How many of us remember when the State of Israel was NOT a reality?

Seventy years ago, in May 1949, my Uncle Meyer, who had made aliyah to Israel in 1945, sent a letter home to his father (my grandfather) in Calcutta, enclosed in this special envelope. It features the emblem of the state, the badge of the army, and image of a coin issued by Rome on the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

He included a newspaper account of the incredible celebration of the first anniversary of the state.

“In the cities, villages and settlements of Israel, the people will celebrate the first anniversary of the Day of Independence tonight and tomorrow. As a symbol of redemption, the Shofar will be blown in all synagogues in Israel.  Worshipers will recite the HALLEL (Psalms of Praise) and LEKHA DODI, a religious poem chanted on Friday night that calls for national and spiritual regeneration.  Such passages from the poem as Awake, arise from the dust, and Enough have you sat in the vale of weeping are included. Congregations will recite the sheheheyanu that they were fortunate to see this day, and that they will see the coming year in Jerusalem rebuilt. Following services, evening meals will be conducted as they are on holidays, and candles will be lit. 

A memorial service for those who died during the war will be held. In some synagogues, HAKAFOT (processions with the scrolls of the Torah) will take place as in ancient times when Jewish soldiers carried the Holy Ark with them to and from battle. Portions of the Torah will be read, and replicas of the Menorah on Titus’s Ark will be lit.”

Many, many years after this letter was sent, on one of my parents’ visits to Calcutta, my father found a treasure trove of letters from Uncle Meyer and his sister, my Aunt Ruby, that my grandfather had saved. The letters document life in Palestine–as Israel was known before statehood--and then Israel–in remarkable detail. With incredible foresight and no copying machine handy, my grandfather had copied by hand some of the letters he had written in reply.

Uncle Meyer's and Aunt Ruby's first-hand testimony and photos are part of a presentation I offer to JCCs, synagogues, schools and other organizations. It's called Facing West: One Family's Journey from India to Israel, 1945-1955.

Wandering Cows seem to be everywhere in India. Don't be cowed by their ubiquitous presence. They are, literally, Sacred Cows, symbolizing motherhood, and it’s a mitzvah to feed them!

The cow’s gentle nature, milk-giving, and practical importance in rural food production have raised its status to that of Mother, a symbol of caretaking, divine bounty, nature, and non-violence.  It is called Gaumata, mother cow, because it selflessly provides milk to all.

Most Hindus worship cows and shun the eating of beef. Slaughtering cows is illegal in India today.  Milk and dairy products are considered highly nutritious in Ayurveda, so most Hindus are vegetarian, but not vegan. Cow dung is not only used for fuel but also in rituals. Special festivals all over India honor cows: they are decorated and dressed in colorful finery, bells and garlands.

Lord Krishna, one of the most important Hindu gods, grew up as a cow herder and is often depicted playing his flute among cows and dancing milkmaids! Krishna also goes by the names Govinda and Gopala, which literally mean “friend and protector of cows.” Another primary god, Shiva, rides a sacred bull.

A dairy delight called Panchamritis is prepared for many rituals. This “sacred ambrosia” or “nectar of the gods” consists of five ingredients: milk, yogurt, ghee, honey and sugar that is supposed to infuse a person with divine energy and healing.

Here is a simple recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q59zNzLmfvI

Our travelers love the luxury of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel in Mumbai! It has just won the Hotels.com Award in the 'Loved by Guests - Most Wanted' category. And, for the second year in a row, it has achieved the highest guest satisfaction score worldwide among its peers on TrustYou, the world's largest guest feedback platform. It has also been highlighted in the new film, Hotel Mumbai, about the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Since then, the hotel has taken meticulous security precautions. No car enters without being thoroughly checked, hood and trunk opened. No guest or bag passes inside without being screened. Its rooms, views, cuisine and hospitality are the stuff of memories! The Taj is both safe and splendid!  

The hotel's iconic history goes back to the turn of the 20th century. It was built by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, founder of the Tata Group, in 1903. It's said that Tata was refused entry to British-owned Watson's Hotel--Bombay's first five-star hotel--where a sign read, "No dogs or Indians allowed." So Tata decided to set up his own shop! Taj Mumbai was the first of the chain's 100 hotels around the world. Watson's? It's now a vacant, dilapidated building in Mumbai's Kala Ghoda district.

If you are surprised there are Jews in India, you'll be even more surprised to learn that one Indian Jew was among the country's greatest military heroes.  Lt. Gen. Jack Jacob served as chief-of-staff of the Indian Army and successfully led its Eastern Army during the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 (he is pictured standing, fourth from left). With courage, strategic thinking, and daring, he enacted a bold plan to negotiate Pakistan's surrender and stopped the bloodshed that had taken thousands of lives. His actions changed the course of Southeast Asian history.  He later served as Governor of Goa and Punjab, battling corruption, fighting for the poor, and helping to forge the diplomatic bond with Israel that has become so crucial to the region today.

Born in Calcutta in 1923, Jacob's Baghdadi-Jewish family adopted a family of Jewish refugees escaping the Nazis. Appalled by their stories of atrocities, he enlisted in the British Indian army in 1942. He continued to serve in the Indian Army after India won its independence in 1947.His books include: Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation, and his autobiography, An Odyssey in War and Peace.

Jacob, who died in Delhi in 2016, will be honored posthumously on April 30, 2019 at Jerusalem's Ammunition Hill, where a special Wall of Honor commemorates Jewish soldiers who served with distinction in foreign armies.

India is home to all sort of "marbleous" art! The families of the artisans who adorned the Taj Mahal with their exquisite work continue to craft marble inlaid with minerals and stones that include malachite, lapis, jasper and carnelian, which is translucent when you shine a light on it. The amazing artistry requires meticulous attention as the stones are often tiny. In addition, the marble is so durable that you can spill anything on it and it will not stain!

Folke and Noomi Flam, both physicians from Stockholm, Sweden, joined us on our February 2019 tour. We asked them for their thoughts about the tour.
 
Q: Why did you choose a tour of India? Why a Jewish tour?
A: For several years we have wanted to go to India. In school we learned about faraway India with all its religions and old culture. Today India is emerging as a powerful democratic nation. Virtually all people who have visited India and have told us about their experiences are enthusiastic. Thus we wanted to see this with our own eyes. We have been on Jewish heritage tours to Ethiopia as well as Peru/Bolivia and we find it interesting to learn about Jewish history in faraway countries. It is amazing how Jews have kept their identity for thousands of years in India.

Q: How did you find out about our tour?
A: A non-Jewish friend who has visited India many times found your tour on the Internet and thought it would be perfect for us. It didn´t take long after reviewing the program for us to sign up!
 
Q: What was surprising or eye-opening about India?
A:  We were astonished by the warm and generous attitude of the Indian people. It was interesting to learn about the coexistence of all religions and that anti-Semitism never existed. We were astonished to see what people could accomplish in building beautiful palaces and worship places many hundreds of years ago.
 
Q: What memories will you cherish?
A: We will always remember the people we met: the lovely family in Mumbai whose daughter wants to become a doctor; Mrs. Silliman and her daughter in Calcutta; the home hospitality in Jaipur. We will remember the marvelous teamwork and knowledge provided by our two guides… not to mention Rahel’s singing.

Sometimes there are objects in our lives that we take for granted. We don’t know much about their history but they seem to have always been part of our customs, rituals or celebrations.
 
In my family we use a large cotton scarf to tie up the afikoman. The light, white cotton is splayed with large pinkish-purple flowers and green leaves, appropriate for Pesah, the festival of spring.  It’s obvious the scarf is old and well-worn, with several spots browned with age. Maybe they are wine spills or remnants of halek, the date syrup we use for haroset. We create a makeshift knapsack by knotting the diagonal corners of the scarf together, two at a time.
 
This scarf has always been in my family.  But I had no idea where it came from or to whom It belonged. When I asked my father I found out that it was probably my great-grandmother's. Her picture is below. Can you imagine her at the age of 12, when she was married to my grandfather (he was 18)?  Obviously, it was an arranged marriage!

The scarf was always used for this purpose. My father remembers from when he was the youngest child, whose job it is to slip it over his or her shoulder. Presto, it’s as if he or she is leaving Egypt with matza in a knapsack. We do this to manifest the words of the Torah and the haggadah that describe how the children of Israel left Egypt: mish’arotam tzerurot b’simlotam al shichmam. Their kneading bowls were wrapped and bundled into their clothes and carried on their shoulders. 
 
Then, the leader of the seder asks the child three questions in Hebrew and the same questions in Judeo-Arabic.
Q: From where have you come?  (A: Mitzrayim.Egypt)
Q: Where are you going? (A: Yerushalayim, Jerusalem)
Q: What are your provisions? What are you carrying with you? (The child points to the sack with the afikoman)
 
The answer to the first question is not Calcutta or Bombay or Brooklyn, but Egypt. We have all emerged from the same narrow place and no matter where we are going in our lives today, hopefully we are all headed to a space of spiritual peace. Our provisions are the heritage we carry with us.

You can still see the special tandoor, the clay oven in the courtyard of the Beth El Synagogue. The tandoor was only used once a year for baking matza on Pesah.

Tizkoo l’shanim rabot!
Happy Pesah!

The Jewish holiday of Purim often coincides with the Hindu festival of Holi, both joyous and colorful celebrations that emphasize the triumph of good over evil. India is always colorful, but on Holi, colors from saffron to vermilion reign supreme.

Enjoy this article about Holi in the Smithsonian magazine.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/holi-festival-colors-meaning-180958119/

Below, a vendor on Jew Street in Cochin sell Holi colors.

Did you know that India is mentioned in the Bible? The Book of Esther tells us that King Ahasuerus ruled Me-Hodu ve-ád Kush...from India to Ethiopia. The Hebrew word for India is Hodu, which also means "praise God." I love that double meaning!

When you think of Purim, you probably think of groggers and hamentaschen. In India, we didn't have either of those. We stamped our feet to drown out the mention of Haman's name, and sent gifts of Middle Eastern and Indian sweets. We did, of course, read the megillah in our special trope. Above, a family heirloom megillah written on deerskin. Each page of the scroll begins with the word hamelech, the king.

We can't all be royalty, but India is always divine! Here I am dressed as an angel for Purim when I was a child in Calcutta!

Happy Purim!

Ever go into Starbucks and order a "chai tea," or "chai tea latte?" Since chai means tea in Hindi, you are actually ordering "tea tea"... a knock-off of India's heavenly, rich, spiced milky tea, or masala chai, which quickly becomes a favorite of many of our travelers. The British popularized chai in colonial times. Now it is almost synonymous with India: Chai truly reflects life in India! Chai wallahs--people who make or sell tea on the streets--are ubiquitous in India, offering tea brewed with jaggery (unrefined sugar), ginger, cardamom and other spices, and mixed with warm milk. Chai wallahs revel in pouring a stream of the tea from high above the pot (called pulling the chai), almost like a pizza maker twirls dough high in the air. Often, chai is served in small biodegradable clay cups and enjoyed with savory snacks like samosas.

Check out stories of chai wallahs in different regions of India on this fascinating blog: http://chaiwallahsofindia.com/about/
Here is a simple recipe for cha you can make on your stovetop: https://foodess.com/authentic-indian-chai-tea-recipe/

Join us on our next tours of India, Nov. 7-20, 2019, and Feb, 13-26, 2020, and taste the magic of chai for yourself!