Jews in India is a long lost story. While history says that there are two distinct ancient Jewish communities which resided in India- the Cochin Jews of South and the Bene Israel of West India. History has it that the Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) lived primarily in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Karachi in the undivided India. The native language of them therefore was Judeo- Marathi. They arrived in India nearly 2100 years ago after a shipwreck stranded seven Jewish families from Judea at Navagaon near Alibag, south of Mumbai.
Jews in Baroda during Gaekwads
Vadodara and Jewish connection goes back in time. An ADC to Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, David Gershone Agarwarkar and Judge Kehimkar were the earliest settlers as per the record. Penker, Vargharkar, Chandgaowker, Karlekar, Songavkar, Mhedeker, Erulkar are few surnames of the Jews who lived in Baroda. They had adopted the names of Maharashtra villages as their surnames and gradually adopted the customs, retaining a few original traits.
As the Gaekwads had Bene Israel families in their court, the community was granted burial land in 1875. There is even a ‘Khat’ regarding the same. This 148 year old historical site is situated in the Nizampura village. There are many epitaphs engraved in Hebrew, Marathi and English. However, as most of the Jewish families migrated, one of the Jews sold this property to a builder which was against law. Friends of Israel, a community organisation objected, which forced the government to take back the land. It has now been decided that the land will host a beautiful India- Israel Cultural Centre.
About the upcoming India- Israel Cultural Centre
“Since the land is secured and the encroachments have been removed, a plan of development is in the offing,” says Nikitin Contractor, President, Friends of Israel. The main goal of developing the cultural centre is to reinvent the cultural collaborations with both the nations. Design of the structure has been discussed in brief. “The council curator has suggested a building in the form of Star of David. Each corners and rooms will cater to different themes,” informs Contractor. Ranging from the history of Jewish Indians, History of Prime Ministers of Israel, Hitler’s Holocaust, Innovations and Agricultural developments; every space will have display of these topics. “From Einstein to Zuckerberg; out of top 20 innovators of the world, 19 of them are Jews,” opines Contractor. So one should proudly feature their existence.
An American architect; Wokner in collaboration with the local architect Het Pandit are working on the structure of this centre. “Few Jewish businessmen from Israel and the US along with the domestic Jews and the state government will be helping us with the funds,” shares Contractor.
Paving way for Cultural Diplomacy
More than building up on the interfaith relations, it is the difference in system of thoughts of both the nations which will become stronger, if shared. There isn’t much in common between the two nations, also the Jewish population is so small in number in Gujarat. All the governments focus on defence and technology, but “there is a chance of building up on our cultural diplomacy. The projection of soft power will create positive environment between the nations,” opines Amit Dholakia, Professor, Department of Political Science, MSU. He further says that art and culture can blur the differences. Israel is great at agriculture and technology. “The major area of connect can be the use of their skills in the diamond industry with respect to Gujarat. Also there can be major collaborations between the universities of both the nations for the transfer of knowledge,” concludes Dholakia.
Fingers crossed for the exciting cultural collaborations on way!
