The Bene Israel and the “Who Is a Jew” Controversy in Israel

AbstractThis paper is a study of cultural interaction and diffusion in colonial Bombay. Focusing on Hebrew language instruction, it examines the encounter between India's little-known Bene Israel Jewish community and Protestant missionaries. Whilst eighteenth and nineteenth-century Cochin Jews were responsible for teaching the Bene Israel Jewish liturgy and forms of worship, the Bene Israel acquired Hebrew and Biblical knowledge primarily from nineteenth-century Protestant missionaries. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Bene Israel community was a Konkan jati with limited knowledge of Judaism. However, by the end of the century the community had become an Indian-Jewish community roughly analogous to other Jewish communities. This paper explores how this transformation occurred, detailing the content, motivation, and means by which British and American missionaries and, to a lesser extent, Cochin Jews instructed the Bene Israel in Jewish knowledge. Through a critical examination of neglected English and Marathi sources, it reconstructs the Bene Israel perspective in these encounters and their attitude towards the Christian missionaries who laboured amongst them. It demonstrates that the Bene Israel were active participants and selective consumers in their interaction with the missionaries, taking what they wanted most from the encounter: knowledge of the Old Testament and the Hebrew language. Ultimately, the instruction the Bene Israel received from Protestant missionaries did not convert them to Christianity but strengthened and transformed their Judaism.

Download Full-text

Verbal Interaction among the Bene Israel

International Journal of the Sociology of Language ◽

10.1515/ijsl.1977.13.71 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 1977 (13) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

SHALVA WEIL

Keyword(s):

Verbal Interaction ◽

Bene Israel

Download Full-text

Nesebname-i Müluk (Moğol Kısmı) Ve Muizzü’l- Ensab’ın Biçim Ve İçerik Açısından Mukayesesi

10.53478/tuba.2021.031 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 235-262

Author(s):

Hayrunnisa Alan

Keyword(s):

Jewish History ◽

World History ◽

Human Beings ◽

Historical Information ◽

Islamic World ◽

Islamic Historiography ◽

Bene Israel ◽

The Way

"Nesebname-i Müluk or Şu’ab-ı Pencgâne is a genealogical work which is to be found in the corpus of the famous vizier of Ilkhanate, Rashid al-Din Fazl Allah. This work contains the names of the rulers and their families in world history alongside partial descriptions, including ancestors and caliphs of Prophet Muhammed, rulers of Khitai, Kaisers (rulers of Europe), ancestors and descendants of Genghis Khan, rulers of Bene Israel. His access to historical information about China, the Islamic world, Byzantine, Turkish and Mongol and to include them in the narrative was made possible by Rashid al-Din’s service as a statesman and historian at the Ilkhanate court. The additional part regarding Jewish history is related to Rashid al-Din’s background. In the work, the nations of Noah’s sons and human beings are divided into different branches, the names of the rulers of each branch are mentioned and the ancestors and descendants of Genghis Khan are included as an important part of this whole. Thus, the Mongolian dynasties were defined as legitimate dynasties in accordance with Islamic historiography within world history. The way the names in the pedigree are written (writing in a round or square frame, ink color, etc.) reinforces the theme of legitimizing the Cengiz lineage. Shu’ab has been both a source and an example for the Muizzü’l-ensab prepared in the Timurid palace in terms of form and content. The reproduction of the work in the Timurid palace reflects the perceptions and realities of the Timurid period and is a valuable example of the transfer and updating of tradition. The Muizzü’l-ensab produced in the Timurid court is anonymous and is not as large as the genealogy in the Reşidüddin’s corpus; it is limited to the lineage of Genghis Khan and Emir Timur and the officers who served them. Muizz serves the legitimacy of the Timurid rulers."

Download Full-text

Bene Israel

Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism - Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ◽

10.1007/978-94-024-1267-3_886 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 126-133

Author(s):

Joan Roland

Keyword(s):

Bene Israel

Download Full-text

The Bene Israel of Bombay: A Study of a Jewish Community.

Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews ◽

10.2307/2062909 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 170

Author(s):

Philip L. Berg ◽

Schifra Strizower

Keyword(s):

Jewish Community ◽

Bene Israel

Download Full-text

The genetics of Bene Israel from India reveals both substantial Jewish and Indian ancestry

10.1101/025809 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Yedael Y. Waldman ◽

Arjun Biddanda ◽

Natalie R. Davidson ◽

Paul Billing-Ross ◽

Maya Dubrovsky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arrival Time ◽

Middle Eastern ◽

Principal Component ◽

Genome Wide ◽

History Of ◽

Admixed Population ◽

Bene Israel ◽

Admixture Linkage Disequilibrium ◽

Jewish Populations ◽

Do So

AbstractThe Bene Israel Jewish community from West India is a unique population whose history before the 18th century remains largely unknown. Bene Israel members consider themselves as descendants of Jews, yet the identity of Jewish ancestors and their arrival time to India are unknown, with speculations on arrival time varying between the 8th century BCE and the 6th century CE. Here, we characterize the genetic history of Bene Israel by collecting and genotyping 18 Bene Israel individuals. Combining with 486 individuals from 41 other Jewish, Indian and Pakistani populations, and additional individuals from worldwide populations, we conducted comprehensive genome-wide analyses based on FST, principal component analysis, ADMIXTURE, identity-by-descent sharing, admixture linkage disequilibrium decay, haplotype sharing and allele sharing autocorrelation decay, as well as contrasted patterns between the X chromosome and the autosomes. The genetics of Bene Israel individuals resemble local Indian populations, while at the same time constituting a clearly separated and unique population in India. They are unique among Indian and Pakistani populations we analyzed in sharing considerable genetic ancestry with other Jewish populations. Putting together the results from all analyses point to Bene Israel being an admixed population with both Jewish and Indian ancestry, with the genetic contribution of each of these ancestral populations being substantial. The admixture took place in the last millennium, about 19-33 generations ago. It involved Middle-Eastern Jews and was sex-biased, with more male Jewish and local female contribution. It was followed by a population bottleneck and high endogamy, which can lead to increased prevalence of recessive diseases in this population. This study provides an example of how genetic analysis advances our knowledge of human history in cases where other disciplines lack the relevant data to do so.

Download Full-text