Indian Jewish Community in Israel
It is not important to see who saved their life but how they must have fought for their survival. In Rome do as the Romans & you survive and thus our ancestors kept religion within doors, taught their children and survived by the Grace of G-d.
They were totally unaware of the contemporary Jewish literature, prayer books or any form of religious guidance for more that over thousand years and were dependent on what their parents passed on to them by word of mouth from generation to generation.
In the nineteenth century they started moving to the cities, mainly to Bombay (now called Mumbai) and to other cities among them Pune, Ahmedabad and Karachi which is now part of Pakistan. This was mainly due to the development in transport system and employment opportunities. In cities they became contractors and skilled carpenters and then as they took education in English took positions as clerks, mechanics, draughtsmen etc. Women earned by working as school teachers. There had been Vice Admiral, Governor, Major General and businessmen. They served as officers in the British Indian Army and gained higher positions in Post & Telegraph, Railways, Ports & medical profession. Jews have also held important positions under Indian princes in the past.
Today in India there are less than 5000 Bene Israels, most of them live in Thane a suburb of Mumbai (Bombay). At their peak in 1951, the Bene Israel numbered 20,000. Since then, most of the Bene Israel Jews have made an aliya to Israel and a few have immigrated to UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
Acknowledgement: Information is gathered from various sources including Mr. Haeem Samuel Kehimkar’s book "The History of the Bene Israel Jews of India".
