The Bene Ephraim ( he, בני אפריים) ''Bnei Ephraim'' ("Sons of Ephraim"), also called Telugu Jews because they speak
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
...
, are a small community living primarily in Kotha Reddy Palem, a village outside
Chebrolu,
Guntur District, and in Machilipatnam, Krishna District,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
,
India, near the
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
of the
River Krishna.
[Yacobi, Sadok]
"Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India"
, Kulanu They claim to be descendants of the
Tribe of Ephraim, of the
Ten Lost Tribes, and since the 1980s have learned to practice modern Judaism.
[{{cite journal, title=The Children of Ephraim: being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh, journal=Anthropology Today , volume=26, url=https://www.academia.edu/1849132, access-date=8 February 2015, last1=Egorova , first1=Yulia ]
History
The Bene Ephraim claim descent from the Tribe of Ephraim, and say that they traveled from Israel through western Asia: Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and into China for 1,600 years before arriving in southern India more than 1,000 years ago.
[Shaikh Azizur Rahman, "Another tribe seeks rabbinical recognition"](_blank)
''Washington Times'', 1 May 2006, accessed 16 May 2013 They hold a history which they say is similar to that of the shift of
Afghan Jews
The history of the Jews in Afghanistan goes back at least 2,500 years. Ancient Iranian tradition suggests that Jews settled in Balkh, an erstwhile Zoroastrian and Buddhist stronghold, shortly after the collapse of the Kingdom of Judah in 587 ...
and
Persian Jews,
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 c ...
,
Bnei Menashe in the northeastern Indian states of
Mizoram
Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from " Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "lan ...
and
Manipur, who received recognition in 2005 from the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel ( he, הָרַבָּנוּת הָרָאשִׁית לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate Co ...
. (The latter people must still go through a formal conversion process to become citizens of Israel.)
During the medieval period, they had worked as farm laborers and many adapted regional cultures. Although nominally practicing
Judaism, they adopted some aspects of
Christianity after the arrival of British
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...
missionaries during the early 19th century.
Their leader, Shmuel Yacobi, went to Jerusalem in the 1980s and became convinced they were of Jewish descent.
Because of the long period in which the people were not practicing Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable ''Judæo-Telugu'' language as
other groups did.
Since the 1980s, about fifty families in
Kotha Reddy Palem have studied
Judaism, learned
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 ...
, and built an operating
synagogue. They celebrate all
Jewish holidays and have their own
Torah scroll. In the 1960s, some families migrated to Hyderabad, Telangana for high-paying lucrative jobs and better livelihoods.
Today, Hebrew is used as a
living language rather than limited to the
liturgy. The
community has been visited over the years by
rabbis from the chief rabbinate in Israel to study their Jewish
tradition and
practices. To be recognized as legitimate Jews, the Chief Rabbi has to recognize the community as being of Jewish descent. The rabbis have taught mainstream Judaism and made converts, and some women have
intermarried with Jewish families. They have sought recognition from many rabbis around the world.
They always practiced their own oral traditions and customs (''caviloth''), such as: burying the dead; marrying under a
chuppah
A ''chuppah'' ( he, חוּפָּה, pl. חוּפּוֹת, ''chuppot'', literally, "canopy" or "covering"), also huppah, chipe, chupah, or chuppa, is a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony. It consists of a c ...
; observing
Shabbat and other Jewish festivals, and maintaining a
beit din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
(ie, a Jewish rabbinical court).
According to the ''Washington Times'' in 2006
Many think the Bnei Ephraim Jews are trying to escape poverty and that they want to leave this region of Andhra Pradesh where six successive years of drought and crop failure have driven more than 3,000 peasants into debt and to suicide.
Chandra Sekhar Angadi, a social scientist in neighboring
Karnataka, said of the Telugu Jews:
They are among the poorest of Jews in the world. They are desperate for the recognition by Israel’s chief rabbinate simply to be guaranteed a passport from that country where they can lead a much better life—away from this life of poverty and hunger.
See also
*
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
*
Bnei Menashe
*
*
Shavei Israel
''Shavei Israel'' ( he, שבי ישראל, ''Returners of Israel'') is an Israel-based Jewish organization that encourages people of Jewish descent to strengthen their connection with Israel and the Jewish people. Founded by Michael Freund in 2 ...
References
Further reading
* Tudor Parfitt (2002), "The Lemba: An African Judaising Tribe", in ''Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism,'' edited by Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E., London: Routledge Curzon.
* Shmuel Yacobi, ''THE CULTURAL HERMENEUTICS,'' an introduction to the cultural translation of the Hebrew Bible among the ancient nations of the Thalmulic Telugu Empire of India.
* Shmuel Yacobi, Manamevaru, Ereb Rab Telugu people and their links with Israel.
* Chilaka Abraham, Ten Commandments Constitution - A Sociological study - A.N. University, Guntur.
* Ministry of Interior, Israel, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer U.S - Letters to Shmuel Yacobi, member of Bene Ephraim Community
External links
* Francisco, Jason L.
"Meet the Telugu Jews of India" Kulanu website
* Sussman, Bonita & Gerald.
"India Journal" 2007, Kulanu website
Indian Jews Kulanu Website index.
Groups claiming Israelite descent
Groups who converted to Judaism
Jewish ethnic groups
Jews and Judaism in India
People from Guntur district
Social groups of Andhra Pradesh
South Asian Jews
Telugu society