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Beth-El Synagogue, Kolkata, India

Description

BACKGROUND

While Mumbai and the Sassoon family are perhaps the faces of the Baghdadi Jewish diaspora in India, they certainly do not tell the whole story. Shalom Obadiah Cohen, a merchant from Syria, arrived in the Northeastern Indian city of Kolkata in 1798.[1] He arrived in Kolkata via a city called Surat, through which many Baghdadi Jews transited, including the Sassoons and those that settled in Mumbai. He, it could be argued, was the forebear of a Kolkata Baghdadi-Jewish community that at one point exceeded 4,000 Jews. In Kolkata, Cohen traded in precious jewels and stones for several years before becoming court jeweler to Muslim Moghul ruler Ghazi Al-Din Chayder in the city of Lucknow in 1816. With the subsequent arrival of Ha-Cohen’s family members and business partners—such as Jacob Tzemach Nissim—as well as the arrival of Moses B. Simon Duwayk, Kolkata began to emerge as a thriving hub of Jewish life, attracting not only Baghdadi Jews but also Jews from Yemen and Cochin.[2]  

The Jewish community of Kolkata had a vibrant cultural, intellectual, and institutional presence. Three main synagogues solidified a strong institutional presence. The Neveh Shalom Synagogue was built in 1831 by the patriarch of Kolkata Jewry Shalom Obadiah Cohen. The Beth El Synagogue, explained in greater detail below, was built in 1856, and in 1884 the Magen David Synagogue was built in memory of Baghdadi Jewish merchant David Joseph Ezra.[3]

Culturally and intellectually, Kolkata’s Jews flourished with the establishment of a Hebrew printing press by Eleazer B. Aaron Saadiah Iraq Ha-Cohen in 1840. According to an article from the website of Tel Aviv’s Museum of the Jewish People, Iraqi was a “scholar and poet [and] an expert printer who probably cast his own type. The products of his press, some of them his own writings, are comparable with the best European productions of the time.” Iraqi’s press was active until 1856. In 1871, Ezekiel B. Saliman Hanin established another printing press. From 1873-78 he published a weekly in Judeo-Arabic called “Mevasser.” In 1878, the press began publishing another weekly called “Perach” (flower/blossom), spearheaded by Elijah B. Moses Duwayk Ha-Cohen. Lastly, R. Solomon Twena published two more weeklies: “Maggid Meisharim” (1889-1900) and “Shoshanna” (1901).[4]

Further information about the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata can be found in the Judeo Arabic journals of former community members such as Shalom Ha-Cohen, Moses B. Simon Duwayk Ha-Cohen, and Eleazer b. Aaron Saadiah Iraqi Ha-Cohen as well as the observations of Western travelers such as Jacob Saphir and Solomon Reinman. These journals are housed in the David Sassoon Library in Mumbai.

The key leaders of the Kolkata Jewish community included Sir David and Lady Ezra, Elias Meyer, and the Jehuda, Masliah, Jacob, Gabbai, Elias, and Kurlander families.[5]

After World War II, The Jewish community of Kolkata entered a period of steep economic and political decline. Many Jews emigrated to England, Australia, America, and Israel. By 1969, the Jewish community of Kolkata numbered only 700 souls. By 1997, the Jewish community of Kolkata had dwindled even more, with only two Jewish schools remaining.[6] Today, the Jewish community of Kolkata is in the double digits. Jewish residents Aline M. Cohen, Secretary of Jewish Affairs in Kolkata, and Flower Silliman are fighting to keep the community alive and reintegrate it with world Jewry.[7]

SITE

Beth El Synagogue is on 26 Pollack Street off of Brabourne Road at the heart of Kolkata. Beth El (Hebrew for House of God) was financed by Baghdadi Jews David Joseph Ezra and Ezekiel Judah in 1856, before being expanded by community member Elias Shalom Gubbay in 1885 to accommodate Kolkata’s growing Jewish population. Significantly, the architectural style of the synagogue is reminiscent of British and apparently “un-Indian and sometimes Christian” architecture.[8] Yet, it still maintains quintessential symbols of Judaism and Baghdadi/Sephardic Jewish symbols in particular. 

Below is a description of the architectural makeup of the synagogue courtesy of the Indian Jewish Heritage Center:

“The pale yellow synagogue, set behind a wall and gate along the busy street, is an eclectic Western-inspired composition made up of many design influences. The façade, finished in chunam (polished lime) and painted, is a classic tripartite design with recessed panels featuring rounded arched openings, pointed-arched stained glass windows, groupings of engaged pilasters, a pronounced curvilinear ceiling with a clock, and the monumental central stair leading up to a recessed porch that serves as the building’s foyer. Star of David and menorah (candelabra) appliques to the front of the synagogue, highlighted in blue, identify this civic building as a synagogue […] The synagogue sanctuary is an impressive space able to accommodate a membership that, at its height, numbered over one hundred families. In plan, the generous triple-height nave with its centrally-positioned tebah (bimah/raised platform with a table for reading the Torah) is separated from the double-height, wide side aisles by a colonnade. The tall columns, painted white with blue capitals, mid-collars, and bases, are stylized and fabricated from iron.”[9]

Beth El contains classic elements of Baghdadi Jewish synagogues, such as “freestanding wooden benches and chairs as well as various-styled hung lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, framings of Hebrew prayer verses, and wall sconces.” Additionally, the synagogue is equipped with a large heckal (ark), which is in the part of the synagogue nearest to Jerusalem and covered in a half dome with windows above painted blue with gold stars.[10]

Today, the synagogue is not used regularly. Services for important holidays are still held by Kolkata’s twenty or so remaining Jews and on Shabbat a lamp is lit in the sanctuary, but weekly services are not held. The synagogue is open for visitors.[11]

Kolkata, India

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