Ezekiel Isaac Malekar

Last updated

Rabbi [1] Ezekiel Isaac Malekar is the head of the Jewish community in New Delhi, India. He is the Honorary Secretary of the Judah Hyam Synagogue at the corner of Humayun road, where he works as an unpaid volunteer. [2] The synagogue, in addition to serving the Jewish community of New Delhi, caters to the Jewish diplomats from foreign missions. It has hosted former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and David Danieli, the Israeli Ambassador to India. Indian Jews also go there for rites such as Brit milah (circumcision) and B'nai Mitzvah (coming of age). He is from the Bene Israel Jewish community. [3]

Malekar, in addition to being a scholar of Judaism, is a human rights activist and a Deputy Registrar (Law) with the National Human Rights Commission in India. [4] He was a key participant in the 15th International Conference on Human Integration (inaugurated by Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, a Sikh religious cleric and President of the World Council of Religions), at Kirpal Bagh, New Delhi on February 6, 2006. [5]

He said:

“According to Rabbi [sic] Hillel, the Torah can be capsulated into only one commandment: ‘What is hurtful and hateful to you, do not do to another.’ Everything else is footnote.”

He is a recipient of the Mahavir mahatma Award for preserving Jewish heritage and culture in India, and the Ambassador of Peace Award instituted by the Federation for Religious harmony and Brotherhood.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bene Israel</span> Jewish community in the Indian subcontinent

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 centuries ago. In the 19th century, after they were taught about normative Sephardi Judaism, they migrated from villages in the Konkan region to nearby cities throughout British India—primarily to Mumbai, but also to Pune, Ahmedabad, and Karachi, where they gained prominent positions within the British colonial government and the Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochin Jews</span> Jewish community that settled in the Kingdom of Cochin in modern-day Kerala, India

Cochin Jews are the oldest group of Jews in India, with roots that are claimed to date back to the time of King Solomon. The Cochin Jews settled in the Kingdom of Cochin in South India, now part of the state of Kerala. As early as the 12th century, mention is made of the Jews in southern India by Benjamin of Tudela. They are known to have developed Judeo-Malayalam, a dialect of Malayalam language.

Moshe Greenberg was an American rabbi, Bible scholar, and professor emeritus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shlomo Riskin</span> American-Israeli Orthodox Jewish rabbi

Shlomo Riskin is an Orthodox rabbi, and the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; former dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and Chancellor of the Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, a network of high schools, colleges, and graduate Programs in the United States and Israel.

The history of the Jews in India dates back to antiquity. Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in the Indian subcontinent in recorded history. Desi Jews are a small religious minority who have lived in the region since ancient times. The 2,000-year history of Indian Jews was marked by a total absence of antisemitism from the Hindu majority and a visible assimilation in the local languages and cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog</span> First Chief Rabbi of Ireland and Israel (1888–1959)

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, also known as Isaac Herzog or Hertzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936. From 1936 until his death in 1959, he was Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and of Israel after its independence in 1948. He was the father of Chaim Herzog and grandfather of Isaac Herzog, both presidents of Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paradesi Jews</span> Ethnic group

Paradesi Jews immigrated to the Indian subcontinent during the 15th and 16th centuries following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Paradesi refers to the Malayalam word that means foreign as they were newcomers. These Sephardic immigrants fled persecution and death by burning in the wake of the 1492 Alhambra decree expelling all Jews who did not convert to Christianity from Spain and King Manuel's 1496 decree expelling Jews from Portugal. They are sometimes referred to as "White Jews", although that usage is generally considered pejorative or discriminatory and refers to relatively recent Jewish immigrants, predominantly Sephardim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baghdadi Jews</span> Jewish ethnic group from the Middle East

The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Lebanon</span> Aspect of history

The history of the Jews in Lebanon encompasses the presence of Jews in present-day Lebanon stretching back to biblical times. Following large-scale emigration following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and much more importantly the Lebanese Civil War, the vast majority of Lebanese Jews now live in Western countries and many live in Israel. As the latest census in Lebanon was conducted in 1932, there are virtually no statistics available. In 2006, there were about 40 Jews in Lebanon, whereas in 2020 there were only about 29 Jews in Lebanon. Reports indicate that in 2022 the number of Jews in Lebanon was 27 to 20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue</span> Antique synagogue

Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue is the last remaining Jewish house of worship in Downtown Yangon and Burma's only synagogue. The synagogue stands between Indian paint shops and Muslim traders on a small street near the city centre. A plaque at the entrance of the building states that the present stone building, which was built between 1893 – 1896, replaced an earlier, smaller wooden structure that was erected in 1854. It is one of 188 sites on the Yangon City Development Council’s list of Heritage Buildings. It serves the few remaining Jews of the country, mostly descendants of Baghdadi Jews from Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Myanmar</span> Historical Jewish community in Myanmar

The history of Jews in Myanmar,, begins primarily in the mid-19th century, when hundreds of Jews immigrated from Iraq during the British colonial period. Cochin Jews came from India and both groups were part of the development of the British Empire, becoming allied with the British in Burma. At its height in 1940 the community of Jews in the country stood at 2,500 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavriel Holtzberg</span> American-Israeli rabbi.

Gavriel Noach Holtzberg (Hebrew: גבריאל נח הולצברג; June 9, 1979 – November 26, 2008 was an Israeli American Orthodox rabbi and the Chabad emissary to Mumbai, India, where he and his wife Rivka ran the Mumbai Chabad House. He was also a religious leader and community builder for the local Jewish Indian community, and led the Friday-night Shabbat services at the Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue. Holtzberg and his wife were murdered during the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrated by the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Mumbai</span>

The history of the Jews in Mumbai, India, began when Jews started settling in Bombay during the first century, due to its economic opportunities. The Jewish community of Bombay consisted of the remnants of three distinct communities: the Bene Israeli Jews of Konkan, the Baghdadi Jews of Iraq, and the Cochin Jews of Malabar.

Makom Solel Lakeside of Highland Park, Illinois, United States, traces its roots through two Reform Jewish Congregations, Congregation Solel and Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism that were founded in 1957 and 1955 respectively. The two came together in 2019 and currently serve more than 500 households. Each legacy congregation was one of the first Reform synagogues in the North Shore of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Kolkata</span>

The history of the Jews in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in India, began in the late eighteenth century when adventurous Baghdadi Jewish merchants originally from Aleppo and Baghdad chose to establish themselves permanently in the emerging capital of the British Raj. The community they founded became the hub of the Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jewish trading diaspora in Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel Isaac Kahanovitch</span>

Israel Isaac Kahanovitch was a Polish Canadian Orthodox Jewish rabbi who served as Chief Rabbi of Winnipeg and Western Canada for nearly 40 years. Widely respected for his Talmudic erudition and oratory skills, he strengthened Jewish educational, religious, and social institutions and worked to bridge the divide between religious and secular Jews in Canada. He was a founding member of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 2010, he was named a Person of National Historic Significance by the Government of Canada.

Human Rights Protection Group & MFP Federation, formerly known as Middle Finger Protests, is a Chandigarh-based human rights organization and protest group led by Prabhloch Singh. The organization is in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations since 2023. The organization received its name from the protests during the Jessica Lal murder trial. It is also the organization behind the protests in the Sippy Sidhu murder case and has been active in various protests, including the Jyoti murder case, Aarushi murder case and Nirbhaya case.

Jacob Ezekiel was an American merchant and leader of the Jewish community in antebellum Richmond, Virginia. In Cincinnati after the Civil War, he was for many years Secretary of the Board of Hebrew Union College. He was a charter member of B'nai B'rith, the first national Jewish organization in the United States. According to his son Moses, he was a good writer and a well-read man, "a man of cultivation", who possessed the complete works of Maimonides. He was the father of Moses Jacob Ezekiel (1844–1917), who became America's most famous sculptor.

Ezekiel Judah, or Yehezkel Yehuda or Yahuda or Ezekiel Judah Jacob Sliman was a Jewish communal leader, indigo, muslin and silk trader, philanthropist and talmudist of Baghdad, who migrated to India, leading the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata in his lifetime and establishing the city's first synagogues.

References

  1. "Ezekiel Isaac Malekar Master".
  2. [Usurped!]
  3. Mandavia, Megha. "How a tiny Jewish Israeli community is trying to revive its fast fading distinct identity". The Economic Times.
  4. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Opinions". Tribuneindia.com. 2004-01-28. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  5. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood". Tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18.