Editing Cochin Jews (section)

==History==
{{Further|History of the Jews in India|History of Kochi}}

===First Jews in South India===
[[File:Receiving jews.jpg|thumb|Arrival of the Jewish pilgrims at Cochin, 71 CE]]
[[File:Jewish copper plate (c. 1000 CE).png|thumb|The inscription from the Sasanam outlining the grant of rights to Joseph Rabban|alt=]]
P. M. Jussay wrote that it was believed that the earliest Jews in India were sailors from [[King Solomon]]'s time.<ref name=":4">''The Jews of Kerala'', P. M. Jussay, cited in ''The Last Jews of Kerala'', p. 79</ref> It has been claimed that following the destruction of the [[First Temple]] in the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BCE)|Siege of Jerusalem]] (587 BCE), some Jewish exiles came to India.<ref>''The Last Jews of Kerala'', p. 98</ref> Only after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|destruction of the Second Temple]] in 70 [[Common Era|CE]] are records found that attest to numerous Jewish settlers arriving at [[Cranganore]], an ancient port near Cochin.<ref>Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973; David de Beth Hillel, 1832; Lord, James Henry 1977.</ref> Cranganore, now [[transliteration|transliterated]] as [[Kodungallur]], but also known under other names, is a city of legendary importance to this community. Fernandes writes, it is "a substitute Jerusalem in India".<ref>''The Last Jews of Kerala'', p. 102</ref> Katz and Goldberg note the "symbolic intertwining" of the two cities.<ref>''The Last Jews of Kerala'', p. 47</ref>

Ophira Gamliel notes however that the first physical evidence of the presence of Jews in South India dates only to the granting of the [[Quilon Syrian copper plates|Kollam copper plates]].{{sfn|Gamliel|2018|pp=55-56}} The copper plates are a trade deed dated to the year 849 C.E bestowed upon the Nestorian merchant magnate Maruvan Sapir Iso and the [[Saint Thomas Christian]] community by Ayyan Atikal, the ruler of the [[Venad|Kingdom of Venad]]. The copper plates include signatures in Kufic, Pahlavi, and Hebrew and serve as evidence of West Asian mercantilism in Kerala.{{Sfn|Gamliel|2018|pp=55-56}}

In 1768, a certain Tobias Boas of Amsterdam had posed eleven questions to Rabbi Yehezkel Rachbi of Cochin. The first of these questions addressed to the said Rabbi concerned the origins of the Jews of Cochin and the duration of their settlement in India. In Rabbi Yehezkel's response <small>(Merzbacher's Library in Munich, MS. 4238)</small>, he wrote: "after the destruction of the Second Temple (may it soon be rebuilt and reestablished in our days!), in the year 3828 of [[anno mundi]], i. e., 68 CE, about ten thousand men and women had come to the land of Malabar and were pleased to settle in four places; those places being [[Cranganore]], Dschalor,{{nbsp}}<ref>Place unidentified; possibly Keezhallur in Kerala State.</ref> Madai<ref>Place unidentified; poss. Madayikonan in Kerala State.</ref> [and] Plota.<ref>Place unidentified; poss. Palode in Kerala State.</ref> Most were in Cranganore, which is also called ''Mago dera Patinas''; it is also called Sengale."<ref>J. Winter and Aug. Wünsche, ''Die Jüdische Literatur seit Abschluss des Kanons'', vol. iii, Hildesheim 1965, pp. 459-462 (German)</ref><ref>A similar tradition has been preserved by [[David Solomon Sassoon]], where he mentions the first places of Jewish settlement on the Malabar Coast as Cranganore, Madai, Pelota and Palur, which were then under the rule of the Perumal dynasty. See: David Solomon Sassoon, ''Ohel Dawid'' (Descriptive catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London), vol. 1, Oxford Univ. Press: London 1932, p. 370, section 268.</ref>

[[Thomas the Apostle|Saint Thomas]], an [[Aramaic]]-speaking Jew<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Aramaic language |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aramaic-language |access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref> from the [[Galilee]] region of Israel and one of the disciples of [[Jesus]], is believed to have come to Southern India<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 September 2006 |title=Benedict XVI, General Audience, St Peter's Square: Thomas the twin |url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060927.html |access-date=30 June 2020 |website=w2.vatican.va}}</ref> in the 1st century, in search of the Jewish community there.<ref name="Puthiakunnel">{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Puthiakunnel |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdN4vQEACAAJ |encyclopedia=The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India |year=1973 |editor-last=Menachery |editor-first=George |volume=2 |title=Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas |oclc=1237836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhKGPprbQaYC&q=St.+Thomas |title=The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities |publisher=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem |year=2003 |isbn=965-278-179-7 |editor-last=Slapak |editor-first=Orpa |page=27 |via=University Press of New England}}</ref><ref name="stthoma">{{Cite web |title=''India and St.Thomas > South Indian Mission >Overview'' |url=http://www.stthoma.com/india%20and%20stthomas/south_indian_mission.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607150744/http://www.stthoma.com/india%20and%20stthomas/south_indian_mission.php |archive-date=7 June 2011 |access-date=25 July 2020}}</ref> It is possible that the [[Jewish Christian|Jews who became Christians]] at that time were absorbed by what became the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Nasrani Community]] in Kerala.<ref name="Puthiakunnel" /><ref name="stthoma" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Muthiah |first=S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zl8MAQAAMAAJ&q=%22long-settled+Jews%22 |title=Madras Rediscovered: A Historical Guide to Looking Around, Supplemented with Tales of 'Once Upon a City' |publisher=East West Books |year=1999 |isbn=818-685-222-0 |page=113}}</ref>

A number of scholars have noted that the Cochin Jews maintain striking cultural similarities to the [[Knanaya]],{{sfn|Weil|1982|pp=175–196}}{{sfn|Jussay|2005|pp=118–128}} Jewish-Christian migrants from Persia who settled in [[Kodungallur]], Kerala in the 4th or 8th century.{{sfn|Frykenberg|2010|pp=113}} These symmetries are noted in both the wedding traditions and especially the folk songs of the two communities, some songs maintaining the exact same lyrics with few corruptions and variations.{{sfn|Weil|1982|pp=175–196}}{{sfn|Jussay|2005|pp=118–128}}

Central to the history of the Cochin Jews was their close relationship with Indian rulers. This was codified on a set of copper plates granting the community special privileges.<ref>Weil, Shalva. "Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: the Cnanite Christians and the Cochin Jews of Kerala", ''Contributions to Indian Sociology, ''1982. 16(2): 175-196.</ref> The date of these plates, known as "Sâsanam",<ref>Burnell, ''Indian Antiquary'', iii. 333–334.</ref> is contentious. The plates are physically inscribed with the date 379 CE,<ref>Haeem Samuel Kehimkar, ''The History of the Bene-Israel of India'' (ed. Immanuel Olsvanger), Tel-Aviv : The Dayag Press, Ltd.; London : G. Salby 1937, p. 64</ref><ref>David Solomon Sassoon, ''Ohel Dawid'' (Descriptive catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts in the Sassoon Library, London), vol. 1, Oxford Univ. Press: London 1932, p. 370, section 268. According to David Solomon Sassoon, the copper plates were inscribed during the period of the last ruler of the Perumal dynasty, Shirman Perumal.</ref> but in 1925, tradition was setting it as 1069 CE.<ref name="worldmoon">{{Cite book |last=Katz |first=Nathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWX6pF2PTJwC&q=world+moon&pg=PA35 |title=Who are the Jews of India? |publisher=University of California Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-520-21323-4 |page=33}}</ref> Indian rulers granted the Jewish leader [[Joseph Rabban]] the rank of prince over the Jews of Cochin, giving him the rulership and tax revenue of a pocket [[principality]] in [[Anjuvannam]] near Cranganore, and rights to seventy-two "free houses".<ref>Ken Blady, ''Jewish Communities in Exotic Places''. Northvale, N.J.: [[Jason Aronson]] Inc., 2000. pp. 115–130.<br />Weil, Shalva. "Jews of India" in Raphael Patai and Haya Bar Itzhak (eds.) ''Jewish Folklore and Traditions: A Multicultural Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2013, (1: 255-258).</ref>

The Hindu king gave permission in perpetuity (or, in the more poetic expression of those days, "as long as the world, sun and moon endure"<ref name="worldmoon" />) for Jews to live freely, build [[synagogues]], and own property "without conditions attached".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xQzuGncH1TgC&pg=PA59 ''Three Years in America, 1859–1862''] (pp. 59-60) by Israel Joseph Benjamin</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GDNuAAAAMAAJ ''Roots of Dalit History, Christianity, Theology, and Spirituality''] (p. 28) by James Massey, I.S.P.C.K.</ref> A family connection to Rabban, "the king of Shingly" (another name for Cranganore), was long considered a sign of both purity and prestige within the community. Rabban's descendants led this distinct community until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers, one of them named [[Joseph Azar (prince)|Joseph Azar]], in the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mendelssohn |first=Sidney |title=The Jews of Asia: Especially in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries |publisher=AMS Press |year=1920 |page=109}}</ref>

The Jewish traveler [[Benjamin of Tudela]], speaking of [[Kollam]] (Quilon) on the Malabar Coast, writes in his ''Itinerary'':<blockquote>"[t]hroughout the island, including all the towns thereof, live several thousand [[Israelites]]. The inhabitants are all black, and the Jews also. The latter are good and benevolent. They know the [[law of Moses]] and the [[Nevi'im|prophets]], and to a small extent the [[Talmud]] and [[Halacha]]."<ref>''The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela'' (ed. Marcus Nathan Adler), Oxford University Press, London 1907, p. 65</ref></blockquote>These people later became known as the Malabari Jews. They built synagogues in [[Kerala]] beginning in the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref name="isjm">Weil, Shalva. ''From Cochin to Israel''. Jerusalem: Kumu Berina, 1984. (Hebrew)</ref><ref>Weil, Shalva. "Kerala to restore 400-year-old Indian synagogue", ''The Jerusalem Post'' (2009).</ref> The oldest known gravestone of a Cochin Jew is written in Hebrew and dates to 1269 CE. It is near the Chendamangalam Synagogue, built in 1614,<ref name="isjm" /> which is now operated as a museum.<ref>''The Last Jews of Kerala'', pp. 81–82.<br />Weil, Shalva (with Jay Waronker and Marian Sofaer) ''The Chennamangalam Synagogue: Jewish Community in a Village in Kerala''. Kerala: Chennamangalam Synagogue, 2006.</ref>

In 1341, a disastrous flood silted up the port of Cranganore, and trade shifted to a smaller port at [[Cochin]] (Kochi). Many of the Jews moved quickly, and within four years, they had built their first synagogue at the new community.<ref>''The Last Jews of Kerala'' p. 111.</ref><ref>Weil, Shalva. "The Place of Alwaye in Modern Cochin Jewish History", ''Journal of Modern Jewish Studies''. 2010, 8(3): 319-335.</ref>

The [[Portuguese Empire]] established a trading beachhead in 1500, and until 1663 remained the dominant power. They continued to discriminate against the Jews, although doing business with them. A synagogue was built at Parur in 1615, at a site that according to tradition had a synagogue built in 1165. Almost every member of this community emigrated to Israel in 1954.<ref name="isjm" />

[[File:Codice Casanatense Jews of Malabar.jpg|thumb|Jewish couple depicted in 16th century Portuguese [[Códice Casanatense]]]]
In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of [[History of Kozhikode|Calicut]] (today called [[Kozhikode]] and not to be confused with [[Calcutta]]), attacked the wealthy Jews of Cranganore because of their primacy in the lucrative [[black pepper|pepper]] trade. The Jews fled south to the [[Kingdom of Cochin]], seeking the protection of the [[Cochin Royal Family]] (Perumpadapu Swaroopam). The Hindu Raja of Cochin gave them asylum. Moreover, he exempted Jews from taxation but bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the tax-payers.<ref name="worldmoon" />

The Malabar Jews built additional synagogues at [[Mala, Kerala|Mala]] and [[Ernakulam]]. In the latter location, Kadavumbagham Synagogue was built about 1200 and restored in the 1790s. Its members believed they were the congregation to receive the historic copper plates. In the 1930s and 1940s, the congregation was as large as 2,000 members, but all emigrated to Israel.<ref>Weil, Shalva. From Cochin to Israel. Jerusalem: Kumu Berina, 1984. (Hebrew)</ref>

Thekkambagham Synagogue was built in Ernakulam in 1580, and rebuilt in 1939. It is the synagogue in Ernakulam sometimes used for services if former members of the community visit from Israel. In 1998, five families who were members of this congregation still lived in Kerala or in Madras.<ref>Weil, Shalva. "A Revival of Jewish Heritage on the Indian Tourism Trail". ''Jerusalem Post Magazine'', 16 July 2010. pp. 34-36.</ref>

===A Jewish traveler's visit to Cochin===
The following is a description of the Jews of Cochin by 16th-century Jewish traveler [[Zechariah Dhahiri]] (recollections of his travels ''circa'' 1558).
{{blockquote|I travelled from the land of Yemen unto the land of India and Cush, in order to search out a better livelihood. I had chosen the frontier route, where I made a passage across the Great Sea by ship for twenty days... I arrived at the city of [[Kozhikode|Calicut]], which upon entering I was sorely grieved at what I had seen, for the city's inhabitants are all uncircumcised and given over to idolatry. There isn't to be found in her a single Jew with whom I could have, otherwise, taken respite in my journeys and wanderings. I then turned away from her and went into the city of [[Kochi|Cochin]], wherein I found what my soul desired, insofar that a community of Spaniards is to be found there who are derived of Jewish lineage, along with other congregations of proselytes.<ref>This view is supported by Rabbi Yehezkel Rachbi of Cochin who, in a letter addressed to Tobias Boas of Amsterdam in 1768, wrote: "We are called 'White Jews', being people who have come from the Holy Land, (may it be built and established quickly, even in our days), while the Jews that are called 'Black' they became such in Malabar from proselytization and emancipation. However, their status and their rule of law, as well as their prayer, are just as ours." See: [[Sefunot]]; online edition: [http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsArticles/sefunotI_OCR.pdf ''Sefunot'', Book One (article: "Sources for the History on the Relations Between the White and Black Jews of Cochin")] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028214755/http://www.ybz.org.il/_Uploads/dbsArticles/sefunotI_OCR.pdf |date=28 October 2014 }}, p. רמט, but in PDF p. 271 (Hebrew)</ref> They had been converted many years ago, of the natives of [[Kochi|Cochin]] and Germany.<ref>'''Excursus:''' The word used here in the Hebrew original is "Kena`anim", typically translated as "Canaanites". Etymologically, it is important to point out that during the Middle-Ages amongst Jewish scholars, the word "Kena`ani" had taken on the connotation of "German", or resident of Germany (Arabic: Alemania), which usage would have been familiar to our author, Zechariah al-Dhahiri. Not that the Germans are really derived from Canaan, since this has been refuted by later scholars, but only for the sake of clarity of intent do we make mention of this fact. Al-Dhahiri knew, just as we know today, that German Jews had settled in Cochin, the most notable families of which being Rottenburg and Ashkenazi, among others. In [[Abraham ibn Ezra|Ibn Ezra]]'s commentary on Obadiah 1:20, he writes: "Who are [among] the Canaanites. We have heard from great men that the land of Germany (Alemania) they are the Canaanites who fled from the children of Israel when they came into the country". Rabbi [[David Kimchi]] (1160–1235), in his commentary on Obadiah 1:20, writes similarly: "Now they say by way of tradition that the people of the land of Germany (Alemania) were Canaanites, for when the Canaanite [nation] went away from Joshua, just as we have written in the Book of Joshua, they went off to the ''land of Germany'' (Alemania) and Escalona, which is called the land of Ashkenaz, while unto this day they are called Canaanites". Notwithstanding, Yehuda Ratzaby, in his ''Sefer Hamussar'' edition (published in 1965 by the Ben Zvi Institute in Jerusalem), believed Zechariah al-Dhahiri's intention here was to "emancipated Canaanite slaves", in which case, he takes the word literally as meaning Canaanite.</ref> They are adept in their knowledge of Jewish laws and customs, acknowledging the injunctions of the Divine Law (Torah), and making use of its means of punishment. I dwelt there three months, among the holy congregations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Al-Dhahiri |first=Zechariah |title=Sefer Ha-Musar |publisher=(ed. Mordechai Yitzhari), Bnei Barak 2008|page=67|language=Hebrew}}</ref>}}

===1660 to independence===
[[File:57Cochin White Jew Town.jpg|right|thumb|Photo identified as "White Jew town", Cochin, 1913]]
The [[Paradesi Jews]], also called "White Jews", settled in the Cochin region in the 16th century and later, following the [[Expulsion of Jews from Spain|expulsion from Iberia]] due to forced conversion and religious persecution in Spain and then Portugal. Some fled north to [[Holland]] but the majority [[History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire|fled east to the Ottoman Empire]]. Both "Black Jews" and the "White Jews" (the Spanish Jews) of Malabar claimed that they are the true inheritors of the old Jewish culture.<ref name=":22">"Further Studies in the Jewish Copper Plates of Cochin", ''Indian Historical Review'', vol. 29, no. 1–2, Jan. 2002, pp. 66–76, doi:10.1177/037698360202900204.</ref>

Some went beyond that territory, including a few families who followed the Arab [[Spice trade|spice routes]] to southern India. Speaking [[Ladino language]] and having [[Sephardic]] customs, they found the Malabari Jewish community as established in Cochin to be quite different. According to the historian Mandelbaum, there were resulting tensions between the two ethnic communities.<ref>Cited on p 51 in ''The Last Jews of Kerala''</ref> The European Jews had some trade links to Europe and useful languages to conduct international trade <ref name=":0" />

When the Portuguese occupied the [[Kingdom of Cochin]], they allegedly discriminated against its Jews. Nevertheless, to some extent they shared language and culture, so ever more Jews came to live under Portuguese rule (actually under the Spanish crown, again, between 1580 and 1640). The Protestant Dutch killed the raja of Cochin, allied of the Portuguese, plus sixteen hundred Indians in 1662, during their siege of Cochin. The Jews, having supported the Dutch military attempt, suffered the murderous retaliation of both the Portuguese and Malabar populations. A year later, the second Dutch siege was successful and, after slaughtering the Portuguese, they demolished most Catholic churches or turned them into Protestant churches (not sparing the one where Vasco da Gama had been buried). They were more tolerant of Jews, having granted asylum claims in the Netherlands. (See the [[Goa Inquisition]] for the situation of Jews in nearby [[Goa]].)<ref>'''Weil, S.''' 2020 (ed.) ''[https://www.amazon.com/Jews-Goa-Shalva-Weil/dp/9389755778 The Jews of Goa]'', New Delhi: Primus Books.</ref>

The Paradesi Jews built their own house of worship, the [[Paradesi Synagogue]]. The latter group was very small by comparison to the Malabaris. Both groups practiced [[endogamous]] marriage, maintaining their distinctions. Both communities claimed special privileges and the greater status over each other.<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4435-cochin "Cochin Jews"], ''Indian Express''. Accessed 13 December 2008.</ref>
[[File:"Juifs_noirs"_03.jpg|thumb|Cochin Jewish children in 1936]]
In the early 20th century, [[Abraham Barak Salem]] (1882–1967), a young lawyer who became known as a "Jewish Gandhi", worked to end the discrimination against ''meshuchrarim'' Jews. Inspired by Indian nationalism and Zionism, he also tried to reconcile the divisions among the Cochin Jews.<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-kochi-dream-died-in-mumbai/397831/0 "A Kochi dream died in Mumbai"]. ''Indian Express'', 13 December 2008.</ref> He became both an [[Indian nationalism|Indian nationalist]] and Zionist. His family were descended from ''meshuchrarim''. The Hebrew word denoted a [[manumission|manumitted]] slave, and was at times used in a derogatory way. Salem fought against the discrimination by boycotting the Paradesi Synagogue for a time. He also used ''[[satyagraha]]'' to combat the social discrimination. According to Mandelbaum, by the mid-1930s many of the old taboos had fallen with a changing society.<ref>Katz, ''The Last Jews of Kerala'', p. 164</ref>