JFR Jacob was an Indian national hero who commanded India’s Army during what became, because of his pivotal role, Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971. He was also a proud Jew who counted Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, and Mordechai Gur amongst his friends. Born in 1923 Jacob’s family was descended from a long line of Baghdadi Jews who moved to Calcutta, India, in the middle of the 18th century. After Jacob passed last week at the age of 92, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered that India, “will always remain grateful to [Jacob] for his impeccable service to the nation at the most crucial moments.” Bangladesh’s President Abdul Hamid said:“The Bengali nation will remember General Jacob with gratitude forever for his contribution to the Liberation War.”
A. Sethumadhavan, popularly known as Sethu, is a famous Indian writer and author of more than 30 books. In a tribute to India's ancient Jewish community, Sethu recently remembered his childhood Jewish friends─“Elias, Menahem, Solomon, Miriam, Rebecca, my class buddies”─who left India to move to an unknown but ancestral homeland, “It was a belief that every Jew scattered across the world held close to his heart, the belief that someday almighty God will surely call his people back to their holy land of Israel.”
Song of the Week: Deror Yikrah (“He will Proclaim Freedom”)
In this recording from the 1930’s, Bombay chazzan Simeon Jacob Kharilker sings an Indian Jewish version of Dunash Ben Labrat’s 9th century piyyut, Deror Yikrah (“He Will Proclaim Freedom”).
India has been home to three Jewish communities: the Jews of Cochin in Kerala, the Bene Israel in Mumbai, and Baghdadi Jews in Kolkata. According to a recent scientific study, the Indian Jewish community, considered as a whole, possesses a distinctive genetic blend of Indian and Middle Eastern ancestry. The study also determined that Jews first entered the Indian subcontinent approximately 1,500 years ago.
Siona Benjamin, a Bene Israel artist from Mumbai, India, synthesizes her Jewish roots with the Hindu, Catholic, Muslim, and Zoroastrian iconography of her homeland. Blue Like Me, a film about her work, was screened at the opening of our current exhibition, Baghdadis & the Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond, 3 November 2015 (Image courtesy of Siona Benjamin)
Come visit ASF’s Leon Levy Gallery at The Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street) to view our new exhibition: “Baghdadis & The Bene Israel in Bollywood & Beyond: Indian Jews in the Movies”
on display now through March 2016
Click here for viewing hours and additional information
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