The Gate of Mercy Synagogue (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: दयेचे द्वार / जुनी मशिद),

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: שער הרחמים) (also known as Shaar Harahamim and Juni Masjid is the oldest synagogue in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, India. The synagogue was built in 1796 by Samaji Hasaji Divekar (also known as Samuel Ezekiel), a

Bene Israel The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the "Shanivar Teli" () or " Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via their ancestors who had settled there ce ...

i, near CSMT in

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

. The synagogue was later rebuilt and moved to the present location at

Mandvi Mandvi is a Beach town with municipality in the Kutch district in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch State. The old city was enc ...

in 1860. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the area was inhabited by a small but thriving

Jewish community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. The local appellation of the synagogue, ''Juni Masjid'', lends itself to the nearby Central railway station,

Masjid Bunder Masjid (station code: MSD) is a railway station in the Masjid Bunder area of South Mumbai on the Central and Harbour lines of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is the penultimate stop for all trains on those lines in the "up" direction. It was o ...

. Despite a fall in numbers, the synagogue still maintains active services such as a 6AM service. It serves a congregation of about a hundred members daily. The synagogue is also featured on heritage and religious tours of the city.

History

According to historical accounts, Samuel Divekar and his brother Issac, served in the

British East India The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

n army as officers. During the

Anglo-Mysore Wars The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of four wars fought during the last three decades of the 18th century between the Kingdom of Mysore#Under Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, Sultanate of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East India Company (r ...

, they were captured by the

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

king

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...

. They were about to be condemned to death, when Tipu Sultan asked what caste they belonged to. The brothers mentioned that they were Bene Israel. Having never heard of the group, Tipu was about to condemn them to death, when his mother intervened, mentioning that she had heard of the name of the 'caste' in the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

. Tipu, a devout Muslim spared the two brothers and later exchanged them for a prisoner swap with the British. The two brothers returned to the British enclave of Bombay (now renamed to Mumbai) and built the synagogue in thanksgiving. On 2 April 1919, the synagogue convened a public meeting of Bene Israeli on the subject of

Zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

. Over 350 community members attended, and many were sympathetic to the cause of setting up of an independent homeland of Palestine though the debate sparked off deep debate on the subject.

Structure

The structure can accommodate 300 members, and on

High Holy Days The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jew ...

it had large congregations attending. However, on ''

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

'', not more than 50 attended services. There is also a

mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...

(bath) present nearby for the religious to purify themselves.

References

{{Authority control 1796 establishments in British India Bene Israel Orthodox Judaism in India Orthodox synagogues Rebuilt buildings and structures in India Religious buildings and structures completed in 1796 Sephardi synagogues Sephardi Jewish culture in India Synagogues completed in the 1790s Synagogues in Mumbai