Restoration of Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata

Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata

Kolkata Jews retrace their ancestor’s graves

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

Rosemary Cohen has come all the way from Australia, with a inverted family tree. A few of the branches of the family tree stressed back to five generation. She, accompanied by her husband, was looking for the graves of her ancestors in the newly renovated Jewish Cemetery of Kolkata.

Looking for their ancestor’s grave, Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata

As we made our way through the thickly packed maze of, freshly painted, white graves of the Jewish Cemetery, Rosemary narrated her fond memories of Kolkata, the city of her birth.

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Beth El and Magen David Synagogue, Kolkata, Re-dedication & Celebration of Restoration

Beth El and Magen David Synagogue, Kolkata

Re-dedication & Celebration of Restoration

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

As the Muslim boys of Elias Meyer School (popularly known as Jewish Boys School) sang Hebrew song of peace Oseh Shalom at the Magen David Synagogue in Kolkata Ezra Moses could no longer hold his tears.

Re-dedication and Celebration of Restoration of the Beth El Synagogue, Kolkata

A emotional Ezra Moses, presently a resident of Miami, USA, murmured “this is where my parents got married, long time back, probably in 1943. This is the city of my birth.”

Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Jewish Cemetery

Phoolbagan, Narkeldanga Main Road, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

“The synagogue’s members followed a custom ……… of depositing their writing in a special chamber in the synagogue so that they could be disposed of with special rites later. The chamber in which the documents were kept were known by the term ‘Geniza,’ a word that thought to have come into Hebrew from a Persian root, ganj, meaning ‘storehouse’ – a common element in place – names in India and Iran, …. like ‘Ballygunge’ and ‘Daltongunj.'”

Amitav Ghosh, In An Antique Land

The Geniza towers above the graves of Jewish Cemetery, Kolkata (Calcutta)

It may seem strange that common localities in Kolkata (Calcutta), like Ballygunge and Tollygunge, have derived their name from Geniza, the store house of abandoned Jewish religious text!!!!

Neveh Shalome Synagogue, Kolkata (Calcutta)

Rebirth of Kolkata’s (Calcuta’s) Oldest Synagogue

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

“In 1806 Calcutta was at the height of its golden age. Known as the City of palaces or the St. Petersburg of the East, the British bridgehead in Bengal was unquestionably the richest, largest and most elegant colonial city in India.”

William Dalrymple, White Mughal

Neveh Shalome Synagogue, Kolkata (Calcutta)

It was during these golden days of Calcutta (Kolkata) the first Jewish settlers arrived in the city. The first recorded Jewish immigrant to Kolkata was Shalon Cohen in 1798 from Aleppo in present day Syria.

Synagogues of Calcutta (Kolkata)

Synagogues of Kolkata (Calcutta)

Magen David Synagogue and Beth El Synagogue

Also See: Kolkata (Calcutta ) Jews

Synagogues of Kolkata (Calcutta) L: Magen David and R: Beth El

Calcutta (Kolkata) has always been a melting pot of various cultures & religions. Jews were one of the last communities to arrive in Calcutta (Kolkata) but within a short span of time they made their presence felt by controlling a large section of the trade in Calcutta (Kolkata).