After centuries in India, the last Cochin Jews try to keep their history alive
KOCHI, India (AP) — As the sun set over Kochi’s historic Jew Town neighborhood, Keith Hallegua donned a gray kippah and began a solitary walk to the…
As the sun dipped below the horizon in Kochi’s historic Jew Town, Keith Hallegua, the last local Jew, donned a gray kippah and embarked on a solitary journey to the 458-year-old Paradesi Synagogue. Without a minyan, the required ten males for communal prayer, Hallegua found himself praying alone within the walls of the synagogue.
He represented the final chapter for the Cochin Jews, who have lived in India for centuries without fear of antisemitism. Across the city, Elias "Babu" Josephai at the Kadavumbagam Synagogue recalled the simple fried dough balls his grandmother once made for Shavuot. For both Hallegua and Josephai, the weight of their community’s dwindling presence and the preservation of their heritage loomed large.
In the 1950s, many Cochin Jews emigrated to Israel, leaving behind their homes, synagogues, and cemeteries. Now, fewer than 5,000 Jews remain in India. The Cochin Jewish community's history, however, is a tapestry woven with threads of religious freedom and internal divisions over class and colorism. The once-dominant Paradesi Jews, descendants of Sephardic refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, brought enslaved individuals with them.
Their freed descendants, known as Meshuchrarim Jews, faced social ostracization and fought for religious equality. Though these divisions diminished following mass migration, their echoes still resonate within the community's legacy.
Written by urgent.news from Associated Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
