JEWISH IDENTITY IN INDIA
Jews and Jewishness in India: Living evidence
By Remona Divekar – Chavera from WIZO India Federation
A large democratic nation like India is characterized by diverse
religious beliefs, faiths and practices. The Constitution of India
declares Freedom of religion as a fundamental principle. India, a
predominantly Hindu country of more than a billion people has
approx. 130 million Muslims, 25 million Christians and less than
5,000 Jews. Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to
arrive in India where Indian Jews are a religious minority, but
unlike many parts of the world, the Jewish people have lived in
India without any instances of anti-Semitism from the majority
Hindu population. Nevertheless, the Jews in India are happy souls
and they live in complete security and have been accorded an honorable place in the social hierarchy.
Jews have added a culturally different religious flavor to India. They combine many of their ancient
Israelite customs with traditional Indian lifestyle, and have created a rich culture all of their own. The
Jews of India live in harmony with the Indian people and discovered that the Hindu religion is tolerant
of their beliefs and practices allowing them to preserve their own distinct cultural heritage for centuries.
Beginning of ‘Jewishness’
With the arrival of the British East India Company in 1674, Mumbai was transformed into a bustling
metropolis with enormous opportunity for social mobility. With Western influence, the Bene Israel
Jews were introduced to the more traditional Jewish practices and many members of this community
rose to prominence. They held influential positions in Bombay, Kochi and Calcutta; Governors, Major
Generals and businessmen. They served as officers in the British Indian Army and gained senior
positions in Telegraph, Railways, Ports and the medical profession. They were less affected than other
Indians by the colonial racially-discriminatory policies. They obtained better paying posts in the British
Army in comparison to their non-Jewish neighbors. At that time many of the Europeans who had
settled in India persecuted Jews or attempted to convert them, nevertheless a large majority granted the
Jews a chance at economic prosperity and freedom.
Our roots
The Bene Israel (“Children of Israel”) is a community of Jews in India, believed to have been one of
the Lost Tribes. They trace their history in the city of Mumbai to more than 1600 years ago and their
presence in India back to over nearly 2,000 years after a shipwreck stranded seven Jewish families from
Judea in a region south of Mumbai. The accepted oral tradition is that the forefathers were sailing in a
commercial ship from the Land of Israel to India who fled in 175 B.C.E. from the Syrian-Greek ruler
Antiochus Epiphanes, were ship wrecked at Navgaon near the port of Cheul on the Konkan Coast, 30
miles South of Bombay. Only14 people survived. They swam towards the shore and arrived at a village
called Navgaon. Most of their belongings were lost at the sea. The dead bodies of those that perished
were buried in the village. The survivors somehow managed to settle in the village and started working
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