City loses the Jewish touch

kolkata: from suffering to extinction, the jews seem to have borne it all. it is the strong mental spirit and ability to cope with adversities that prompted author dalia ray to immortalise their story into ray's well-researched book the jewish heritage of calcutta. seven years of painstaking research, interviews with members and observation of their customs and traditions have finally been documented into 300 pages.a practicing lawyer at the calcutta high court, it was dalia's passion for history since her college days that coaxed her to embark on a project. with help from historian p t nair and david nahoum, registrar of the jewish community, she has viewed the community from close quarters. dalia ray speaks about the jews in kolkata: on jewish settlers in kolkata: shalom ben aharon bin ovadya ha cohen was the first jew to come to the city in 1798. originally from syria, the potential trade and commerce opportunities made him shift base from surat to the british capital - calcutta. by the end of the 18th century, the city became home to jews from west asia. while several jews settled in mumbai, surat and cochin, a bulk of the baghdadi jews came to kolkata. before 1950, there were nearly 500 jew families settled in kolkata. now there are only 55 elderly members of the jewish community who have stayed back due to old age, infirmity and ties with the city. on exodus to israel: the birth of israel led to a huge exodus from kolkata. the need to find suitable brides and grooms also hastened the process. the city has not seen a baby being born to a jew couple for a long time. on contribution of jews: the first jew inhabitant, shalom ben cohen built the neveh shalom synagogue at murgihata in central kolkata on land donated by lord bentinck. he also built the jewish cemetery narkeldanga main road. being keen businessmen, the jews established some commercial establishments. sir david ezra, a businessman, owned the chowringhee mansions and the ezra terrace, b.n. elias owned the national tobacco co, the agarpara jute mills ltd., texmaco and the alpine dairy and david nahoum, owner of nahoum and sons, the confectionery shop in new market. trincas, the popular bar on park street is co-owned by ellis joshua, also a jew. on jewish heritage of kolkata: over the years, they have made immense contributions to the city heritage. the beth el synagogue or house of god, maghen david or shield of david and the neveh shalom or abode of peace are beautiful architectural landmarks. other contributions include the jewish girls' school, the elias meyer free school, talmud torah for boys and the ezra hospital at calcutta medical college.