By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Think of India, and the image that comes to mind is hundreds of millions of Hindus. But Jews?
Well, there are a few of them, Romiel Daniel told the audience at Adath Israel Congregation on Sunday morning.
In fact, there has been a Jewish presence in India for more than 2,000 years, said Mr. Daniel, who was born in India and moved to the United States in 1994. He lives in Rego Park, N.Y.
“The Jewish community in India is more one or two or three or four centuries old. We are talking about a community that is rather old,” said Mr. Daniel, who grew up in Mumbai — the city formerly known as Bombay.
The Jews were traders, and they were welcomed by the Indian authorities, he said. They traded in spices, textiles and silk. Within a few decades of their arrival, they became part of the government administration and an important element of the business community.
“The Jews lived a life of absolute comfort,” he said.
But when the Portuguese and the Dutch colonized India, “things changed,” he said. The colonizers took over the Jews’ business interests.
There are three major and distinct groups of Jews in India, he said. The earliest group, known as the Bene Israel, settled in the southwestern part of India. It is believed they arrived in India around 175 B.C., following a shipwreck off the coast. The survivors mostly settled in small villages, he said.
The Bene Israel group — to which Mr. Daniel belongs — numbered as many as 30,000 people. Over time, the Bene Israel moved from the villages to the cities. Some even joined the British Army when India was a British colony.
The second group of Jews, known as the Cochin Jews, came to India several hundred years ago and settled on the west coast. At most, they numbered 2,500 people, but that number has dwindled to less than a handful today, Mr. Daniel said.
The Baghdadi Jews, which constitute the third group, came to India in the late 1700s, Mr. Daniel said. That group, which settled in Bombay and Calcutta, originated in Syria and Iran. A second wave of Baghdadi Jews moved to India around 1830, he said.
But there are fewer Jews in India today, Mr. Daniel said. When India gained its independence in 1947, and the modern state of Israel was created in 1948, many Indian Jews left for Israel, he said.
Some Indian Jews also moved to England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, he said. For instance, there are about 1,100 to 1,200 Indian Jews in Canada and about 500 Indian Jews in England. There are around 350 Indian Jews in the United States — mostly in the New York City area, he said.
Today, there are about 35,000 Jews in India, most of whom are transients, Mr. Daniel said. The Chabad House that was set up in Mumbai — and which was one of the targets of the Indian terrorist attacks in November 2008 — serves the transient Jewish community.
Mr. Daniel emphasized the terrorists received their instructions from Pakistan. The attacks did not originate in India.
“What is important is that India has never, ever oppressed the Jews,” he said. “They never had a Holocaust. There has never been organized repression against the Jews of India because of their religion.”
He added, “In all of my years of growing up in Bombay, I never felt different. When people ask me if I am more Jewish than Indian, I say that Judaism is one more religious community in India.”
Hindus number about 800 million people, he said. There are about 140 Muslims and a handful of Jews and a few more Christians. There will be even fewer Jews as the exodus to Israel continues.
“People from all over the world congregate in Israel,” Mr. Daniel said. “Indian Jews are going back to the fatherland, but it comes at a great loss to India. It is a matter of time before the Jews become assimilated and extinct (in India). It will be a loss for the world.”
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