WHO WAS ISAAC THE JEW OF CALICUT AND COCHIN OF LATE 18TH CENTURY ?

 While looking for evidence of some jewish connection to Tipu Sultan of Mysore, I came across the name of Isaac the Jew.

His name appears in multiple documents, in Dutch and Portuguese and Hebrew.

Who was this Jew, Isaac ? In the 18th century he was a merchant prince and diplomat who maintained residence in both Calicut and Cochin 

Like many of the Paradesi jews of Cochin, he seems to have arrived in the Malabar coast in the 18th century. He was a very successful merchant and shipbuilder who maintained residences in both Calicut and Cochin.

This article by WJ Fischel is so well research and drips of academic clarity and certainty. 

A famed merchant of Leghorn, a jew by the name of Franco of Leghorn, had mentioned that he had met Isaac in Constantinople many decades earlier.  Like Paradesi, the turkish name carried by him, Surgun, means, exiled or foreigner.

He had friendly relationship with Hayder Ali Khan, the father of Tipu Sulan and his emissary in Calicut. so, Isaac the Jew or Joodische Koopman the jewish merchant as the Dutch referred to him, was a diplomat in addition to his wealth which might have brought him status and influence

The Danish missionary report of Tranquebar dated 1754 refers to him as Isaac Suriano, 

For students of Sephardic Jewish history, Soriano is a name very familiar. Like the name Hallegua, it has both spanish and Turkish connection. I have met Halleguas in Cochin, Havana, Uruguay and Miami, almost all of them an indirect Turkish connection. Cochin Halleguas claim their origin from Spain, from a town called Haleva, but then again all sephardi jews have a connection with Spain. Sepharad is Hebrew for Spain (Sarfat for French). As a high school student, I visited the island of Rhodes in Greece where I spent a Pesach/Seder at the home of a family Soriano (they were the first ever soriano i met, since then many Sorianos, mainly migrants to South America have crossed my path, from Panama, Uruguay, Miami etc).

So a Paradesi of Constantinople becomes a Paradesi of Cochin!

My mind began racing, connecting the various dots in the wide jewish world that I have inhabited ever since I became aware of it.

The synagogue in Rhodos which had 4000 jews before the war, dispersion and murder at the hands of Italian fascists, is right in the centre of the Juderia, the old Jewish Quarter.

I remember going there for services during my stay.

I vaguely remember sand floors, but here the floor seems to be covered with a mosaic that one sees in Rhodos.

My mind raced to the question? where are the sand covered floors in synagogues? All of them are Sephardic.

I had been a member of one, prayed in another (Jom Kipur) and visited the first ever Synagogue with sand floor , Snoga, in Amsterdam. Two more to go

Amsterdam

St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Kingston, Jamaica 

Curacao, Dutch West Indies (the oldest synagogue in the Western hemisphere). The oldest synagogue in Asia is now claimed by the Paradesi Synagogue , but certainly would be one of the synagogues in Cochin.

The fifth synagogue with a wooden roof and sand floor is in Paramaribo, Suriname in the former Dutch West Indies, in the mainland South America, used to be called Dutch Guyana.

This synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica, designed by the jamaican jewish architect, Cohen Henriques, has sand on the floor.

As we are a dispersed people, there are beautiful synagogues, some of which are only with memories of a congregation, around the world.

The most remote jewish community that I have visited would be that of Iquitos in Peruvian Amazon. Easter Island is even more isolated but there are no Jews in the island.

you see, how thinking about Isaac the Jew of Calicut and Cochin in the 18th Century took me all around the world. I am very conscious of this and it is this connection to the past with a firm view of the future that makes the Jewish people unique, not just the religion.

I dedicate this blog to the fine contemporary historian of Jewish history of Cochin, Mr. Biju Thomas.

A TIME TO BE HAPPY WHETHER IN ISRAEL OR IRAN

I am very attracted to the music in Israel of Yemenite origin. I hold the humble opinion that what we see in the Yemenite Israeli faces are the faces of our earliest ancestors.

There is no jewish community left in Yemen, thus joining a long list of Muslim or Arab countries that got rid of their jewish population. 

It is a little known fact that nearly One million Jews from Arab countries were thrown out their millenial long residences after the establishment of the State of Israel and they are all well integrated into Israel, to which the majority went (there are no  Jewish refugee camps in Israel) or France (Most Algerian Jews went to France, thus gave us Jacques Derrida, Attali etc). 

Today a good friend of mine from Iran sent me photos of the wedding of her niece and was nice to note that the symbolism had pre-islamic Zoroastrian origins.

Sofreh Aghd (wedding table)

There is a very elaborate floor spread set up for Aghd, including several kinds of food and decorations, this is called Sofreh Aghd (Persian: سفره عقد‎). Items in the table include:

• The Herbs: Khashkhash (poppy seeds), Berenj (rice), Sabzi Khoshk (Angelica), salt, Raziyane (Nigella seeds), Cha'i (black tea leaves) and Kondor (Frankincense).
• The Pastries: Noghl, Baklava, Toot (Iranian marzipan), Naan-e Bereneji (rice cookies), Naan-e Badami (almond cookies) and Naan-Nokhodchi (chickpea cookie) are placed on the spread and traditionally served to the guests after the ceremony.
• Mirror of Fate and two candelabras, symbols of light and fire. When the bride enters the room she has her veil covering her face. Once the bride sits beside the bridegroom she removes her veil and the first thing that the bridegroom sees in the mirror should be the reflection of his wife-to-be.
• The Blessed Bread: A specially baked bread with calligraphy written on it.
• "Naan-o Paneer-o Sabzi": Bread, feta cheese, and greens are also placed on the spread to symbolize the basic food that is needed to sustain life. They are traditionally served to guests after the ceremony.
• Symbols of Fertility: decorated eggs, almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts.
• The Heavenly Fruits: pomegranates, grapes, apples.
• Coins: A bowl of gold or silver coins representing wealth and prosperity.
• The Sacred Text: The Avesta, Qur'an, Bible, or Torah is placed in front of the couple on the spread. Some families also add a poetry book such as Rumi's Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, Hafez's Divan, or the Shahnameh by Ferdowsi.
• Prayer Rug: A prayer rug (Jaa-ye Namaaz) or a traditional Iranian Termeh is placed in the center of the wedding spread. The spreadprayer rug, open in the Aghd-cloth is to remind the couple of the importance of prayer to God. The prayer carpet also includes a small cube of clay with prayers written on it (Mohr) and a rosary (Tasbih). Non-Muslim families may or may not omit the prayer kit.

I was drawn to the white cloth held over the heads of the bride and groom. Reminded me of the Chuppah under which a Jewish bride and groom stand during the ceremony.

A scarf or shawl made out of silk or any other fine fabric is held over the bride and bridegroom's heads (who are sitting by the Sofreh) by a few unmarried female relatives (bridesmaids). Two sugar cones made out of hardened sugar are used during the ceremony. These sugar cones are softly ground together above the bride and bridegroom's heads by a happily married female relative (and/or maid of honor) throughout the ceremony to shower them in sweetness. The sugar drops in the held fabric, not on their heads.

My friend informed me that it is called 

SOFRE GHANDSAB

So it is time to be happy , celebrating this young couples wedding in Iran and also to remember various customs of the people around the world, celebrating happiness 

MAZEL TOV