Karas 1 Rachel Karas Jewish Ethnic Groups in Israel Professor Zalman Gordon February 18, 2013 Curry and

Challah: The Dynamic Food Culture of the Bene Israel Jews have long embraced the religions connection to food as an essential aspect of expressing Jewish culture for example, the saying, They tried to kill us; we won; lets eat, is often heard at holiday gatherings. Though such phrases are said in jest, the ever-present culture of food is an integral part of daily and religious life for both the Jewish and Indian peoples. The Bene Israel is the largest community where these two cultural worlds intersect. Originally living in many villages throughout the Kolaba District of Maharashtra State, the Bene Israel of Bombay inherited the culinary characteristics of their country and surrounding religions while maintaining the Jewish traditions associated with religious holidays due to their rural location and relative seclusion from the rest of India.1 When the groups immigration to Israel began in the 1950s, food culture evolved to include elements from Israeli society, adopting dishes but retaining the rich Indian heritage as well. Like other Jewish communities, the Bene Israel abide by the laws of kashrut, though the intensity of adherence may have increased following the groups religious revival around 1000 CE. Isenberg writes, Kehimkar does not make clear exactly which details of Kashruth were observed before the Bene Israels religious revival, except that the forbidden animals and fish were not eaten; that pork was especially abhorrent to them; that when slaughtering an animal only the words of the Kiryat Shema or BShem Adonai, instead of the appropriate prayer, used to be recited; that the prerequisite

Isenberg, Shirley B. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. Ed. Orpa Slapak. Lebanon, NH: University of New England, 2003. Print.

Karas 2 examination as to the health of the animals internal organs was not then carried out; and that the sciatic nerve, but not the tendons, used to be removed.2 Nonetheless, the continued observance of kashrut is a crucial part of sustaining and expressing their Jewish identity. According to Abraham, 77 percent of Bene Israelis strictly observe dietary restrictions, while 23 percent partially observe them; 90 percent strictly separate milk and meat and 10 percent partially separate the two; and 87 percent observe the prohibition of seafood strictly as opposed to 13 percent who observe it partially.3 The community eats only fish, mutton, chicken, and other meats, but never pork or beef, having adopted the Hindu custom of avoiding meat from cows. Isenberg writes, The Bene Israel had so thoroughly assimilated the Hindu ban on beef-eating that some uninformed Bene Israel actually believed that beef-eating was prohibited by the Jewish religion.4 Whereas the community in the 18th century had to take it upon themselves to learn the laws of kosher ritual slaughter and act as their own shohets, Bene Israel in Israel today are able to take advantage of the countrys widespread kosher laws and products offered by kosher-certified meat, fish and dairy vendors. The consumption of kosher fish is particularly important to the community because it symbolizes an ongoing devotion to Judaism and served as part of the basis for reintegration during the religious revival. Abraham quotes a Bene Israeli as saying, Even when our forefathers forgot parts of our religion, they still kept to the practice of separating fish that have fins and scales and those that did not. It is an important part of our history. Today we still follow

Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print. 3 Abraham, Margaret. Studies of Indian Jewish Identity. Ed. Nathan Katz. 1st ed. New Delhi: Manohar & Distributors, 1995. Print. 4 Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print.

Karas 3 this law carefully. We do it because it is said in our holy book that we must do it.5 Biblical laws concerning wine are also followed strictly, and the Bene Israel drink only wine made in a ritually pure manner by themselves or by other Jews. Indias caste system also plays a role in following Bene Israeli kosher practices. Isenberg writes, Caste-conditioned Bene Israel behavior shows up where Hindu ideas of untouchability have reinforced Jewish dietary rules, as illustrated by Kehimkars statement that The Bene Israel never employ as servants the Mahar and the Mang castes, who use as articles of food dead beasts and fowls, a touch of which alone defiles a Bene Israel. Even within the Bene Israel itself, those of the Kala lower class were not allowed to use the cooking utensils of the Gora upper class during the 18th century.6 Bene Israeli Jewish cuisine is not the stereotypical Ashkenazic fare of Eastern Europe, but Sephardic, and what is eaten in everyday life are the common dishes of India. In general, Indian food is characterized by the inclusion of many pungent, often hot spices and herbs. This is no different for the cuisine of the Bene Israel, which uses ingredients such as coconut milk, hot chili, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cumin, garam masala, garlic and coriander; as well as mustard, peanut, coconut and ramtil niger seed oils.7 Curries of rice, potato, and other vegetables are the main dishes, while breakfast consists of tea and bread or porridge. Traditional snacks included the Indian farsan, a fried noodle dish made from a paste of boiled chickpeas and pressed through small holes in a special wooden spoon.8 During his travels, Solomon Reinemann observed of the Bene Israel,
5

Abraham, Margaret. Studies of Indian Jewish Identity. Ed. Nathan Katz. 1st ed. New Delhi: Manohar & Distributors, 1995. Print. 6 Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print. 7 Marks, Copeland. Sephardic Cooking: 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens from Morocco to India. New York, NY: Donald I. Fine, 1994. Print. 8 Isenberg, Shirley B. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. Ed. Orpa Slapak. Lebanon, NH: University of New England, 2003. Print.

Karas 4 On holidays they eat rice and only a few of them ate wheat bread which their wives baked as unleavened cakes They will not eat roasted meat, but cooked as a stew in a pot with many spices. They also add many spices to fish stew and red pepper which they believe has medicinal value. They wash their hands before eating even if it will be only rice that they eat. They do not use spoons, knives or forks, but eat only with their hands as do the local non-Jews.9 Several different types of bread are prepared for various occasions wheat chapatti, the regular thin and round Indian bread, is made on a daily basis; puri, deep-fried wheat bread eaten during celebrations and holidays; and bhakri, thick bread made with rice or corn flour.10 Braided challah was generally only eaten on Shabbat, though the wide availability of challah to the Bene Israel community in Israel may have increased its inclusion in weekday meals. The items used to prepare and process food on a daily basis are also important to the labor-intensive Bene Israel culinary culture. Many tools are used for crushing various foods before incorporating them into curries. Grinding stones pata warwanta are used to pound and crush spice plants, seeds and powders for sauces and chutneys. A wooden board called a morli with a round iron grater, or khawni, is used to break open and crush coconuts, as well as clean and cut fish. Rice is cleaned using a tall mortar made of wood and two pestles, which require two people to pound the yellow film off of the grains at the same time. Wide-bladed knives are used to cut hard mangoes, harvest coconuts and chop meat. Cow and buffalo milk was used to make yogurt and butter, which was churned in a wooden mixer, or ravi, attached to a long handle with a grooved knob turned by a rope with ends pulled in opposite directions. Though the tools are somewhat primitive, the Bene Israel brought all implements to Israel during immigration and continued using them to make familiar, traditional food while in a new country.11

Reinemann, Solomon. Masa'ot Shelomo. Ed. Wolff Schur. Vienna: Georg Breg, 1884. Print. Isenberg, Shirley B. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. Ed. Orpa Slapak. Lebanon, NH: University of New England, 2003. Print. 11 Ibid.
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Karas 5 Holiday cuisine perhaps best exemplifies the intertwining of Jewish and Indian cultures. Shabbat is observed regularly using Indian chapatti, challah and raisin wine. According to Isenberg, a common substitute for Shabbat wine was this juice of raisins, as vineyards near Bombay do not produce enough grapes to make wine for the Jewish communities. Raisin wine was also used for other holidays and special occasions both inside and outside the synagogue. 12 Because of Israels abundance of fruitful vineyards, its Bene Israelis are able to make the kiddush with regular wine. According to Kehimkar, Women were busy preparing food for the Sabbath from about 2-5 p.m. on Friday. Two particular dishes were traditional among the Bene Israel for the Sabbath: Chavlya and Kadhi. For the rich, the Friday evening meal consisted of fowl, curry, rice, bread, vegetables, fruit and wine; for the middle class, mutton, curry, rice, bread, liquor; for the poor, fish, rice and bread. The leftovers were eaten on Saturday.13 According to Isenberg, chavlya is a kind of cholent (a traditional Ashkenazic Shabbat stew of beans and potatoes cooked slowly overnight) in which white beans are soaked overnight to be cooked on Friday with fried onions, spices, saffron, and water. Kadhi is a sauce of coconut milk, garlic, hot chilies, saffron, cumin and other spices, curry leaves and the cocum fruit, which are boiled together until the mixture becomes thick.14 Passover laws are meticulously followed by members of the Bene Israel. Though many did not understand the story of the exodus due to illiteracy, all prepared their homes for Pesach by cleaning and whitewashing, fixing their metal pots and replacing old utensils. These illiterates did not follow the ritual Seder meal, but still avoided eating leavened goods for eight days. For those who did hold a Seder and/or could read the Marathi-Hebrew Haggadah, the haroset eaten
12 13

Ibid. Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print. 14 Ibid.

Karas 6 to symbolize the mortar of the bricks made and used by Jews during Egyptian slavery was made of thick date syrup. Bitter herbs, symbolizing hardship, callousness and bitterness, were served in lime juice. Grape juice, for blood, was used at the Seder rather than grape or raisin wines. Matzah, which is similar to chapatti in production method and lack of yeast, is prepared by multiple men and women in a special room in synagogues.15 The traditional Passover bread was often made with rice flour and cooked immediately to prevent natural rising, and baked in prayer rather than for consumption.16 The Bene Israel conform to Sephardic food prohibitions on Passover as well as observing unique prohibitions of their own. For example, rice is not prohibited in Sephardic Passover cuisine as it is in the Ashkenazic tradition, and remains a staple of Indian Jewish cuisine. In addition, Isenberg writes, Bene Israel local custom was not only to abstain from all forms of leaven during the eight days of Passover, but also from the use of tea, sugar, jaggery and clarified butter. According to a Bene Israeli resident of Parali, Passover was spent at home with a total ban on eating any food which the family had not themselves harvested and processed, nor would they eat sugar not prepared by Jews, drink tea or use dried spices.17 The High Holidays Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah are celebrated in uniquely Indian ways. According to Needel, as is the Jewish custom to eat sweet foods for a sweet new year, the Bene Israel observe Rosh Hashanah by eating chapatti dipped in sugar rather than the usual salt. This practice is similar to the Ashkenazi tradition of pouring honey on bread and apples to symbolize sweetness as well. On the fourth day of Rosh Hashana, the Bene Israel formerly observed the Festival of Khir, akin to and now replaced by Sukkot.

15 16

Ibid. Ibid. 17 Isenberg, Shirley. Studies of Indian Jewish Identity. Ed. Nathan Katz. 1st ed. New Delhi: Manohar & Distributors, 1995. Print.

Karas 7 During this harvest festival, they ate khir, a pudding of coconut milk, sugar, rice, nuts and candies, a practice discontinued with the observance of Sukkot, for which the community eats no special foods. Yom Kippur is observed with the traditional day of fasting, and the breaking of the fast is held in each familys home with a feast of traditional Indian cuisine: Recipes used for this and other religious events, festivals, and holidays have been kept true to their individual heritage, Needel writes. On the day after Yom Kippur, the Bene Israel celebrate Shila San, or the Festival of Stale Things, to visit friends and family who are mourning recent deaths. Shila San is characterized by foods cooked two days before Yom Kippur, therefore allowing them to go stale and earn the days name.18 Hanukkah, which is celebrated by the majority of the worldwide Jewish community, was not originally observed by the Bene Israel and therefore no food-related cultural traditions exist. Because there are no Hanukkah traditions established in Bene Israeli religious practice, it is thought that the community left their homeland for India before 164 B.C., when the Maccabean rededication of the Second Temple occurred. Bene Israel then began celebrating Hanukkah in the 19th century and have since adopted the traditions of other Jewish communities.19 This is especially true for those who have immigrated to Israel. For example, the Bene Israel in Haifa observe Hanukkah with a community celebration in addition to personal observation of the holiday. At the community-wide gathering, traditional Indian curries, samosas, chutneys and chai tea are served in accordance with their home culture. However, sufganiyot a Middle Eastern

18

Needel, Yale M. "Rethinking Sephardic: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Observances among the Jews of Bombay." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26.2 (2008): 59-79. Project MUSE. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. 19 Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print.

Karas 8 Sephardic jelly doughnut fried in oil and eaten widely in Israel have been adopted as a traditional Hanukkah food by the Bene Israeli community in Israel. The Bene Israel also use food in unique, undated traditional ceremonies not found in other Jewish communities. For example, the Malida rite is a food offering used to remember the prophet Elijah during cyclical rites associated with the calendar; rites of passage; and nonrepetitive individual rites such as holy days, circumcisions and weddings.20 It is also important in association with the keeping of vows and for health, prosperity, thanksgiving and travel. According to Y.M. Needel, the Malida rite consists of jasmine rice, cane sugar, fresh coconut, ground cardamom, nuts, raisins, rosewater, rice cakes, sweetmeats and five different kinds of fresh fruit arranged on a large engraved silver plate.21 In the center is a rose or myrtle leaf, Nathan Katz writes. Frankincense is burned by the side. A male member of the community leads chants over the offering with participants repeating the Shema and the words Eliyahu Hanavi about a dozen times. He then picks up each fruit and says the appropriate blessing for each one; the fruit is distributed first to the person for whom the ritual is performed, then to others. The malida itself a combination of rice, sugar and flour is blessed and distributed with the flower and myrtle, and the rite ends with a large meal.22 The practice of Malida at the henna ceremony before a wedding is also thought to ensure fertility and happiness in marriage. According to Isenberg, fruit from the malida plate is wrapped in the brides sari and placed near her stomach to symbolize future childbirth. The bride is

20

Needel, Yale M. "Rethinking Sephardic: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Observances among the Jews of Bombay." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26.2 (2008): 59-79. Project MUSE. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. 21 Ibid. 22 Katz, Nathan. Who Are the Jews of India? 1st ed. University of California, 2000. Print.

Karas 9 expected to eat the fruit herself, and then the rest of the malida plate is shared among the celebrants, who finish it during the henna ceremony.23 Members of the Bene Israel still perform the Malida rite in Israel. Whereas it was first often used in conjunction with pilgrimage to the Khandala rock, where Elijahs chariot is thought to have touched the ground on his way to heaven, those in Israel instead make pilgrimage to Elijahs Cave in Haifa. However, Malida is significant as a Bene Israeli Jewish practice because it likely does not have Jewish origins the word malida itself is the Marathi name used by Hindus and Muslims in Maharashtra for the same rice-flour and sugar mixture used in rituals. It also bears parallels to Hindu customs involving food offerings according to Needel, In Hindu worship, food is often ornately prepared and publicly displayed prior to being offered to the deity. After the deity consumes the essence of the food, devotees receive the remains the food is viewed as an image of a gift from the deity, therefore becoming sacred after its offering.24 Malida sometimes includes a vow to abstain from eating meat, a spiritual practice also borrowed from Hinduism.25 Feasting and other large communal meals are a vital aspect of both Jewish and Indian social and religious culture, and the Bene Israel held feasts upon reaching various stages of ones life cycle, or on the occasion of making or fulfillment of a vow. According to Isenberg, such meals would be given between 9 a.m. and noon or between 7 and 10 p.m. The synagogue played a pivotal role in feasts, lending out the large, community-owned cooking utensils to the host family, whose female relatives or hired Bene Israeli cooks would then prepare the food. At a

23

Isenberg, Shirley. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. Ed. Orpa Slapak. Lebanon, NH: University of New England, 2003. Print. 24 Needel, Yale M. "Rethinking Sephardic: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Observances among the Jews of Bombay." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26.2 (2008): 59-79. Project MUSE. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. 25 Katz, Nathan. Who Are the Jews of India? 1st ed. University of California, 2000. Print.

Karas 10 feast, the invitees would first say the appropriate blessings, break and distribute the bread, then sit to be served a wide variety of foods on large platters male guests were allowed to eat first, females second. Liquor was allowed at private parties, not public feasts, and then only before the meal was served. Ritual handwashing occurred after the meal, followed by a final blessing and distribution of salt.26 Such feasts contribute greatly to social cohesion and retention of Jewish tradition and prayer in regards to meals. Also worth noting are the instances in which the Bene Israel observe Jewish holidays by fasting. Six such holidays occur: Elul, the month of Slichot; Yom Kippur; Tzom Gedaliah; Tzom Tevet; Tzom Tamuz; and Tisha BAv. The latter four holidays commemorate the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C. As is the Jewish norm on Yom Kippur, all those who have become bar or bat mitzvah are required to fast if physically able. However, some children who have not reached bar/bat mitzvah age also observe Yom Kippur by fasting. As for Slichot, the Bene Israel are the only group who observed the semi-fasting for the entire month of Elul, referring to it as Ramzan, like the month of Ramadan observed by their Muslim neighbors. During the month of Elul, the community ate and drank only after sunset on all days other than Shabbat, when they ate as normal. Observance of Ramzan became nearly nonexistent by the 20th century for unknown reasons, particularly among those living in Israel, but some still drink only tea during the day and abstain from food until dinnertime.27 The culinary culture of the Bene Israel is rich and complex with influences from Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and general Indian society. Though it was a community removed from mainstream Judaism for many years, it has preserved the laws of kashrut as well as other food26

Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print. 27 Ibid.

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Karas 11 related traditions while building new norms borrowed from other Jewish peoples. Furthermore, the Bene Israel have integrated into Israeli society following immigration, using the majority Jewish population to sustain its existing culinary norms and expand by borrowing traditions. The food traditions of Jews and Indians mirror and complement each other and will contribute to the Bene Israel being a vibrant, unique part of the religion for generations to come.

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Karas 12 Works Cited Abraham, Margaret. Studies of Indian Jewish Identity. Ed. Nathan Katz. 1st ed. New Delhi: Manohar & Distributors, 1995. Print. Isenberg, Shirley B. India's Bene Israel: A Comprehensive Inquiry and Sourcebook. Berkeley, CA: Magnes Museum, 1988. Print. Isenberg, Shirley. The Jews of India: A Story of Three Communities. Ed. Orpa Slapak. Lebanon, NH: University of New England, 2003. Print. Isenberg, Shirley. Studies of Indian Jewish Identity. Ed. Nathan Katz. 1st ed. New Delhi: Manohar & Distributors, 1995. Print. Katz, Nathan. Who Are the Jews of India? 1st ed. University of California, 2000. Print. Marks, Copeland. Sephardic Cooking: 600 Recipes Created in Exotic Sephardic Kitchens from Morocco to India. New York, NY: Donald I. Fine, 1994. Print. Needel, Yale M. "Rethinking Sephardic: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur Observances among the Jews of Bombay." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 26.2 (2008): 59-79. Project MUSE. Web. 1 Jan. 2012. Reinemann, Solomon. Masa'ot Shelomo. Ed. Wolff Schur. Vienna: Georg Breg, 1884. Print.

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