Bene Ephraim: Difference between revisions
Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers 207,586 edits Cleaned up layout and other matters. |
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v1.6.1) (Balon Greyjoy) |
||
Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}} |
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar}} |
||
The '''Bene Ephraim''' ({{lang-he|בני אפריים}}) ''Bnei Ephraim'' ("Sons of Ephraim"), also called '''Telugu Jews''' because they speak [[Telugu language|Telugu]], are a small community living primarily in Kotha Reddy palem, a village outside [[Chebrolu, Guntur district|Chebrolu]], [[Guntur District]], and in Machilipatnam, Krishna District, [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]], near the [[river delta|delta]] of the [[River Krishna]].<ref name=Yacobi>Yacobi, Sadok. [http://www.kulanu.org/india/bneiephraim.php "Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India"], Kulanu</ref> 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.<ref name="https://www.academia.edu/1849132/The_Children_of_Ephraim_being_Jewish_in_Andhra_Pradesh">{{cite journal|title=The Children of Ephraim: being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh|journal=Anthropology Today |volume=26|url=https://www.academia.edu/1849132/The_Children_of_Ephraim_being_Jewish_in_Andhra_Pradesh|accessdate=8 February 2015}}</ref> |
The '''Bene Ephraim''' ({{lang-he|בני אפריים}}) ''Bnei Ephraim'' ("Sons of Ephraim"), also called '''Telugu Jews''' because they speak [[Telugu language|Telugu]], are a small community living primarily in Kotha Reddy palem, a village outside [[Chebrolu, Guntur district|Chebrolu]], [[Guntur District]], and in Machilipatnam, Krishna District, [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]], near the [[river delta|delta]] of the [[River Krishna]].<ref name=Yacobi>Yacobi, Sadok. [http://www.kulanu.org/india/bneiephraim.php "Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910083251/http://www.kulanu.org/india/bneiephraim.php |date=2015-09-10 }}, Kulanu</ref> 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.<ref name="https://www.academia.edu/1849132/The_Children_of_Ephraim_being_Jewish_in_Andhra_Pradesh">{{cite journal|title=The Children of Ephraim: being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh|journal=Anthropology Today |volume=26|url=https://www.academia.edu/1849132/The_Children_of_Ephraim_being_Jewish_in_Andhra_Pradesh|accessdate=8 February 2015}}</ref> |
||
==History== |
==History== |
Revision as of 18:49, 30 December 2017
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2013) |
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
---|
The Bene Ephraim (
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.
During the medieval period they have worked as farm laborers. While practising
Their leader, Shmuel Yacobi, went to Jerusalem in the 1980s and became convinced they were of Jewish descent.[3] Because of the long period in which the people were not practising Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable Judæo-Telugu language or dialect. (See Jewish languages.)
Since the 1980s, about fifty families in Kotha Reddy Palem have studied
Today
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.[3]
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[3]
There are certain Oral Traditions among Bene Ephraim: traditions known as Cavilah Traditions. There are about 450 ancient halakhic customs, habits and Hebrew Cultural Elements among them that continued since prehistoric times and Exodus. They shared some of those elements with the Ereb Rab Telugu people. Burying the dead, eating kosher animal meat, marriage under chuppah, burial customs, 7 day purification, bar/bath mitzvah, Hebrew words, sayings and many other usages. The Ereb Rab Telugu people re-made Amaravati as their capital today and the Bene Ephraim are hopeful to find their hidden Torah Scrolls, Hebrew literature and ancient valuables when the Government digs out during constructing the new capital for Andhra Pradesh State[10].
See also
- Andhra Pradesh
- Bnei Menashe
- History of the Jews in India
- Shavei Israel
- Amaravati Museum
- Buddhist Museum, Guntur
- [Ministry of Communications, Government of India about Cretan origins of Telugu people]
- [History of Andhra Pradesh, Semitic links - Thesis by Dr. T. Bhaskar Rao, A.C. College, Guntur]
- [Telugu Historian Dr. B.S.N. Hanumantha Rao]
- [Manamevaru - History of Telugu People - published by Hebrew Open University Study Center - By Shmuel Yacobi]
- [The Ten Commandments Constitution - Thesis by Dr. Chilaka Abraham submitted to A.N. University, Guntur]
References
- ^ a b Yacobi, Sadok. "Bene Ephraim of Andhra Pradesh, South India" Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine, Kulanu
- ^ "The Children of Ephraim: being Jewish in Andhra Pradesh". Anthropology Today. 26. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Shaikh Azizur Rahman, "Another tribe seeks rabbinical recognition", Washington Times, 1 May 2006, accessed 16 May 2013
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.