Indian Jewish Trails
50 images Created 6 Mar 2014
“ Israel is in my heart, but India is in my blood. ” - Ezekiel Isaac Malekar
Indian Jewish Trails - Closing Curtains.
This ongoing project explores the dwindling communities of indigenous Indian Jews who for thousands of years have been a part of India’s rich cultural and religious tapestry. It studies the stories of those few who have stayed in India despite the call in 1951 to make aliyah (‘return’ to Israel), striving to maintain links to their native lands and histories, and their determination in the preservation of their ancient religious and cultural heritage. The story of India's Jewish community in the aftermath of the mass exodus has rarely been told in depth. Despite the creation of Israel and hence a refuge for all Jews, the Indian Jewish Diaspora persists and survives, holding within its walls of memory and personal lives a unique identity and heritage that may have been damaged, but has not died. The events of the 1950s and 60s decimated India's special Jewish population causing the community to struggle, but they continue to contribute to India's cultural landscape. Though largely unseen and unheard, even within India itself, the Jewish people are determined to remain a part of her. Here I seek to encapsulate the melancholy and nostalgia - that is the beauty of their culture, the deep-rootedness of their Indian identity, and the uniqueness of what it means to be an Indian Jew in 21st century India.
- Suzanne Lee
Indian Jewish Trails - Closing Curtains.
This ongoing project explores the dwindling communities of indigenous Indian Jews who for thousands of years have been a part of India’s rich cultural and religious tapestry. It studies the stories of those few who have stayed in India despite the call in 1951 to make aliyah (‘return’ to Israel), striving to maintain links to their native lands and histories, and their determination in the preservation of their ancient religious and cultural heritage. The story of India's Jewish community in the aftermath of the mass exodus has rarely been told in depth. Despite the creation of Israel and hence a refuge for all Jews, the Indian Jewish Diaspora persists and survives, holding within its walls of memory and personal lives a unique identity and heritage that may have been damaged, but has not died. The events of the 1950s and 60s decimated India's special Jewish population causing the community to struggle, but they continue to contribute to India's cultural landscape. Though largely unseen and unheard, even within India itself, the Jewish people are determined to remain a part of her. Here I seek to encapsulate the melancholy and nostalgia - that is the beauty of their culture, the deep-rootedness of their Indian identity, and the uniqueness of what it means to be an Indian Jew in 21st century India.
- Suzanne Lee
