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Magen David 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 Kalkota 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

The Magen David (Shield of David) Synagogue sits at the intersection of Brabourne Road and Canning Street in Kolkata, four minutes by foot from Beth El Synagogue. Magen David was built in 1884 by Elias David Ezra, Kolkata’s first Jewish sheriff, in memory of his father.[8] Magen David may be the largest synagogue in the East, known for its towering, European-style architecture and impressive Torah collection. Elijah B. Moses Duwayk Ha-Cohen was the spiritual leader of Magen David for over five decades.[9]

Many of the architectural features of the Magen David Synagogue mirror those of Beth El. The center of the synagogue contains a raised bimah at which men would read the Torah. The Torah scrolls sat under a half-dome and a blue-painted window with gold stars. It was surrounded by a curtain, separating it from the rest of the synagogue.

Magen David has high ceilings decorated with fans, chandeliers, lamps, and Hebrew inscriptions. Its walls are covered in stained glass windows. A wooden block in the center of the synagogue is inscribed with the ten commandments. Beside it towers a menorah.

In Magen David worshippers honored the Baghdadi tradition that dictated that men sit on the ground floor while women sat in the upstairs gallery during prayer. [10]

Today, the Magen David Synagogue is maintained thanks to hard-working Muslim workers. Many recent articles have thus claimed that the Magen David is a powerful symbol of Mulsim Jewish kinship.[11]

Kolkata, India

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