Manjali

For today we decided to travel to Manjali. Located in between Mala and Parur, which both used to have a decent Jewish population but today are left with only a Synagogue, it is the home of one lone Jewish family who moved there for business purposes.

Once again, after calling a half dozen times figuring out where they live and giving the driver directions, we set our eyes on the road once more. After about an hour we reach the country roads and beautiful scenery of Manjali (not to be confused with Manali), and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Namia.

Facing the road and the lake.

The Namias house.

In the front room of the house. Notice in the previous picture that there is no glass in the front window frames.

They moved to Manjali 26 years ago from Alvei, where there is a small Jewish community, to enjoy the quiet country life and to oversee the agricultural activities on the land he owns.
Mr. Namia does not speak english very well so most of the conversation was directed towards his wife. They have 3 children who live somewhere, i have forgotten, and they probably have jobs too. Being that they live on their own, Mr. Namia learned how to shecht in Israel and thereby prepares his own meat and keeps a kosher kitchen. They were very proud to show us the menorah which they have prominently displayed in the 'living room', next to the pictures of their children.

Mendy and Mr. Namia

The view from the second story porch

Checking out the view. (it was simply gorgeous.)

After enjoying the cool breeze up on the porch we inquired with regards to any other Jews living in the area. They were kind enough to provide us with the telephone numbers of their siblings who live in Alvei, and some others who live in that area.

Figuring out where to go next.

A boat.

House on the lake.

The boat again

The view of the house from the road.

Unfortunately Mr. Namia did not want to put on teffilin, saying that he has his own teffilin and he goes to the Synagogue in Mattancherry once in a while and he puts them on there. So after a short visit we decided to move on and see what, and who else we could find to 'spread the light'.

Saying good bye. (Oh wait, aren't we not supposed to do that?)

Enjoy!

Bs"d thats all for now.

2nd day in Cochin

After spending a day with the Jews of Jew Town, we moved on to the other side of the river to a city called Ernakulam. Once there we met with Mr. Elias Josephai, affectionately known as Babu (which means Sir), a friendly store owner. It took us about an hour to find the place because, as we have come to learn, the local cab drivers do not know the city very well and have to stop every 5 min. to ask for directions. That's why we're constantly getting lost. He gave us a quick run down on the history, of course, and he said that the song 'Mah Navu' was written by Jews from this community.
Being that is the last member of the community, the shul was bequeathed to him and he is now the sole owner. Unfortunately he converted it into a shop where he sells live fish and other fish tank accessories. The Jewish families who live there are quite spread out so it was hard to arrange any other meetings. Later on we met with Sam Abraham, a car salesman, and chatted for a few minutes. Mr. Babu.
The Aron Kodesh
A once beautiful shul. Notice the painted chandeliers and the trimming on the windows.
The upstairs Bima as mentioned before.
Getting a sip from the well.
The well.

Gami locking up the shul after Mincha. Later on that night we went back to Mattanchery and davened Mincha.
Family Wagon.
One of the Israelis staying in our hotel.
Another Yid. He politely refused our offer to put on teffillin.
Dont worry he's not dead. Just taking an afternoon nap.
Enjoy.
Bs"d thats all for now.

Jew Town, Cochin, Kerala State, India

Shacharis in the hotel.

Paradesi Synagogue. Built in 1556 (I think)

Chatting with Gami Selam in ShulTiles of the Shul. Hand painted from China. No 2 are the same. These particular ones on the bima have figures on them which tell a story from Chinese folklore therefore they are covered by a carpet.4 sided clock tower. Built in 1760. Each side is in the language of the community it faces.Location: Jew Street, Jew Town, Cochin, India (facing the shul). Not long ago all the houses were inhabited by Jewish Families. They are currently owned by Kashmiri Arabs (who are friendly to the Jews and very annoying to visitiors).

Facing the back of the shul. Notice the Balcony. In India they have a custom to build a second bima on the balcony in front of the ladies section (with a mechitza of course) from where they read from the Torah on Festivals to enable to the women to hear.Ner Tamid of Oil.Gami and Neema Selam, our most gracious hosts in Jew Town.

Mon. Journey South:

After a bit of confusion with regards to a ride to the airport, the driver we had called got stuck in traffic, so we had to call a "cool cab". Basically it's a white Mercedes right out of a European film from the 40's and a driver just about the same age. Par the course these things have room for one suitcase in the trunk and we had 4.
With no choice in the matter, as it was getting late, we tied a suitcase and 2 insulated boxes on the roof, 1 in the trunk, and squeezed the hand luggage in the back seat between us because Deio (remember him?) had to come along for some reason only known to the l-rd and sit in the front. It's now 1 and a half hours before our flight, (the ride to the airport is 1 hour +) and we are just about ready to go, all were waiting for is the boxes to be packed up, and the guy tells me its gonna be another 20 minutes! What? We had to leave an hour ago! Apparently one of the workers had to run out and buy some tape....and once he gets back it will take 3 people, 5 minutes to wrap up 2 boxes. go figure.
All that goes well ends well, or something to that effect, and we make it to our plane, not without paying a hefty overweight charge, and sit down comfortably on Indigo Air.
If I said the plane was half empty, that would be an understatement, so we enjoyed the front seat for the quick 1:40 hop to Cochin. After a safe landing, Thanks G-d, we went through the usual airport procedures like everyone else, you know luggage pick up, walk outside, call a cab, load the luggage, get in, tell him where you are going etc.
The drive, which was border-line pleasant as the roads are under construction, endured for about an hour. We arrived somewhere in the vicinity of 6:30 at Hotel Trident, hidden away behind some naval training bases, truck depots and other odd buildings on Willingdon Island (yes its really an island), and tried to get comfortable. Just as a tip, if you ever plan a trip to Cochin don't stay there. For more info. ask Mendy G.
We took the rest of the day off and just relaxed. Made some phone calls for the next day and set up some meetings.
In the morning we got up bright and early had coffee etc. and made our merry way to Mattancherry. Just to give you a quick overview of the local Jewish history.

-Jews arrived in Chrangmore, today called Travancore, close to 1,000 years ago from Spain, Holland, Yemen, and Israel. Most of them were entrepreneurs and brought skill and economic benefit to the country. Almost immediately they became very friendly with the local Raja government and they afforded them much respect. Later on the Jews moved to Cochin and established communities with the help of the Maharaja.
They provided land for Shuls and years later presented a golden crown for the sifrei torah. The land apportioned for the shul is next door to a Raja Palace (prime real estate) and anyone
visiting the palace would be directed to visit the shul and vice versa. Naturally they enjoyed a close relationship.
In the prime of its history approximately 5,000 Jews lived in Kerala (pronounced Kerla) State with a total of 8 synagouges. 3 in Mattancherry, 2 in Ernakulam, and 1 in Parur,
Mala, and Chernamangalum respectively. Today 5 are in existence and only 1 functioning. In the aftermath of mass emigration to Israel, most communities packed up their shuls
(Sifrei Torah, Seforim, and in one case even the ceiling beams), homes, and families and moved to Israel, thereby giving over the shuls to the government. Unlike the usual circumstances, in this case the government looks after the shul and takes care of the upkeep by charging a small entrance fee as in all government owned buildings.)

The last remaining shul is called Paradesi Synag. It was built in 1556 and functions unitl today. They allegedly have never missed a minyan on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The tiles of the shul were sent from China (as mentioned in a previous post).
The leader of the community is the gabbai, he also serves as the 'rabbinic' figure as they have never had an official Rabbi. He leads the Teffilos and reads the Parsha, and is
responsible as well for the financial upkeep of the shul. Interestingly enough, though they have been so separated from other Jewish communities they have kept strong
to their religion (as much of it as they know). They only eat kosher meat, abstaining from meat entirely when kosher is not available, putting on teffilin daily and keeping shabbos. As Mrs. Sara Cohen put it "My husband was a very learned man. He was Religious and Orthodox!"

So, we arrive in Jew Town and were greeted by Gami (Gamliel). Just to give an example of the typical background of the Jewish residents. He was born in Cochin to a family who has been living there for the last 400 years. Married to a girl from 'next door' with 2 children. His son is religious and lives in Israel with his family, and his daughter is married and resides in Vancouver. They will be celebrating their 3rd Bar Mitzvah Iy"h in Israel. Gami will be there with his wife and will be staying for a total of 3 months over Tishrei. He learned in Cornell College for 4 years and graduated as an engineer.
As a child he remembers how all the houses lining Jew Street were filled with Jews. Today there are only 5 families living in Jew Town, a total of 5 men and 8 women. He remembers when they installed electricity in the town in the mid 60's. The Shul was the first building to receive this new amenity. They are the real soul of the community, and loved by all.
We sat with Gami for a while in the shul while he told us about the history of the place, and then we went out for a walk down "Main Street". Our first stop was Sara Cohen. A woman of 80, ka"h, she runs a store out of her home where she sells hand made yarmulkas and other Judaic as well as children's dresses. Her husband was the last Kohen and Shochet in town. He was very learned, knew all the prayers and the Parsha by heart and he would always encourage the local kids to learn it as well.
Again we sat down and talked for awhile discussing the old days and how things have changed in town. No more 'Asarah' on shabbat, no more shochet, and so on. After a quick look at her mezuzos it was obvious that they were no good, so we exchanged them for new ones and she was so happy that we had 'returned the blessing to the kohens house' that she gave each of us one of her yarmulkas. Apparently what happened was, due to the climate and heavy rainfall the mezuzos got ruined so the goy working in her house made a photocopy and replaced the 'leather one'. I explained to them that the 'leather one' is the only kind that can be used.
Afterwards we moved on across the street and met with Johnny Halejua (pronounced Ha-leeg-wah), the oldest member of the community at 84 ka"h. He unfortunately didnt have much to say and we had to daven Mincha. So we wrapped it up and went back to the hotel.
In the lobby we bumped into some Israeli fellows who are working with the Indian Navy and made up to meet them in the morning for coffee and Teffilin.
Bs"d thats all for now...

All the pics I forgot to add.....

The road in front of Chabad
The Taj hotel
The Gateway of India
Rhythm House (directly behind it is the Knesseth Eliyahu shul)
The guy wrapping up our box of drinks

Day 3: First day on the job...

Daniel, Myself, Yosef Hai Ashtamkar, Wife, Daughter
Sun. We're informed that we have a meeting with Tamar and she's going to take us to visit an older gentleman in the hospital. Then there's a change of plans. There is a community located about 45 min. away from Bombay by ferry called Alibag, and the Rebbetzin thought it would be a good idea, since it was a sunny day, that we go there instead. So we cancel with Tamar and jump in a taxi that will take us to the port to catch a ferry. After inquiring after this ferry we are sadly
informed that there are no ferries today or for the next 2 months because of the monsoon season. We're broken hearted. To try and uplift our spirits, the guy helping us offers to drive us there in his car, but that's a 4 hour drive so we wished him a nice day and carried on (Lipa anyone?). Well, we were there anyway so we walked into the Taj Hotel and had a look around before returning to Chabad. Just for the record, it's pretty nice.
We get back to Chabad and the Rabbi informs us that there's a jewelery show on the 7th so perhaps we should do the travelling now and be back in Bombay for the show.
There are about 10 places that we can visit, so we decide to start with the south. Cochin, Ernakulam, Pondicherry, Auroville etc. With the 'omniscient' help of the Internet we
booked a flight for the next day to Cochin. While we were busy looking for flights and booking hotels Daniel walks in. Daniel is a nice, young, 20 year old bochur from Bombay.
He's here to show us around a little and introduce us to the local community. Once again we get into a cab which, B"H, there is no shortage of, and he takes us first to the
Magen David Synagogue which was, as mentioned previously, built by the Sassoon family. The shul is located on a large property with many buildings on it formerly belonging to
the Sassoons. Many famous individuals have visited this shul amongst them Binyamin Netanyahu, Shimon Peres, Ehud Olmert, Chief Rabbi Y. Metzger, and other noteworthy individuals which I cannot remember at the moment. This shul is very similar to Knesset Eliyahu which I mentioned in the last post. Behind the shul is the Sassoon Elementary School,
which today has no Jewish students, a kosher guest house with paraphernalia about Israel all over the place, and in the front of the property the Jewish School where all the
local children attend. From here we went to visit our first family.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are 'very religious'. They live in a small apartment on the 2nd floor not too far from the shul. The walls are lined with pictures of the Rashb'i and
Eliyahu Hanavi and other Jewish oriented items. Their daughter is visiting from Israel with her 3 children so the house is a bit full and noisy. After offering us drinks
(which is customary in all Indian homes) and putting out some treats from Israel, the children go out with their mother to spend time with some friends that are also visiting
from Israel. ...and the house quiets down. Mr. Taylor works for a travel company and is very active in the Jewish community. He goes to the daily minyanim as often as he can and
is very careful about kosher meat. Once they had a shochet who was not Shomer Shabbos and they refused to eat from his shechita. So left with no choice he went and learned how
to shecht on his own, but now they buy meat from Chabad. We conversed for a few minutes and when I asked him what we could get for them he said that "we could use some goats meat.
We really like that but we cant get it here." I told him that I'd make a note of it and see what I could do, and that was the end of our first visit.
Afterwards we went to visit Rishon (Rish-on), he lives in the building next door and is a classmate of Daniel. His father was the patriarch of the community. He taught everyone for their Bar Mitzvahs and was sincerely loved by all. We spoke a bit about the youth in the neighborhood and told a few stories of Yud Beis Tammuz.
Next.
We spent the next few hours visiting different families(I would say homes but most of them live in one room apartments) and making the usual rounds. Mendy, Rishon, and Myself
B.H. most of the people have what they need. Mr. Ashtamkar has a Megilla that belonged to his Grandfather. Unfortunately others do not. As we visited some of the other families they began to unfold the different troubles that they are going through.
So as not to give you touch much heartache i will spare the details. May they all have much success in all their endeavors. Them and their families. Amen.
Bs"d thats all for now.

Day 2: Shabbos

(Sorry there are no pictures due to synagogue regulations.)
Shabbos comes in during this time of the year at about 7 p.m. Which was the case this week.
Services are held together with the community at the Knesseth Eliyahu Synagogue, built by the Sassoon family in the 1880's. In old days the neighborhood where the shul is was full of Baghdadi Jews, so this shul is known as a Baghdadi Shul. The shul is located on a quiet street right off one of the main roads in the area.
The Shul is set up in traditional Sephardic style. Walls painted light blue (interior/exterior). Bima in the middle, no amud in the front. Benches surrounding, lining the walls as opposed to rows. Balcony for the women. etc.
The Sassoon family built 8 shuls, 4 schools, and 3 hospitals among other municipal and commercial institutions throughout Bombay and before they emigrated in 1920 they established a trust fund to support the shuls which they bequeathed to the community. Some of the properties which they owned now belong to the trust fund and thereby generate income.

Unfortunately there are not many locals who come to daven. In the late 50's most of them emigrated to Israel, so there are only a few old men who come religiously and are a bit familiar with synagogue proceedings. There is one man "Hazaken", officially he is the Gabbai but pretty much all he does is stand on the bima together with the chazzan and sort of 'referees' the tefilla. Then there is Ben Tzion, originally from Baghdad, who is the shamash. I'm not exactly sure how that is expressed in action, but thats his title. Otherwise the minyan is made up of the visiting entrepreneurs and tourists which are directed there by Rabbi Holtzberg from Chabad.

So, this week, our first Shabbos/day in India, we walk in late (of course! since we were sleeping because of jetlag). Well in truth we werent really sure where we were going and the traffic in Bombay is impossible to get through. There are 4 painted lanes of traffic and 6 in actuality. Cars (taxis by the millions and private), buses, mopeds, trucks, rickshaws, bicycles all in droves non-stop! In simple terms its really hard to cross the street with out risking 9 lives.
We come in to the shul and there are a handful of Israelis some locals and everyone whom i mentioned before, and the Rabbi. (This was actually the first time that i met Rav Gabi.) A yid from Flatbush was mechubad with davening Kabbolas Shabbos and he did a nice job not withstanding the terrible heat and the deafening noise made by two industrial fans.
After davening "Hazaken" and Ben Tzion say kaddish a good few times for some unapparent reason and we then proceed downstairs and out the door.

The walk home takes about 20 minutes, between dodging wild indians on horses, I mean in cars, and keeping up with Gabi we made it back to Chabad. Inside everything is bright and cool, the servants are wearing matching suits and the table is set for about 30 people. I'm sure you can imagine how the meal went, just like any other. After some divrei torah by the Rabbi, the guests are requested to introduce themselves and say a little something or other.
"Hi, my name is Yitzchak, I live in Flatbush and I'm here on business. Gut Shabbos
"Hi, my name is Alon/Baruch, I'm originally from Belgium (he has a slight french accent), I now live in Riverdale and I'm partners with Yitzchak." etc. etc.
I sat next to Gavriel, from Forest Hills, he's originally from Tashkent and I mentioned about my family living there doing the war and we chatted a bit in Russian. Some of the others just to mention a few were an Israeli fellow working in high tech, a member of the consulate, a mathemitician and his wife who is from Japan, a french guy working with a French bank and some of his friends, an israeli couple touring and Roi (Row'ee) with whom i had a long conversation with after the meal and he got really mad at me because of the fact that i was never in Israel.
In the morning there was pretty much a repeat performance only this time we werent the last to show up. It took a while for the minyan to come together but eventually we met somewhere near Nishmas. After prayers the people at Chabad put on another spectaculart meal and yet again for melaveh malka. With that shabbos ended quite peacefully culminating with (a smelly) kiddush levana on the streets of Bombay.
Almost. Then Roi walked in.
We had a wonderful melave malka, watched some 'living torah' and said good bye to this weeks guests. Just as we were about to bentch Roi rolls in and he has some questions about what the Rebbe just said to someone about separate kitchens for Jewish college students on campus. Which led to a 3 hour conversation. On one side a "Chiloni" Israeli, and on the other some Chabadniks trying to explain some basic premises of yiddishkeit to an uneducated yid.
All that goes well ends well.
Bs"d thats all for now.

Welcome to India

B"H Bombay, India. Chabad House, 3rd Floor, Room 32.

With the help of Hashem we arrived safely in India through the wonderful help of the national airline. It was a long haul of about 15 hours, direct from JFK to Bombay, arriving just before midnight on Thurs. The airport from the onset seems quite like any other airport in the world and they are trying as there is a lot of construction going on and in the city throughout. We proceeded smoothly through passport control, picked up a few things from Duty Free, collected our luggage, and said a hasty good bye to the other yidden on our flight as we would see them at Chabad on shabbos an went outside to find our ride.

We were picked up from the airport by three local gentleman, Priteesh, Deio and a driver and together they helped us with our 2 overweight suitcases and 3 boxes filled with provisions for the next 5 week. After a short 50 min. drive through the heart of Bombay we came to the chabad house. Now, unfortunately the poverty here is unreal. People sleep in the streets on any flat area they can find together with goats and chickens that roam the alleys. Thankfully the locals are of a very helpful and polite kind which makes life a little easier when you're in a 3rd world country. The view from our window in the chabad.

In the morning we awoke very early due to jetlag and began exploring our surroundings. The Chabad House is located on a side road (i'm not sure how to describe it. something like really narrow and pebbles) off of a main road in Colaba. The area surrounding it is a maze of little streets filled with people in small cars, mopeds and bicycles, rickshaws, housewives carrying baskets on their heads, children going to from school, and others just laying around in the heat.
One of the streets is an open fruit and vegetable market and little shops and kiosks selling food, drinks, jewellery, clothing and any other odd items that they may feel to be marketable, line the other streets.

After Shacharis and a continental breakfast we were so kindly given a quick 3 hour tour of the city by Deio, our friend from the office. (I'm sure the reader can easily google all of the following locations so if you really care to know about them please go ahead. unless there was something interesting will i mention it.) We went to the 'Gateway of India', then to Rhythm House, a "large" music store where Deios' father works, and then to a wine to buy some drinks for shabbos. Afterwards we paid a visit to the office where we met Umang and the other people who work there, and returned home.
We promptly fell asleep and only awoke minutes before the shabbat.

Bs"d thats all for now.