declares, but always services at 6:30 pm.
Friday, in winter; 7 pm. in summer, and
Saturday mornings at 9 a.m.—if there is a
minyan.
Chabad House is located in the General
Market in Paharanj. The sign says,
“Welcome to The Chabad of India—We
are your Jewish Home away from Home.”
An old adage states that “as long as
Bombay exists, there will be Jews in town.
“In enormous, diverse, mystic Mumbai, the
nation’s transportation hub, the business
capital, the economic powerhouse, stands
the heart of an active Jewish community.
Most Indian Jews reside in Greater
Mumbai with its 20.5 million people. Nine
Sephardic, Orthodox synagogues function,
with only two rabbis.
The Evelyn Peters JCC is located at
D.G. Ruparel College, in Matunga. The
JCC, with its meeting rooms, computer
facility, library, a large hall and offices,
is sponsored and aided by the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. A
Reform Movement of Judaism congregation
meets here.
The Jewish population has remained stable
at about 5,000 persons. Because India,
with its 1.3 billion persons, has become
one of the world’s largest economies,
now 6.9 percent growth, Jews are staying
put, despite the Mumbai terrorist attack at
Chabad House.
As a business mogul on Delhi television
declared, “never has there been a better
time to have been born in India.” Many
young Jews work in call centers; that
activity hurts Jewish communal life. “It’s
hard to get the young people to activities
if they sleep during the day and work at
night,” said a synagogue leader.
As I flew to Kochi, (Cochin) in Kerala, I
recalled that India is seen as a country
without anti-Semitism. As Professor Nathan
Katz wrote: “The Indian chapter [in Jewish
history] remains one of the happiest of the
Jewish diaspora.” Cochin Jews are best
known to the outside world, though only
about a dozen reside here. The outstanding
Jewish site remains the whitewashed,
rectangular Paradesi Synagogue, part of
the “Living Legend of India.” Well-worth a
visit.
In Kochi, “the Queen of the Arabian Sea,”
and the epitome of long-ago India, small,
kiosk-type shops dot Synagogue Lane in
“Jew Town, “ located in the Mattancherry
district. Tourists can spot the Jewish star on
the lattice of many homes, and some even
have Jewish names inscribed on them.
Tourists can obtain postage stamps with the
Star of David at the post office.
India—with all of its infinite charm, long
history, mixed culture, vast plains, huge
mountains, mighty rivers and great forests—
awaits you. As has been said, “whatever
happens, India will go on,” and so likely
will its Jewish community.
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