Two Models of Jewish Continuity from India

As American Jewish institutions continue to grapple with “Jewish continuity,” they may want to look to Jewish communities elsewhere that have employed successful models.

In India we find two such models: the Jews of Kochi (Cochin) in South India and some 950 miles north, the Bene Israel community in Mumbai (Bombay) and environs. These distinct communities lived in India for centuries, if not millennia, interacting harmoniously with their Hindu, Muslim and Christian neighbors, contributing to their host societies as well as to Jewish literature and customs, all the while maintaining their identities as Jews.

This talk will explore how the Kochinis and Bene Israel, by utterly contrasting paths, managed to remain faithful Jews through time.