Testimonials from our February 2024 Participants:

"For nearly a decade, I’d anticipated joining Rahel Musleah’s Explore Jewish India adventure. The experience has been more extraordinary and meaningful than I imagined, and continues to color my worldview. It is a blessing to have engaged in conversation and song with the vibrant, eccentric, humble, and inspiring Jews remaining in India--there are so few left, most of whom are elderly. Interacting with the history, context, and lives of this remnant within their actual communities was remarkable, and wove unforgettable personal connections while expanding my Jewish horizons. India is a feast for the senses; Explore Jewish India engages all five, plus, most profoundly, the spiritual. –Leah S, Mountain View, CA
 
"Explore Jewish India was the trip of a lifetime. The loving and meticulous planning of our two stellar guides, Rahel Musleah and Joshua Shapurkar, was apparent every day, as they sought to attend to individual as well as group needs and preferences. I found the tour to be a perfect mixture of visits to synagogues as well as to non-Jewish sites. The highlight was getting to daven at Rahel's father's synagogue in Kolkata! Each day was another miraculous blessing. Go now!--Sharon D., Manhattan

 
"Explore Jewish India was a comprehensive, busy, exciting, eye-opening and heartwarming tour. Hotels were lovely and no tour members went hungry. All domestic flights were smooth and the safety of the group was always a  priority.  Rahel is passionate about the country she was born in, and her Jewish heritage is reflected in her knowledge and her magnificent voice while davening in synagogue services or teaching and leading us in Hebrew songs on the bus. Joshua was born and raised in India and is extremely knowledgeable in the history of his entire country. This is the trip to take! –Riva S., East Meadow, NY

"Rahel and Joshua were the perfect guides on a wonderfully planned tour that broadly explores Indian history and culture and takes a deep dive into the rich history of Jewish India.  Visits to historical sights were thoughtfully blended with personal, intimate gatherings and meals hosted by members of the local communities.  An incredible trip!' –Allen E., Manhattan


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I love reading the first chapter of the Megillah. I delight in articulating the word Hodu, the Hebrew name for India, in the very first line. For me, it draws a direct Jewish connection to India that stretches from ancient to modern times.

On Purim, we breathe a collective sigh that we, the Jewish people, were saved from annihilation centuries ago. As we remember the 13th of Adar, the date the lot (Pur) fell on, the date on which Haman planned to initiate the destruction of the Jews of the Persian kingdom, so October 7 is seared into our hearts and souls today. But, the Megillah tells us, the heroism of Mordecai and Esther transformed the 13th of Adar into a date on which the Jews fought back against those who sought to hurt them. They rested on the 14th day, and it became a day of celebration filled with light and joy: Purim.

Over the centuries, special "Purims" were celebrated by the Jews of Baghdad--my ancestors. According to documents in the Sassoon archives, which my father pored over for his doctoral dissertation that was eventually published as a comprehensive history of the Jews of Calcutta (On The Banks of the Ganga), on the 11th of the month of Av, 1638, the Turkish sultan rescued the Jews of Baghdad from cruel Persian rule. A Baghdadi Jew is said to have found secret documents incriminating the Persians and, disguised as a Muslim, risked his life to bring them to the sultan. On reading the document, the sultan gathered his forces and marched on Baghdad. A century later, the Persians tried to retake the city but were repulsed by the reigning sultan, who won a great victory on the 16th of the month of Tevet, 1733.

With anti-Semitism spiking globally today, the Purim story hardly seems ancient. Its contemporary relevance is striking.