On your next trip to India, make sure to check out Mumbai's Jewish Quarter.
With more than seven synagogues featuring a mix of traditional Indian and Jewish designs, the quarter is the center of the city's Jewish population, according to the New York Times.
Beginning in the 1950s, most of India's Jewish community left to find a new life in Israel or the West, said Abraham Samson, the president of the Magen Hassidim Synagogue.
Both Samson and Daniel Soloman Waskar, the manager of the synagogue, recalled the times when the community was populous. During what they call the community's "golden years," which were a part of the British era, the synagogue would be so crowded that people would gather by the door for prayers.
Despite the fact that many Indian Jews have left India, Samson and Waskar still expect the High Holiday services to attract about 400 people, who are mostly Bene Israel Jews, according to the news source.
This particular community believes that their ancestors were stranded off the Konkan coast 2,000 years ago, and while they have preserved their Jewish traditions, like keeping Kosher, they also learned the Marathi language and play cricket with the neighborhood teams.
The best way to explore the Jewish Quarter in Mumbai is with a small group of adventure travelers.
Visit Mumbai's unique Jewish Quarter
Posted on Thursday, Oct. 14th, 2010
