Hanukkah

The festival of lights celebrated over eight days and nights to commemorate the memory of the re-dedication of the Old second temple at Jerusalem after Maccabees miraculously won the war over a larger army of the Greek-Syrians who were oppressing the lives and beliefs of the community. 

Hanukkah traditionally falls on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Hebrew Calendar which is December 22nd to 30th, this year coinciding with the Christmas. According to the Hebrew Calendar the Hanukkah can fall between any day from the last week of November to December in the Gregorian Calendar. 

A candle is lit each night adding up to eight candle on the final night. In Kerala, our Nehemia Mootha, died on the first candle of the Hannukah and is buried in the Chakka Maadam cemetery of the Kadavumbhagam Synagogue. Interestingly the saint's tomb is the only one that survived the local encroachment after the "Alia". This year, surprisingly after the service at the Synagogue the gathering walked all the way to the saints tomb and the elder made a talk about him. We found it very interesting as there was no such precedence. 

"Happy Hanukkah"

The season is on and the 'Meniyan' was not a problem at the Mattancherry synagogue for the Sabbath.

Season or not there is always a candle burning at Nehemiah Mootah's old tomb. In the December evening sunlight the neighbourhood was looking very charming. On the other side of the street, Ellickal temple was celebrating their festival with caprisoned elephant, which is always a top tourist attraction. But not many were aware of the glorious Kerala spectacle which was happening so close to the tourism circuit.
Pictures from Saturday.

The invitation to guest lecture at the tourism colleges is something KJT enjoys very much and consider it as a duty to share the tourism working experience with the Tourism Students. After the closing of the semester in November in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh,  KJT is now available at Kochi for consultation and tours. All our Jewish Friends and Heritage enthusiasts are welcome.

While KJT is thankful for the enquiries that have come our way in the past few months, we apologize for the inconvenience and not being available. KJT extends a special note of gratitude to Sir Adrian Whittle for taking our freshly designed 'Weaving Trail' (Chennai-Tirupati-Venkatgiri-Srikalahasti-Nellore) which was still in experimental stage in August. Thank you Sir for your patience and unbound cooperation.  

Meydad Eliyahu & Tom Landau, we missed taking you around our Jewish towns while you were here in Kochi. 

Rain, again!

A month since the monsoon had withdrawn since the start of rainy season in Kerala. It started all over again on Thursday, Friday it was raining good. The empty and lonely street of our Jew Town just before the the Sabbath lights were lit on Friday evening.
Sabbath Shalom

As another Sabbath Day in the off season of July rolls on, our tourist Destinations of Mattancherry and Fort Kochi lay bare . Except for the International Volunteers who come to Kerala every year during these monsoon months there were hardly any tourist on the streets. Looking over the week that went by we were happy to have met Daniella and her family from Israel at the Ernakulam Synagogue who was on visit to her grandparents neighbourhood. Such visits are always high on emotion as they are very about very personal and intimate memories about a generation that went by. Even the new generation inspite of the modern day facilities are not sure whether they could visit again. Its up to us who are here to make their visits more endearing and pleasingly memorable.

We were also overwhelmed by two Jewish Scholars who with their humility and scholarship left us speechless in awe. The day we spent with them was indeed a blessing.

Another high light of the week was the wonderful attitude of an Young Concierge Manager of a very big hotel in Kochi. Such minds truly add to the esteem of the organization they work for. So on this Sabbath day that is our wish and prayer too, "May we all have the grace to be the best in what we do .."

Ever since, Yael and her mother left for Israel, couple of months ago, going to the Synagogue is not so easy emotionally. She has been so much a part of the synagogue its nearly impossible for us to imagine she is not there at all and worse we may never see her again. 

Shamash lighting the Sabbath lamps..

Monsoon has withdrawn for a while and the last two Fridays have been free from rain. Just like any other off season, Mattancherry is very empty, so unlike our always busy Jew town on a sunny day. 

Few tourists walking around the street after the synagogue closed for the Sabbath. 

Away, at Chakkamadam, Nehemia Mootha's tomb continue to be the spiritual resort for the neighbours.

The candle stand from Israel has withstood few weeks of rain, a fond memory of a faithful's visit. 

Sabbath lamps glowing at the Synagogue door

God bless the memories, we pray the tradition and the practice will continue long after the few community members are gone.

Shavout

The synagogue was closed to tourists on Saturday as always but the tourists kept coming to the town. Yes the off season and the eminent arrival of the monsoon have slowed the coming of tourists but still folks were coming, mostly local and domestic tourists.
The two days following Sabbath was holidays and was notified outside the synagogue. Though there was no mention of the reason, the two days are the Shavout holidays, they day, the ten commandments were given to Moses and to the children of Abraham.

Sea was rough and the monsoon was expected to arrive any moment. At the Fort the changing winds displayed splendid last light of the summer.

On first day of the Savout traditionally all the families bring their children including infants to hear the ten commandments being read out at the synagogue, with almost every one gone from the town the celebration and the rituals has become a memory
celebrated by the heritage business ventures that has moved into the old Jewish homes of our old town.