Scenes of Jewish Life in Kerala, India (1937)

Documentary footage made by anthropologist David Mandelbaum in September, 1937.
David Goodman Mandelbaum (1911-1987), who taught at the University of California, Berkeley from 1946 until his retirement in 1978, was one of the first cultural anthropologists to undertake ethnographic research in India. In 1937, he visited Kerala during the High Holy Days, and spent two weeks with the Jewish community there, documenting many of their customs, taking photographs and a short film, and collecting materials he published in "The Jewish Way of Life in Cochin" (Jewish Social Studies 1/1939) and in several later articles. Mandelbaum served in the U.S. Army in India and Burma during the Second World War, and taught at the University of Minnesota before coming to U.C. Berkeley. His many publications included the authoritative two-volume "Society in India" (1970). His analysis of the social structure of the Kerala Jews had a significant influence on subsequent scholarship about them.
---
David G. Mandelbaum collection, 1976.311.3
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
University of California, Berkeley
magnes.berkeley.edu

[@semsemeini7905]

Fantastic. Most went to Israel after 1948. However India never persecuted their Jews. Impressive country.

[@vineedkumar5170]

We Hindus Accepts Every Religion.

[@alangervasis]

@@vineedkumar5170 Gujarat riots, babri masjid demolition, kandhmal massacre..

[@vineedkumar5170]

@@alangervasis You just has an Episode. I have an chronicle about what Islam did to Hinduism.

[@alangervasis]

@@vineedkumar5170 I have a even bigger chronicle of what hinduism did to buddhism, jainism and native tribal religions.

[@vineedkumar5170]

@@alangervasis yeah and all are good things unlike yours religion of peace that tormented every other religion

[@laique8797]

💚 കേരളം Kerala ❤ The Malabar coast was and still a melting pot of diversity. We have 2000 years old Aramaic Christian community(Aramaic is the liturgical language) called MarThoma Nasranis(Saint Thomas Christians) in Kerala, we have the Muhamedians short after his advent in Arabian Peninsula, we have Jewish settlement from 72AD to till the creation of Israel, and we have great hindu monk Shankaracharya who have set foot from here 8th century AD, we have the world's first democratically elected Communist government in 1956. And thus, today Kerala is the best place to live in India. We embrace the differences… 💚 കേരളം Kerala ❤

[@jayeshmonlbs]

It's like jerusalem

[@AjinJose137]

No.. Kerala is not the best place to live in because of comunism, islam and very bad climate. Humidity at it's peak😬

[@laique8797]

@@AjinJose137 😂😂😂 Better than the Left of the Western Democracies, and tropical climate is the best of the climates and Kerala has the best of it sans Earthquakes....

[@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781]

​@@AjinJose137nice joke

[@RTAV108]

You are proid of 'democratically elected' communist govt 😂😂😂 so how many of you have converted coerced and massacred the hindus of the land while bragging about multicultural richness of the same land? Hypocrites of the lowest and highest order at the same time..

[@drsatheesh]

Thank you for the unknown guy form another part of the world videotaping our ancestors and making it a part of our history.

[@PatricioCaballo]

I guess his name is David Mandelbaum. He shot the scenes in 1937.

[@user-cr7yf3uk6z]

And not video taping. It was filmed 😊

[@user-cr7yf3uk6z]

And not video taping. It was filmed 😊

[@Anonymous-yz9ie]

This is SO amazing!

[@jobinsavier7441]

wow its the ancient jews of kerala really informative

[@ajithaunnipg7391]

Great &fantastic vidieo -Shaloom 🙏

[@Jess-mw7ez]

very nice work

[@JojoBoy-gh4gb]

The Cochin Jews are dressed just like the local Malabaris , wow, indistinguishable except for Jewish caps ! …Jewish children are playing with French Gallic roosters gifted by the French( Basel mission catholics?) 😊😊…beautiful innocent times !

[@Ignoto1392]

Great photography, 😉

[@petepaul8295]

Jews in India were the luckiest

[@Stevie-J]

Yes they weren't terrorized by mossad and forced to move to Israel, like many of the Jewish enclaves in the middle east

[@darsanatvla]

thank you ...

[@georgeabraham215]

What an exquisite footage of 1937.How come this showed IP only now. If there are more please post.Viewed it 5 times.it would have been good with sound.

[@aiisaac9417]

thank you for putting up

[@jeenajohn2030]

This is wonderful ❤️

[@seanwingfield977]

India is a great country because of its religious freedom and tolerance for others. We never were persecuted there. The synagogue is still standing and still used in Cochin.

[@shajijoseph98]

Great work!

[@ayyarilabdulla9729]

Great work.

[@sanwarali6262]

Really nice vedio shalom😊😊

[@reazuddinahmed2580]

india is great

[@kevin88fern]

Very clear and crisp for a 1937 circa video...with sound it would been even more gr8

[@BEN-mm9ki]

THANK U

[@ajok9418]

Is it ernakulam Broadway?

[@Justin-nm4sg]

Feeling proud when remembering that people of God were in our state... Waiting for the Messianic restoration of ur beautiful kingdom.... *Shalom*

[@spiritualtruth1354]

U sure about that because the ppl in Israel right now are definitely not biblical Jews Europeans are not biblical jews🤔

[@Justin-nm4sg]

@@spiritualtruth1354 There is a remnant that God seperated in every genaration in different era

[@spiritualtruth1354]

@@Justin-nm4sg your assuming? There is a remnant that will be saved in Revalations as far as another remnant dont think so and as I said those ppl in Israel and not biblical Jews they are converts..

[@Justin-nm4sg]

@@spiritualtruth1354 *Our understanding of Revelation is incomplete if we don’t understand how Israel is involved.* God chose Israel to be His representatives on earth. They are the people through which the oracles of God would be made known to the world, and it is through Israel that God’s plan of redemption would be executed. God made several eternal promises to Israel, which makes it only natural to expect that Israel would play a key role in the end times, and scripture reveals that they will. In Revelation, we observe the following things about Israel in the end times (see Revelation Overview for explanations of timing): .God will call 144,000 Jews to be sealed as His servants upon the earth (Rev 7:1-8, Rev 14:1-5). .Israel will come under severe attack by the nations for 42 months (Rev 11:2, Rev 12:13). .This attack begins with the abomination of desolation event at the midpoint (Matt 24:15). However, a remnant of Israel will be protected by God during those 42 months of great tribulation (Israel is symbolized by the “woman” in Rev 12:6,13-17). There will be two Jewish witnesses speaking mightily in Jerusalem (Rev 11:3) during those 42 months (or 1,260 days). .They will pronounce plagues upon the earth (Rev 11:6). .The 42 months conclude with the two witnesses being killed by Antichrist (Rev 11:7), but they will be resurrected after 3 1/2 days (Rev 11:11, 12). .God’s wrath upon the earth begins with the bowl events (Rev 16:1), and it concludes with all nations amassing at Armageddon with intent to attack and destroy the remnant of Israel (Rev 16:13-16). Christ, as Israel’s king, will visibly return to defend His people and destroy the nations (Rev 19:11-16). Christ will reign as Israel’s king in Zion during the millennial kingdom (Rev 20:6), and finally there will be a new Jerusalem (Rev 21:10). However, there are many Christians who believe that the nation Israel no longer has any special relevance to God. In their minds, Israel rejected their Messiah, and so God terminated His relationship with them, effectively replacing them with a new group called the “church“. People who hold this view feel compelled to interpret Revelation’s references to Israel in allegorical ways, usually arguing that the references to Israel are really mystical references to the church, which they refer to as “spiritual Israel“. However, the view that the nation Israel is irrelevant cannot be right, and neither are the consequent allegorical interpretations of Revelation. The eternal promises that God made to the nation Israel include prophecies that in the end times, Israel will repent and acknowledge Christ as their Savior, that they will serve God, and they will be protected by God - exactly as Revelation says they will.

[@Justin-nm4sg]

@@spiritualtruth1354 How do you proving that they are not Jews but Europeans.. Even if there is any converts in Judaism (Proselytes) the Abrhamic Jewish Community will receive them.. That there in there law...

[@marko9131]

This is golden

[@stanleymoskowitz5841]

BEAUTIFUL INDIA .

[@Gyantech880]

this is the greatness of india..

[@TheRishijoesanu]

Greatness of Kerala. Kerala was very different from rest of India back then. The state had nearly 50% literacy rate in 1947.

[@advaidsivadas7945]

@@TheRishijoesanu wtf is kerala is situated in india... Or kerala is any other country...??

[@JoshJ12]

@@advaidsivadas7945 Kerala became part of India much later in history heck my grandparents were born in Travancore not India. Stop trying to push Indian agenda when each state or ethnic group has uniques stories that predate the concept of India.

[@gouthamkrishnan6718]

@@JoshJ12 Then we can cut India into pieces,Are you happy with that?Kerala culture comes under greater Indic culture or Indo sphere.

[@JoshJ12]

@@gouthamkrishnan6718 Same with Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan heck even Korea and Japan. Where would you stop? It doesn't make sense at all.

[@jibinmathews5936]

amazing to see faces and expressions from 80 yrs ago

[@sebastiankt2421]

എവിടെയാണീസ്ഥലം? പറവൂർ?മാള?

[@anonymous-ds4ix]

They are our people...

[@jaichavi]

Pl show sm also abt Bene Izraeli jews from Mumbai ❤

[@galvaconsultant]

I love Jew and Israel.

[@justincaseiamhere]

Shalom

[@Games-ev8yt]

Justin Mac Salam

[@sanwarali6262]

Shalom😊😊

[@emil8239]

Syrian christians have jewish ethnicity

[@nadeemyounis3001]

Thats not true they are indians

[@emil8239]

@@nadeemyounis3001 But some of the christians have jewish background in India

[@thendino1]

@@nadeemyounis3001 It is true regarding a certain community called Knanaya Catholics/jacobites

[@JoshJ12]

@@thendino1 Even Kollam Nasranis have some Persian or other Western Asian ancestry due to settlement of Persian Christians.

[@JoshJ12]

@Rau Dayu My family is from Kollam, but tbh we are form Thirssur originally. I have approximately 10% Iraqi Jewish DNA and 3% North East Asian.

[@asifmahmood3634]

Very large number of Jews are living in Central Asian Muslim countries including in Turkey and Iran. They are well protected from last 1400 years.

[@sarahshilansky5093]

Anyone who was classified as a Dhimmi was not in an ideal situation. An individual from a minority group would have credibility to validate that.

[@petepaul8295]

This is when the world War 2 was going on

[@seanwingfield977]

@@petepaul8295 WW2 started in 1939.

[@Hyejin.park23]

So can people coming from India claimed that they belong to the Middle East?

[@hellokitty524]

Apparently, people have been flowing from the Indus Valley throughout the millennia. The gypsies, Romani, and many others as we see here glowed from India into other regions.

[@rajarshidutta9266]

Are they Jewish or Muslim?

[@ai-fg3kw]

Jews are very similar to muslims in many aspects

[@shashankshukla8811]

Uh could see they wore white clothes made from Gandhi’so charkha homemade They were following Gandhi and fighting for Indian independence British persecuted Jews too. They were fighting for the injustice salute 🫡🫡

[@shibinps]

People shown at the starting point of this video seems more to be indian Christians or Muslims, and one in the religious procession are jews.

[@abeenaiype5866]

No.They are black Jews. There are black jews(cochin Jews) who are here from 500 bc and Pardesi jews who came from spain around 1500AD. The modern looking people are Pardeshi Jews

[@sanwarali6262]

😊😊shalom

[@41parasu]

They are very similar to christians and muslims

[@stebinsaju5780]

Shema yisreal

[@su-cy9tn]

Jewish 🇮🇱❤️

[@JPRN57]

Keralam is the best place in India 🎉😂

[@tonyscott2164]

Lets be honest they could be any Indians living at that time in India, at the start of the video.

[@semsemeini7905]

A shame the Jews of Europe did not flee to Kerala where it was safe. However it was under British rule then.

[@sumitrau7021]

because majority people is hindu ..not radical islamit or cristian

[@Manu-tf9cu]

Semsem Eini they did. Spanish and Portuguese Jews did come to India in the 16th century.

[@shibinps]

Histlorically kerala had been peaceful and radical Islam is not so prevailing in there, but there has been a rise in religious fundamentalism . From my point Me myself born into a muslim family feels more jews should try coming back to kerala where they are dwindling in number due to migration to Israel.

[@allenbency6603]

@@sumitrau7021 there is no radicalism in christinity

[@nadeemyounis3001]

@@sumitrau7021 mattachery is a christian area

[@TheJewishtraveler]

I was in Jew town today. Wow!!

[@indianisraliteskumar7017]

This video shows kerala had all black Jews....diaspora khonkani and latestly pardesi jews

[@user-yb1ed8rp7k]

Not only black

[@ujjwalsharma8295]

Beautiful Britishers n there peaceful Christian faith 😘🙏

[@Maria-ec9sb]

They are Jewish not Christians but Jesus Christ is a jew .😊

[@laique8797]

💚 കേരളം Kerala ❤ The Malabar coast was and still a melting pot of diversity. We have 2000 years old Aramaic Christian community(Aramaic is the liturgical language) called MarThoma Nasranis(Saint Thomas Christians) in Kerala, we have the Muhamedians short after his advent in Arabian Peninsula, we have Jewish settlement from 72AD to till the creation of Israel, and we have great hindu monk Shankaracharya who have set foot from here 8th century AD, we have the world's first democratically elected Communist government. And thus, today Kerala is the best place to live in India. We embrace the differences…

[@JoshJ12]

@@joel12388 Kerala or Cheranadu never was part of India toll the 1950s. The cultures of Kerala are unique and diverse. It's a melting pot of many Middle Eastern, West Asian, Tamizh, North Indian, Yemeni, Chinese, Burmese cultures. That's why Kerala became diverse with religions, cultures and languages till Malayalam was officially formed and dominated.

[@sankarie3687]

@@joel12388 please stop spreading fake news and stop degrading malayalam 🙏 they itself said that they r Malayalees migrated to Israel.

[@TheAbinn]

@@joel12388 hey tamil...... Go away...... Your tamil nadu is ruled by British so tamil nadu is British you guys treat as slave.... Now shut off..... We malayali culture is different...... You black nigaa

[@jenkar5716]

They are called Paradesis.

[@twinheart7664]

Malayali puli ada

[@sajithkumar2923]

I love Israel

[@kajahussain.s4011]

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