Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews are the ancient Jews and their descendants of the South Indian port city of Cochin. They traditionally spoke Judæo-Malayalam, a form of the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala, in India. Several rounds of immigration of the Jewish diaspora into Kerala, led to a diversity amongst the Cochin Jews. A map of South India, its rivers, regions and water bodies. ... Kochi (formerly known as Cochin) is the largest (pop. ... Judeo-Malayalam is the traditional language spoken by the Cochin Jews (also called Malabar Jews), from Kerala, in southern India, spoken today by about 8,000 people in Israel and by probably fewer than 100 in India. ... Malayalam (മലയാളം) is the major language of the state of Kerala, in southern India. ... ...

History

Some sources say that the earliest Jews were those who settled in the Malabar coast during the times of Solomon, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two. They are sometimes referred to as the "black jews". The Paradesi Jews, also called "White Jews", settled later, coming to India from European and Middle Eastern nations such as Holland and Spain, and bringing with them the Ladino language. A notable settlement of Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) starting in the 15th century was Goa, but this settlement eventually disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa and Spain. Bekal Fort Beach Malabar is a region along the southwest coast of the Indian peninsula, which forms the northern part of present-day Kerala state. ... Solomon (Hebrew, Shlomo from Shalom for peace, also Arabic as Suleiman or Sulyaman meaning peace) can mean any of the following: 1. ... The Paradesi Jews, also sometimes called White Jews, although that usage is generally considered pejorative or descriminatory, refers to relatively recent Jewish immigrants (15th Century onward), predominantly Sephardim and Mizrahim, into Kerala, in southwestern India. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Holland is the name of a region in the central-western part of the Netherlands. ... Ladino is a Romance language, derived mainly from Old Castilian (Spanish) and Hebrew. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Goa (गोवा in DevanāgarÄ«) is Indias smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest in terms of population after Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... North Africa is a region generally considered to include: Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Sudan Tunisia Western Sahara The Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Azores and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa, though they do not share a common culture with the countries listed above. ...

Hebrew inscription at the Synagogue in Cochin.

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Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade. An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. They had, in effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known). Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by 6 million people mainly in Israel, parts of the Palestinian territories, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... A synagogue or synagog (from Greek συναγωγη, transliterated sunagoge, place of assembly literally meeting, assembly) is a Jewish house of prayer and study. ... Kochi (formerly known as Cochin) is the largest (pop. ... Download high resolution version (1024x1180, 21 KB)Created from Image:Wikipedia blue star of david. ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... Judaism affirms a number of basic principles of faith that one is expected to uphold in order to be said to be in consonance with the Jewish faith. ... Etymology of the word Jew: The name for the Jewish people in Hebrew is Yehudim (יהודים). ... Who is a Jew? (Hebrew: מיהו יהודי?; transliterated as mihu yehudi) can be a complicated question because Judaism shares some of the characteristics of a nation, an ethnicity, a religion, and a culture, making the definition of who is a Jew vary depending on whether a religious, sociological, or national approach to... Jewish leadership: Since 70 AD and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem there has been no single body that has a leadership position over the entire Jewish community. ... Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena; above all, it is the culture of secular communities of Jewish people, but it can also include the cultural contributions of individuals who identify as secular Jews, or even those of religious Jews working in cultural areas not generally considered to be connected... Jewish ethnic divisions: The most commonly used terms to describe ethnic divisions among Jews presently are: Ashkenazi (meaning German in Hebrew, denoting the Central European base of Jewry); and Sephardi (meaning Spanish in Hebrew, denoting their Spanish and North African location). ... Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Sephardim (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. ... Yemenite Jews (תֵּימָנִי, Standard Hebrew Temani, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānî; plural תֵּימָנִים, Standard Hebrew Temanim, Tiberian Hebrew Têmānîm) are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen (תֵּימָן far south, Standard Hebrew Teman, Tiberian Hebrew Têmān), on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. ... The Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) are a group of Jews who, in the mid-twentieth century, lived primarily in Bombay, Kolkata, Delhi and Ahmadabad. ... Beta Israel - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The number of Jews in the world is difficult to calculate, especially given the constant debates of the definition of Jew. ... // Early History Tradition places Jews in southern Russia, Armenia, and Georgia since before the days of the First Temple, and records exist from the fourth century showing that there were Armenian cities possessing Jewish populations ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 along with substantial Jewish settlements in the Crimea. ... 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Alternative Judaism refers to several varieties of modern Judaism which fall outside the common Orthodox/Non-Orthodox (Reform/Conservative/Reconstructionist) classification of the four major streams of todays Judaism. ... Jewish political movements refer to the organized efforts of Jews to build their own political parties or otherwise represent their interest in politics outside of the Jewish community. ... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Zionism is a Jewish political movement, developed in response to 19th century anti-Semitism. ... General Zionists were centrists within the Zionist movement. ... Revisionist Zionism is a right wing tendency within the Zionist movement. ... A Bundist demonstration, 1917 The General Jewish Labour Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia, in Yiddish the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland (אַלגמײַנער ײדישער אַרבײטערסבונד אין ליטאַ, פוילין און רוסלאַנד), generally called The Bund (בונד) or the Jewish Labor Bund, was a Jewish political party operating in several European countries between the 1890s and the... Kibbutz Dan, near Qiryat Shemona, in the Upper Galilee, 1990s A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ; plural: kibbutzim: קיבוצים, gathering or together) is an Israeli collective community. ... Jewish history is the history of the Jewish people, faith (Judaism) and culture. ... This entry contains a timeline of the development of Judaism and the Jewish people. ... Schisms among the Jews: // First Temple era Based on the historical narrative in the Bible and archeology, Levantine civilization at the time of Solomons Temple was prone to idol worship, astrology, worship of reigning kings, and paganism. ... In compiling the history of ancient Israel and Judah, there are many available sources, including the Jewish Tanakh (the Old Testament) and other Jewish texts such as the Talmud, the Ethiopian book of history known as the Kebra Nagast, the writings of historians such as Nicolaus of Damascus, Artapanas, Philo... The Temple in Jerusalem or the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash בית המקדש in Hebrew) was built in ancient Jerusalem and was the center of Israelite and Jewish worship, primarily for the offering of sacrifices known as the korbanot. ... Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, is the name generally given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. ... The Hasmonean Kingdom (pronunciation) in ancient Judea and its ruling dynasty from 140 BC to 37 BC was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army in 165 BC. Origin of the Hasmonean dynasty The origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is... Jewish-Roman War can refer to several revolts by the Jews of Judea against the Roman Empire: The First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called the First Jewish Revolt. ... The Pharisees (from the Hebrew perushim, from parash, meaning to separate) were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). ... Jewish diaspora (Hebrew: Tefutzah, or Galut, exile) refers to the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the world. ... The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ... This article incorporates text from the public domain 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia Jews in the Middle Ages : The history of Jews in the Middle Ages (approximately 500 CE to 1750 CE) can be divided into two categories. ... 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Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program, progressing to the later use of killing squads and extermination camps... Main article: Israel. ... Related articles: anti-Semitism; history of anti-Semitism; modern anti-Semitism This article deals with various persecutions that the Jewish people have experienced throughout history. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... This is a partial chronology of hostilities towards or discrimination against the Jews as a religious or ethnic group. ... The new anti-Semitism refers to the contemporary international resurgence of anti-Jewish incidents and attacks on Jewish symbols, as well as the acceptance of anti-Semitic beliefs and their expression in public discourse. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC - 700s BC - 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC 650s BC Events and Trends 708 BC - Spartan immigrants found Taras (Tarentum, the modern Taranto) colony in southern Italy. ... Cranganore (modern day Kodungallur) was a famous and prosperous sea-port in the southern Indian state of Kerala, about 38 km from the present day Cochin. ... The Common Era (CE), also known as the Christian Era and sometimes as the Current Era, is the period beginning with the year 1 onwards. ... Events March 1, 1524/5 - Giovanni da Verrazano lands near Cape Fear (approx. ... Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the third largest city (pop. ... Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the third largest city (pop. ... Look up Pepper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary There are several completely different plants referred to by the name of pepper; most are used in food for the hot sensation that the chemical piperine or capsaicin induces on the tongue. ... A Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of India (Bharat). ... A Raja (sometimes spelled Rajah) is a king, or princely ruler. ...

Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795 Cochin passed into the British sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva and Parur. Events Expulsion of the Carib indigenous people from Martinique by French occupying forces. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... A sphere of influence is a metaphorical region of political influences surrounding a country or a region of economic influence around an urban area. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kochi (formerly known as Cochin) is the largest (pop. ... Ernakulam is a city adjoining to old Kochi city. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Cochin Jews today

Today most of Cochin's Jews have emigrated (principally to Israel). In Kerala there are still three synagogues; the one at Mattancherry, Cochin is still functioning.

Another reason why there was a reduction in Jewish population in old times was conversion to Christianity. Both, during the time of St. Thomas in Kerala and later on, many Jews joined among the Nasrani people in Kerala. They intermingled especially with the Knanaya Christian-Jews within the Nasrani community of Kerala. St. ... The Nasrani people are an ethnic community from Kerala, South India, who follow the early Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition. ... Knanaya Christians (kanaanite Christians or Canaanite Christians) are Jewish Christians from Kerala, South India. ...

Ruby of Cochin

Ruby Daniel emigrated to Israel from Cochin in 1951. Her 1995 memoir, Ruby of Cochin lists a fourth method for marriage among the Jews of Cochin: that of witness by the entire congregation to a marriage. The memoir includes her experience in the Armed Forces of India as a Jewish woman among Hindu and Muslim men.

See also

• Bene Israel
• Nasrani
• Knanaya
• Paradesi Synagogue

The Bene Israel (Sons of Israel) are a group of Jews who, in the mid-twentieth century, lived primarily in Bombay, Kolkata, Delhi and Ahmadabad. ... The Nasrani people are an ethnic community from Kerala, South India, who follow the early Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition. ... Knanaya Christians (kanaanite Christians or Canaanite Christians) are Jewish Christians from Kerala, South India. ... The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the British Commonwealth, located in Kochi, Kerala, in South India. ...

External links

• Cochin Jews
• Jews of Kerala

References

• Ruby Daniel & B. Johnson. (1995). Ruby of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers. Philadelphia and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society.