The first Indian Jews in Israel and the racism they faced

A complicated reception in Israel

The Jewish immigration from India to Israel and their settlement there needs to be analysed in the background of the fact that Indian Jews were not a homogenous group. There are four main sects of Jews in India: The Cochin Jews who are said to have first arrived in the country as far back in time as 50 CE, the Bene Israel who are numerically the largest among the Indian Jews and settled in the region in and around Maharashtra and Konkan, the Baghdadi Jews who were part of the most recent wave of Jewish migration and settled mostly in the port cities of Calcutta, Bombay and Rangoon, and the Bnei Menashe who are settled in the North East.

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Among the four sects of Jews in India, there were significant differences in origins, socio-economic backgrounds and cultural traditions. Expectedly, there were also essential ways in which the four branches disagreed with and looked down upon each other. The internal disagreements among the Indian Jews, coupled with the colour bias that came from Jews of European origin in Israel resulted in a rather complicated reception being meted out to the Indian Jews, particularly during the initial decades of migration.

The Bene Israel, who mostly originated from Maharashtra, were reportedly the ones to have faced maximum discrimination upon landing in Israel. Between 1948 and 1952 approximately 2300 Bene Israeli are reported to have migrated to Israel. By the end of the 1950s, a number of media reports pointed out the racism being experienced by the community in Israel. Schifra Strizower, an expert on Jewish studies, notes in his work that, “Indeed, in the early 1950s a number of Bene Israel, were unable to come to terms with life in Israel because they explained, ‘there is much discrimination against our community, particularly in jobs and housing; and in any case, we were not properly informed what life in Israel was going to be like.’”

The discrimination meted out to the Bene Israel was aggravated by the way they were perceived in contrast to other Indian Jews. Unlike the Cochin Jews who were believed to have migrated to Israel for religious reasons, the Bene Israel were thought to have migrated for bettering their material conditions. Considered to be neither Zionists nor religious, the Bene Israelis were perceived to have travelled to Israel for the “wrong motives” unlike the Cochin Jews.

Distinction in financial conditions among the four branches of Jews in India was one of the main reasons for the internal animosity among them. Strizower notes in his work that when the Bene Israel were asked about why the Cochin Jews did not complain of the kind of racial discrimination as them, they responded saying “The Black Jews were tortured by poverty; they were riddled with disease; they were resentful of their inferior position within the Cochin-Jewish hierarchy. It is surprising then that they were full of messianic longings and glad to be away from it all? But our Bene Israel are a sophisticated caste!” The Baghdadi Jews on the other hand, considered the Bene Israel to be inferior and lacking in the proper religious traditions necessary to be called a pure Jew. The internal hostilities among the Indian Jews were quick to manifest itself in a rather complicated reception in Israel.

The biggest insult to the Bene Israel had come when in 1960 the Sephardic Chief Rabbi Itzhak Niss im refused to accept Bene Israel as Jews and forbade them from marrying other jews. Later, on account of a civil rights movement challenging his stance, and due to pressure from the Israeli government and the Jewish community, he had to give up on his decision.

In the ensuing years, while a sizable population of Bene Israel existed in Israel, they are noted to be neither politically active nor economically well off.

The efforts at absorbing Indian culture

Despite the hardships faced by the Indian Jewish immigrants in Israel, a sizable population stayed there and have continued to keep alive aspects of the Indian culture that they carried along with them there. At present there are about 85,000 Jews of Indian origin who dwell in Israel. An understanding of Indian linguistic, food and cultural traditions are visible among large sections of them.

Bene Israeli community in Mumbai performing Indian dance and art forms. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

Particularly visible across the Indian Jewish community in Israel is the strong affinity towards the Indian cinematic traditions, specifically the love for Bollywood films and songs. The attachment to Bollywood among the Indian Jews is evident in their wedding ceremonies and in the youth pop culture. The Hoduyada, often considered to be the largest Indian-Israeli festival-style community event, is one of the most important events when the consumption of Indian popular cinema is most visible. As noted by anthropologist Gabriele Shenar, “among the Indian-Israeli audiences, the term ‘Bollywood’ is increasingly and affectionately mobilised for community-centred activities and features, in particular, during Indian-Israeli wedding celebrations.”

This article was first published on January 16, 2018