Posted on 10/04/2012 11:14:35 PM PDT by Cronos
They have adopted mehendi and haldi ceremonies from Indian weddings, they speak fluent Marathi and many of them have enrolled their children in Marathi medium schools.
As fond as they are of their adoptive home, the 250-odd members of the Bene Israel community in the city were pleasantly surprised to open the Sunday Times of India on July 21.
An STOI exclusive report highlighted the results of four-year-long DNA tests in London which confirms their genetical link to the "original children of Israel" (literal translation of Bene Israel), who are said to have migrated to this country 2,000 years ago.
N M Aston, department head of English at the Wadia college, however, told TNN that his community did not proclaim their 'purity' over the years. "But I am happy that the DNA tests have proved us as being 'children of Israel'. You see, Indian Jews were labelled as members having 'mixed' blood," he remarked.
Aston, whose relatives have now settled in Israel, said that there has been no discrimination in Israel after 1950, and that all his relatives were happy. For Aston, however, Pune and India have become home. "This is the only country where there is no discrimination," he says.
The Bene Israeli Jews in Pune are a close-knit community and there are quite a few prominent members like noted management expert George Judah who is also president of the synagogue committee, former commandant of College of Military Engineering Lt Gen R Mordecai and former department head of botany in University of Pune S B David.
Also among them is Samson Talkar, honorary secretary of the Succath Sholomon synagogue in Rasta Peth, which is the oldest Bene Israel synagogue in the city.
He maintains that members of the community never thought of themselves as impure. "Traditional Jews or those who have faith in the Bible always believed that we were the original Jews. We knew in our hearts that we were the original children of Israel," he remarked.
Ruben Daniel, a scientist at High Energy Materials Research Laboratory says he is happy that their origin has been scientifically proved.
"When Indian Jews go to Israel, they have to face extensive enquiry. They ask us about our ancestors, family members and we even have to furnish photographs of the graves of our ancestors. Then they cross check the information given by us," he said.
"I often wondered why only Indian Jews were treated in such a manner," he said hoping that the report about the DNA tests will remove all doubts once and for all.
Sholomon Jacob, care-taker at the Rasta Peth synagogue says that although his sons and sister have settled in Israel he does not feel like going there. "I have become old and Pune has been my home for many years. I don't even know when my family came here. And although I cannot read English, I felt happy about the DNA report," he said.
"We meet regularly for the Friday and Saturday prayers and important festivals like Rosh Hashana (new year), Yom Kipper (day of atonement) and the foundation day of the synagogue," says Ruben Daniel.
"Our priest conducts Hebrew classes for our children on Sundays. You see, people of our generation cannot write or speak Hebrew," he added.
"I often wondered why only Indian Jews were treated in such a manner," he said hoping that the report about the DNA tests will remove all doubts once and for all.
The Bene Israelis are descendants of emigrants from Israel from the 2nd century BC. This would be sailors moving along a well-established sea route to the area south of Bombay
And they stayed there for 2000+ years.
*ping*; not necessarily for the list(s), but you’ll probably be interested.
Me too... bookmark.
Certainly gives credence to the story of St. Thomas ending up in India.
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Where he was murdered...
very cool !
The article is dated “July 22, 2002 “ .. is that a typo?
No, it is not a typo.
The story is from 2002.
Identifiable Bene Israel number about 4000, and have paternal Y chromosome markers more characteristic of other Jewish populations, but maternal mitochondrial markers more similar to those found in the rest of India, according to some researchers.
There are also Bene Menashe and the ‘Lost Tribe of Ephraim’ in the Indian Subcontinent that claim Jewish descent.
Incidentally, the ‘Tribe of Ephraim’ in Pakistan/Afghanistan also claim to have the Ark of the Covenant.
Rasta means road. Peth is village. So the village road :)
And the trade route from the Red Sea to the west coast of India is ancient -- dating back 4000 to 5000 years
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Well, at least there isn’t an discrimination in India now.
I seem to remember that there is a theory that during the ‘lost years’ of Jesus between boyhood and his ministry at 30+ years for which there is no record in the Gospels, he went to India.
Some have even found Bhuddist influences in his teaching.
The reason why Thomas went there could’ve been to re-kindle some contacts with the ancient Jewish community and take the word of Jesus to them.
Remember, the early Christian movement was still essentially a Jewish movement/sect until it got religio-jacked by Paul to make it palatable to the Gentile world.
NOT looking forward to Gelfilte Fish Curry.
“Remember, the early Christian movement was still essentially a Jewish movement/sect until it got religio-jacked by Paul to make it palatable to the Gentile world.”
religio-jacked? Oy, vey! Ever hear of the Great Commission? Jesus commanded his followers to spread his Gospel to the whole world.
Yeah, I investigated it once and was pretty impressed with the antiquity and extent of the evidence in favor.
And you’re right...those trade routes were very old, and this DNA study only proves it.
I don’t buy the idea that Paul hijacked Christianity.
If Paul was so out there, there were 12 other Apostles, 72 disciples, and who knows how many Christian communities who would have taken him to task. The fact that his letters were copied, preserved, and read by all the churches with no apparent controversy means that his teaching was universally accepted as authentic.
The writings of the folks who really hijacked Christianity, eg the Gnostics, were categorically dismissed and were not read in the churches.
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