different cultures", according to University of Central Arkansas music advisor Jann Bryant.</div>
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Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-88588609624126897642012-08-04T00:26:00.000-04:002012-08-06T14:12:36.232-04:00Philanthropist Fred Worms And The Cochini Connection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><i>By Bala Menon</i></b><br />
<br />
Israeli philanthropist Fred Worms, who died in Jerusalem on Monday (July 30) at the age of 91, had a wonderful connection with Cochin. Fred and his wife Della Worms were instrumental in the transportation to Israel and restoration of a synagogue interior from Cochin in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.<br />
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Fred Worms and Della were ardent supporters of the Museum since its establishment in 1965 - although they were at the time British citizens. The story goes that, in 1990, they were visiting Jerusalem and joined in the 75th birthday celebrations of legendary Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kolleck. Kolleck expressed a wish that he 'wanted to pray in the Cochin synagogue."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoXcZ3FDmONfocC2_9ENBzRQOEFkTJcBMTuDIMdGKqG7AJa_h1pjpTiXRtU5KBcMfsMVALfjZq4ic-03tTVpqPSvwxvXYnFBoOfVUvUti1D8azlpyOam80JK1vZlU11NH0KLy6BPDVsQ/s1600/kadavum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoXcZ3FDmONfocC2_9ENBzRQOEFkTJcBMTuDIMdGKqG7AJa_h1pjpTiXRtU5KBcMfsMVALfjZq4ic-03tTVpqPSvwxvXYnFBoOfVUvUti1D8azlpyOam80JK1vZlU11NH0KLy6BPDVsQ/s400/kadavum.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b><i>The Kadavumbagam </i></b><b><i>interior</i></b><b><i>. Pic: Israel Museum</i></b></td></tr>
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Worms said he would pay for Kolleck's trip to Kerala - but Kolleck explained he wanted to pray in the Cochin Synagogue in Jerusalem. Worms, who was very attached to Koleck (who founded both the Israel Museum and the Jerusalem Foundation), did not hesitate. He immediately arranged for the dismantling and transport of the interior of the famed Kadavumbagam synagogue in Mattancherry from Kerala (India).<br />
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Located at the south end of Synagogue Lane, the synagogue, which was built in the mid-16th century was abandoned after the entire congregation made aliyah in the 1950s. (Kadavumbagam means "<i>By the Side of the River</i>" in Malayalam, the language of the Cochin Jews).<br />
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(The synagogue is only a shell today in Mattancherry; it was once used as a factory for making rope and later as a general warehouse. Today, it is dilapidated, with its roof tiles broken and windows boarded up, its grounds overgrown with brush and weeds. <br />
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The interior arrived in Israel in 1991. The beautiful ark from the synagogue had already reached Israel in the 1950s, but the congregation couldn't get it released from the Israeli customs in time. It was taken away by a community of German Jews who had a synagogue in Moshav Nehalim - and they refused to return it to the Cochinis.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1ok75abCReEzU0eofGrPkDA5bVbw-6tXt0gD-iKVAV0yqI8zR9PxBoROZxfE2EgdMS79QR-cEEkgNOYZ9IGuF0oEMxaPD5hXVSVTg0hD22DNRKdvyhdEhyphenhyphen3qV5dn4Z6LilNp6lK2NkY/s1600/kadavumbagam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1ok75abCReEzU0eofGrPkDA5bVbw-6tXt0gD-iKVAV0yqI8zR9PxBoROZxfE2EgdMS79QR-cEEkgNOYZ9IGuF0oEMxaPD5hXVSVTg0hD22DNRKdvyhdEhyphenhyphen3qV5dn4Z6LilNp6lK2NkY/s1600/kadavumbagam.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><b>The Kadavumbagam Synagogue in Mattancherry: Picture: Bala Menon</b></i></td></tr>
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The rich teak interior structure has intricate decorative work believed to have been done sometime in the 17th century - and includes lotuses in many stages of bloom, which was part of the structure. The ceiling itself weighed around seven tonnes, with the beams weighing some 700 kg. each.<br />
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The interior was preserved in a climate-controlled storage area for five years, so that it could adapt to the dry Jerusalem temperature after enduring the tropical humidity of the Kerala atmosphere for centuries. Kolleck had to redo the concrete museum roof to enable the erection of the structure's beams. The old paint was removed, revealing the majesty of the carvings. <br />
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<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><b><i> Picture taken at the Israel Museum during a big exhibition on the Jews of India <br />in 1995 and the public display of the Kadavumbagam Interior. <br />Along with Abe David (on left), are Mr. & Mrs. Fred and Della Worms and the
late <br />Ruby Daniel ( a close relative of Abe's),
who was a speaker at the celebrations. <br />Her book "Ruby of Cochin: An
Indian Jewish Woman Remembers" was released that year.<br />Picture courtesy: Abe David</i></b></td></tr>
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The reassembled synagogue interior was opened to the public in 1995 as part of the Synagogue Route wing of the museum in the presence of Jews from Cochin and Bene Israelis from Bombay and Indian diplomats. The ark in the Israel Museum exhibit was the one used by the congregation of Paravur, an ancient Jewish settlement north of Cochin. The Worms also endowed the museum's Delta and Fred Worms Gallery's European Art wing.<br />
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Worms was decorated with the Teddy Kolleck award by the Israeli parliament in June 2011 for his services to the Israel Museum. <br />
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<i><b>Bio</b></i><br />
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Fred Worms was born in Frankfurt on November 21, 1920 (the name Worms comes from a town on the Rhine River where his ancestors lived). At the age of 16, his mother sent him to London, where he later settled. Becoming an industrialist involved with automobile engineering, Worms made a fortune which he used generously to fund several educational, cultural and arts projects in Great Britain and Israel through two trusts.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7Nxdcehcf6UzVLnI9b4dNR0l6asiBM1JYwnmGi6lwYvdfUssreqluOwjgswpTKhJyUp4MiVoCYkw_VhTIh7LB-PKzfQlOQ5zP0EF8oU4d-X7aRAABA1oHv_91sH_gzisNXXjAoFYu_o/s1600/fred+worms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"> <img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7Nxdcehcf6UzVLnI9b4dNR0l6asiBM1JYwnmGi6lwYvdfUssreqluOwjgswpTKhJyUp4MiVoCYkw_VhTIh7LB-PKzfQlOQ5zP0EF8oU4d-X7aRAABA1oHv_91sH_gzisNXXjAoFYu_o/s400/fred+worms.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><b>Fred Worms in Jerusalem: Courtesy: Jerusalem Post</b></i></td></tr>
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As chairman of the B'nai B'rith Housing Association of Great Britain, he pioneered housing for the elderly and in 1958, he was conferred with the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for this effort. He also held several positions in the Maccabi Sports Club and the British Maccabi and Maccabi World Union. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, of which he was a member of the Board of Governors for 35 years. <br />
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While he maintained close ties and travelled to Israel often, Fred and Della Worms only made <i>aliyah</i> in 2009. He had earlier purchased a ruin in Yemin Moshe and built a house. After settling in Jerusalem, they moved into a two-floor apartment in King David's court - from where he could see the city walls - "one of the most famous views in the world." His three children - Nadia, Hillary and Caroline - however, had all left their London home years earlier as each attained the age of 18 to settle in Israel. One of his grandsons served in the Golani Brigade and a granddaughter worked in an IDF intelligence unit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MqzFtUci_Ro6lGBJefRuYd9dOegyYe_iEBs-n06nqsiFUEahR7mk7_jpmNSkZtCkzQOky7VNt5qxSdURk2QpzK5-46lyEUgKy3v43sc6nA3e0LiJOVkaTEq-PJI8OdACVqxBPtSMOXw/s1600/della+and+worms+gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MqzFtUci_Ro6lGBJefRuYd9dOegyYe_iEBs-n06nqsiFUEahR7mk7_jpmNSkZtCkzQOky7VNt5qxSdURk2QpzK5-46lyEUgKy3v43sc6nA3e0LiJOVkaTEq-PJI8OdACVqxBPtSMOXw/s400/della+and+worms+gallery.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Delta and Fred Worms Gallery's European Art wing, Israel Museum</b></i></td></tr>
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“I had a remarkably lucky and wealthy business career, and I knew I had to pay something back to ‘Medinat Yisrael’ [the State of Israel] and to Hashem [God], so I’ve been busy for many years doing just that,” Worms once said.<br />
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Books written by Worms include <i>"A Life in Three Cities: Frankfurt, London and Jerusalem", "Meir Gertner, An Anthology"</i> and the recent <i>"A Worms' Eye View".</i></div>Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-547499914168590092012-07-22T17:18:00.002-04:002012-07-29T00:28:34.514-04:00'There Was A Jerusalem Before There Was A New York'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><b>By Bala Menon</b></i><br />
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Where have all our Jews gone? Like most people in Kerala, I used to often wonder what happened to the 2,000-year-od Jewish community in Cochin and Ernakulam.<br />
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It was, of course, the call of Zion. When Israel was born in 1948, the Cochinis were among the first to heed the call for <i>aliyah</i> - the ingathering of exiles - and by 1955, the majority of the Cochin Jews were in Israel, helping settle and rebuild the land of their ancestors. (They, however, maintain deeply sentimental ties with the land that welcomed them whenever they needed refuge over the centuries).</div>
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<i><b>Jerusalem - Panoramic view - © 2012 Picture by Bala Menon</b></i><br />
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I got this article from my friend David Davidson from Petah Tikvah in central Israel. It explains the emotions behind that powerful and evocative toast <i>"Next Year in Jerusalem!" (L'Shana Haba'a B'yerushalayim)</i> and exalts the spirit of the Jewish people.<br />
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<i>"A Letter to the World from Jerusalem"</i> appeared in the first issue (August 1969) of the now defunct <i>Times of Israel</i>, founded and edited by Elizer ben Yisrael <i>aka</i> Stanley Goldfoot soon after the Six Day War. (There is a new <i>Times of Israel</i> online magazine today which is not related to the old one.) Stanley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. After hearing a speech about the Zionist vision by one of the founders of the Haganah (the Israeli paramilitary unit before the 1948 war) Ze'ev Jabotinsky, when he was 18 years old, Stanley left for Palestine where he joined a HaShomer HaTzair (Youth Guard) kibbutz. Stanely died in Jerusalem on November 24, 2006 at the age of 92. <br />
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The article generated interest worldwide when it was published and remains as relevant today as it was during the tumultuous war years following the birth of Israel. <br />
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There is some speculation that it was written by Eliezer Whartman of the<i> Jerusalem Pos</i>t who couldn't get his paper to publish it. He approached Stanley to use it in his first issue and the pen name Eliezer ben Yisrael was adopted. It is argued that the syntax and the structure of the words show Whartman's style, not Goldfoot's. Whartman's son Moshe was killed in 1975 while leading a patrol in south Lebanon and Whartman pays tribute to Moshe in reprints of the article. But it is the fiery spirt of the article that really matters in the end....<br />
_______<br />
<br />
<i>
A Letter to the World from Jerusalem
</i><br />
<i>by Eliezer ben Yisrael </i><br />
<br />
I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to believe. I am a Jerusalemite, like yourselves, a man of flesh and blood. I am a citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.<br />
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I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you or even persuade you. I owe you nothing.
You did not build this city, you did not live in it, you did not defend it when they came to destroy it. And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.
<br />
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There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin, Moscow, London, and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world
which you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves - a humane moral code.
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Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning. Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone, fought off waves of heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died on the battlements,
hurled themselves into the flames of their burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates, their right arms wither.
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For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome guests, we prayed daily to return to this city.
Three times a day we petitioned the Almighty: <i>"Gather us from the four corners of the world, bring us upright to our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem, Thy city, and swell in it as Thou promised."
</i><br />
<br />
On every Yom Kippur and Passover, we fervently voiced the hope that next year would find us in Jerusalem.
Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your
quota systems, your genteel anti-Semitism, and the final unspeakable horror, the holocaust (and worse, your terrifying disinterest in it) - all these have not broken us. They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed, but they forged us into steel.
<br />
<br />
Do you think that you can break us now after all we have been
through?
Do you really believe that after Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and sanctions?
We have been to Hell and back- a Hell of your making. What more could you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?
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<br />
I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination that did the job - British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon.<br />
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And then the savage sacking of the Old City - the wilful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even latrines.
<br />
<br />
And you never said a word.
<br />
<br />
You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of the pledges they had made after the war - a war they waged, incidentally, against the decision of the UN.
Not a murmur came from you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls. Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your airlift "to save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem. You thundered against
the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the German capital - but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one that tore through the heart of Jerusalem.<br />
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And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again, did any of you do anything?
<br />
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The only time you came to life was when the city was at last reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice" and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.
<br />
<br />
The truth - and you know it deep inside your gut - you would prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews. No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices seep out of every word.
<br />
<br />
If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots, perhaps you had better reexamine your catechisms.
After what we have been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we accept your savior.<br />
<br />
For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem.
For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights (you prefer to have some more equal than others.)
<br />
<br />
We loathe the sword - but it was you who forced us to take it up.
We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.
<br />
<br />
We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving.
We are redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers:
Jerusalem is being rebuilt.
<i>"Next year" </i>and the year after, and after, and after, until the end of time - <i>"in Jerusalem "</i>!
<br />
_____<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Nadine Goldoot from Portland, Oregon, who is related to Stanley Goldfoot, tells in her blog that Stanley's family were from Telsiai, Lithuania, and moved to Ireland. From Ireland they moved to South Africa. Stanley went to Israel when he was 18 years old. "He (Stanley) was tall and slender and good looking and had a terrific English accent. He has been to the United States many times and has spoken about Israel to huge crowds of people in stadiums. He spoke about starting the Third Temple, which he was very much involved in..."<br /><a href="http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.ca/2004/08/stanley-goldfoot-in-israel.html">http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.ca/2004/08/stanley-goldfoot-in-israel.html</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For more on Goldfoot's role in the Jewish irregulars, </span><span style="font-size: small;">Fighters for Freedom of Israel (LEHI), </span><span style="font-size: small;"> and the assassination in 1948 of UN Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte during the late 1940s, go to this site: <a href="http://www.btzedek.com/focus/focus01.html">http://www.btzedek.com/focus/focus01.html</a><br /><br />For a gentile reply to the Letter from Jerusalem go to: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.thepathoftruth.com/teachings/israel/judgmentstanleygoldfoot.htm">http://www.thepathoftruth.com/teachings/israel/judgmentstanleygoldfoot.htm</a> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">John Little from Jerusalem wonders who wrote this article:<br /><a href="http://israeloutlook.com/2011/06/14/letter-from-jerusalem/">http://israeloutlook.com/2011/06/14/letter-from-jerusalem/</a></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7112945874844610690.post-68717825873483291392012-06-01T03:26:00.000-04:002012-12-28T12:53:38.196-05:00Canadian Weekly Features Cochin's Linda Hertzman as 'Spice Chef'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>By Bala Menon</i></div>
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The <i>Canadian Jewish News</i>, an independent community newspaper read by more than 200,000 people each week, has a feature in its latest issue about Linda Hertzman (née Salem), pictured here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1AYDwLsPJFgUZE1OBicBOE1skrhWvoMPfKPeLxD4gNFhXG1RFS-bOeRVxpfQ7aRWjxLt-dhGbVzWCTm4ki1825tG1F49IXU7rcbn3Pyvd8CY5MnIUNlUSd4wG6XkLyt9xCy9k42QfMQ/s1600/linda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1AYDwLsPJFgUZE1OBicBOE1skrhWvoMPfKPeLxD4gNFhXG1RFS-bOeRVxpfQ7aRWjxLt-dhGbVzWCTm4ki1825tG1F49IXU7rcbn3Pyvd8CY5MnIUNlUSd4wG6XkLyt9xCy9k42QfMQ/s1600/linda.jpg" /></a></div>
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The article titled "<i>Chef influenced by spices of Native India</i>" focuses on Linda's culinary successes and how she "routinely wows Vancouver's Jewish Community with exceptional food that goes far beyond ordinary Ashkenazi fare".<br />
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Linda grew up in Cochin's (Kochi) <a href="http://jewsofcochin.blogspot.ca/2011/10/paintings-in-paradesi-synagogue.html" target="_blank">Jew Town</a>. The article gives a biographical sketch - she made <i>aliyah</i> in 1983 but came to Toronto soon after marriage - and about her studies in food service and restaurant management in Canada and her family's first venture - the Raisins, Almonds & More kosher food store in Toronto. The Hertzmans later moved to Vancouver with their three children - where they purchased a restaurant and called it Aviv's Kosher Meats, with Linda working in the kitchen and then branching out into catering. She now runs the very successful company called Classic Impressions<b style="font-weight: normal;">, specializing in
gourmet kosher cuisine for any occasion, from "elaborate b’nei
mitzvah receptions to intimate brisses, luncheons, weddings and
everything in-between," according to her website. "Our
reputation is for food that lingers in memory long after the last
forkful has been consumed.</b>" Her Toronto-born husband Steve manages the Kosher Food Warehouse in Vancouver.<br />
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The article quotes her: "“I put a lot of Indian fusion into my dishes, making items like <i>kubegh</i>, a dumpling with a meat filling, and <i>pastels</i>, similar to <i>blintzes</i> but more savoury,” she says. “I love playing around with flavours, trying out different things and then having the satisfaction of seeing people enjoy my food.”<br />
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It's all about themes these days - as Linda says: “We’ll still have salmon on the menu, but it’s more likely to be <i>miso</i> salmon than lemon pepper.”<br />
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Linda has shared the <i>miso salmon</i> recipe for readers of this blog:<br />
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<i><b>For 6 portions:</b></i><br />
1 cup <i>miso</i> paste<br />
1/2 cup brown sugar or honey <br />
2 tsp sesame oil<br />
2 tsp fresh minced ginger<br />
2 tsp fresh minced garlic<br />
1/4 cup rice vinegar<br />
Bring the sauce up to boil - cool down.<br />
Marinate the salmon for up to 24 hours.<br />
Grill or bake the salmon. <br />
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<i>Note</i>: Miso is a savoury, fermented bean paste made from soybeans; sometimes mixed with rice, barley, or wheat which has been fermented with yeast. The mixture is sometimes aged for up to three years. Miso is high in sodium. <br />
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The full article from the CJN can be read <a href="http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?q=node/90109" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Bala Menonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18036168358270896869noreply@blogger.com12