Bene Israel
| Bene Israel | |
| Populations | |
|---|---|
 India | |
| Other | |
| Religion (s) | Judaism |
| Group (s) connected (s) | Jews |
| |
change  | |
The Bene Israel ( Children of Israel "in Hebrew ) are one of three groups of Jews who lived in India until the second half of the twentieth century. The Bene Israel formed the largest sector of the Jewish population of the Indian subcontinent, and constitute the core of those sometimes called the Jews of Bombay.
Summary |
History
The Bene Israel descended, according to tradition, Jews fleeing persecution by Rome on the Galilee in the second century BCE. Their ancestors were the Cohanim pressing oil (a traditional occupation among them) and would have wrecked off the coast of India.
These assertions are difficult to verify, with the exception of their claim to a priestly descent: a DNA testing conducted in 2002 confirmed based on the study of gene Y-Aaron as the Bene Israel share a common heredity with descendants of Cohanim documented . If it is determined that Jewish merchants, from Europe, crisscrossed India for commercial reasons, it can not be determined whether they had settled. The first source considered reliable to the point of Jewish settlement in India is dated the eleventh century : he cites the colonies centered on the west coast. Abraham ibn Dawd is also referred to, a century later, but in terms waves.
The following testimonies are from Jewish merchants from Baghdad who "discovered" in the eighteenth century : they describe individuals closely resembling Marathas non-Jews, in their appearance and customs . Their number has since declined due to emigration (mainly Israel ).
In 1964 , the Israeli rabbinate recognized the Bene Israel as Jews in their own right and in all aspects.
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