The Bene Israel ("Sons of Israel") are a group of Jews who migrated in the nineteenth century from west Maharashtra to the nearby cities, primarily Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmadabad, and Karachi (Karachi later became a part of Pakistan). Prior to these waves of emigrations and to this day, the Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the subcontinent's Jewish population, and constitute the bulk of those sometimes referred to as Pakistani Jews. The native language of the Bene Israel is Judæo-Marathi, a form of Marathi. Most Bene Israel have now emigrated to Israel.

History

The Bene Israel claim to be descended from Jews who escaped persecution in Galilee in the 2nd century B.C.E. The Bene Israel resemble the non-Jewish Maratha people in appearance and customs, which indicates intermarriage between Jews and Indians. The Bene Israel, however, maintained the practices of Jewish dietary laws, circumcision and observation of Sabbath as a day of rest.

The Bene Israel believe their ancestors were oil pressers in the Galilee and that they are descended from survivors of a shipwreck. In the 18th Century they were "discovered" by traders from Baghdad. At that time the Bene Israel were practicing just a few outward forms of Judaism (which is how they were recognized) but had no scholars of their own. Teachers from Baghdad and Cochin taught them mainstream Judaism in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Jewish merchants from Europe traveled to India in the medieval period for purposes of trade, but it is not clear whether they formed permanent settlements in south Asia. The first reliable evidence of Jews living in India comes from the early 11th century. It is certain that the first Jewish settlements were centered along the western coast. Abraham ibn Daud's 12th century reference to Jews of India is unfortunately vague, and we do not have further references to Indian Jews until several centuries later.

It is estimated that there were 6,000 Bene Israel in the 1830s, 10,000 at the turn of the century, and in 1948—their peak in India—they numbered 20,000. ^* Since that time, their population in India has decreased through emigration (mostly to Israel) to under 5,000.

In 1964 the Israeli Rabbinate declared that the Bene Israel are "full Jews in every respect."

The Bene Israel claim a lineage to the Cohanim, the Israelite priestly class, which claims descent from Aaron, the brother of Moses. In 2002, a DNA test confirmed that the Bene Israel share the same heredity as the Cohanim.

Famous Bene Israel

• Nissim Ezekiel
• Ruby Myers, alias Sulochana
• Veteran Hindi movie actor David Abraham Chelkar (1908-1982) was also a member of the Bene-Israel Jewish community of Bombay, India.
• Other Bene-Israelis who rose to prominence in the India movie industry include Nadira-a half Baghdadi Jew, Sulochana alias Ruby Myers (1907-1987), noted film journalist Bunny Reuben, actress Susan Solomon alias Firoza Begum, and many others.

See also

• Judaism in India
• Paradesi Synagogue
• Satamkar

External links

• Joseph Jacobs and Joseph Ezekiel, Beni-Israel, in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906)
• Shalva Weil, The Bene Israel of India on the site of The Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora at Tel Aviv University.
• Jews in India: Bene Israel
• Jews of India - Includes a Photo Gallery & a Forum
• Jews in Pakistan. An article by Prof. Adil Najam of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Further reading

• Indian Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle Dr. Shalva Weil (ed). Mumbai: Marg Publications

Ethnic groups in India | South Asian Jewry

Beni Israel | בני ישראל (הודו) | ベネ・イスラエル | Bnej Izrael | Bene Israel