On the afternoon of July 8, ten members of Kolkata s 23 member Jewish community assembled at the Maghen David synagogue on Brabourne Road in the city for a prayer conducted by two rabbis who had flown down from across the seas Yishai Diek from Israel and Jonathan Goldschmidt from England. The last visiting rabbi, who was based in Cochin, left India two years ago when the Covid 19 pandemic started. There had not been any formal prayer meeting since then. For us, this was a great moment. We plan to hold prayers at least twice a month in the presence of a rabbi, said David R Ashkenazy, a community leader and one of only six remaining people in the city whose parents were Jews.During the 2001 census, India had 4,650 Jews. With 2,466 members of the community, Maharashtra accounted for the highest population, followed by Manipur 859 , Mizoram 805 and Gujarat 134 . The 2011 census report on Jews was not published, Parliament was told in 2017 during a debate on whether the community should be accorded minority status.Though Kolkata has the smallest Jewish community among all Indian cities, it is home to three synagogues, all built in the 19th century by the early settlers led by Shalon Cohen, the first recorded Jewish immigrant who arrived in 1798 from Aleppo which is now in Syria.Restored five years ago and declared a protected monument by the Archeological Survey of India, Maghen David synagogue was built in 1884.
According to official records, it is Asia s biggest Jewish prayer building featuring a 165 feet high steeple.Situated not far away on Pollock Street in the overcrowded Burrabazar area, the Beth El synagogue was built in 1856.Ashkenazy, who shares time between his homes in Shillong and Kolkata, was a driving force behind the restoration of the three synagogues.He said: We want to keep the synagogues alive although marriages and social events are not held in these places anymore. We plan to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, in September and invite community members from other countries. Jews in the West Bengal capital feel that the greatest obstacle to the plans could be their diminished numbers. Ours is a very small community now. David is trying to work out an arrangement with an American Jewish company that gets the Kosher certification done for India made food exported for Jewish people in other countries. The certification has to be done by rabbis who come down from abroad, said Sydney Banerji, whose mother, a Jew, married a Bengali Hindu.
For a proper prayer we need at least 10 men to be present. It is difficult to assemble 10 men in Kolkata. All members of the community are aged above 60 and the oldest, a woman, is above 90. So, even if there is will, things do not always work out. But David and I will figure out something, Banerji said.
