It would be nice to have more articles like this on your site, I found it very interesting! Well done.

This was an interesting article. It definitely enhances the site.

We should all learn from this peice. To live in harmony is not impossilble Great article

Great article and very informative

I have traveled 10 times to India and visited almost every Jewish group there. Please visit www.equalitybasedonthesoul.com

Historically Christian and Muslim faiths have their roots in Judaism, so at their core concepts about the soul, creation and God are all the same. I would like to address certain linguistic and philosophical similarities common to both Jews and Hindus, which may open up a broader discussion. 1. Names of God, a. The most holy of all names of God for a Jew is KNA or KANA, Rabbi's have slapped my face when I have said this name out loud. This is considered to be the most intimate name for God in the Old Testament. Where it is translated, "I am a jealous God, have no other gods before you", the literal Hebrew translation is, "My name is EL KNA, have no other gods before you." This name expands to KRE ShTN as Rabbi Aryeh Kapln,in Meditation and the Kabbalah explains "On Monday, you must intertwine the associated name "KRE ShTN"" b, From a Vedic (Hindu) view point, Kana is also an affectionate name of Krishna, The pronunciation used above "KRE ShTN" is very similar to the way south Indians pronounce Krishna. 2. Abraham and Brahma: Very few know that there are two Abrahams in Jewish philosophy a. There is a description of how the universe was in chaos until Abraham appeared. It is said, "Over the whole, there hovered Tohu (chaos) and as long as Tohu dominated,the whole world was not in being or existence. When did that key open the gates and make the world fruitful? It was when Abraham appeared." [Genesis II 4] As explained in the introduction to the Zohar The Soncino Press LTD--London New York There is also this reference one needs to ponder It is said, "Angels are supposed to have no back and four faces, so always to be able to behold God." [Talmud, cf. Ezek i. 6] b. In the First Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, there is a long description of how Brahma created the planets, stars etc. It is well know that the Brahma of this universe has 4 heads. 3. DEMIGODS AND ANGELS have the same function in both trations. a. The Midrash teaches, "There is no blade of grass that does not have a constellation (Mazal) over it, telling it to grow." [Sefer Yetzirah 4.6] "As commentaries explain, 'God's providence works through the angels, but the angels, in turn, work through the stars and planets. As some authorities put it, the angels are, in a sense, like souls to the stars. Thus, for example, some sources speak of the stars as having intelligence, but the commentaries note that this is actually speaking of the angels that are associated with them.'" [Sefer Yetrzirah 4.6] b. The Vedic conception is that there are many specially empowered demigods who help manage the affairs of the universe including the planets of our solar system. The controlling demigods, although not eternal them selves, function within various posts that exist as long as the universe exists. For example, one of the principle demigods is Lord Indra. Indra is the name of the post, but the particular demigod who occupies that post during a given period has his own personal name. Just like President of the United States is a post, but there have been many presidents throughout history

Polytheists have room for people who worship one god but monotheists cannot tolerate the idea of a multi-god cosmology. Jews, Christians, and Muslims can only claim to be tolerant. Hindus can prove it.

Jews are disappearing all over the world : only from assimilation, intermarriage, low birthrates, dying from old age, etc and not from making aliyah.

Benjamin of Tudela mentions Cochin in his 12th century book of travels. He claims [he did not visit personally] that at that time the Jews were mostly black, descended from Kush, the Hebrew name for Ethiopia. He claims at that time the Jews lived in harmony with their Indian neighbors. There are other tales from other sources which claim there was a Jewish empire with a Jewish person who claimed to be royalty established in the general area of Cochin.

With all due respect for Hindu tolerance, which Thomas claims is provable, there are occasions when Hindus have been quite intolerant. There was an incident a few months ago in Orissa in which Christians institutions and homes were destroyed by rampaging Hindu fundamentaslists. The tolerance of Muslims by Hindus waxes and wanes, occasionally being quite brutal. For the most part Jews have lived in peace with their Hindu neighbors in India, but the same cannot be said for all Christians and Muslims.

As far as I know, Hindu intolerance is not w.r.t Muslim or Christian people, rather it is for missionary types who convert poor Hindus by giving /showing them money. Hindus do not believe in conversion (there is no missionary Hindu groups) , so they don't like others converting poor Hindus. It seems natural as well, because if they become minority in their own land (after years of planned conversion), who is going to help them. and ultimately they will be go down the path of extinction.

Jews were welcome in kerala . That is why some stay even now , this is a witness to the friendly nature of the people.

I am an India Citizen and am a Nasrani, ie. our heritage is 'Jewish followers of Yeshua (Jesus) since 52AD. There is often talk from reliable sources (Prof. Nathan Katz etc.) who claim that we are the cousins of the Black Malabari Jews of Cochin. Please would you advise of DNA and other related matters about the above. Thanks!

Dear Naomi, I am Nasrani, ie. my Jewish forefathers were followers of Yeshua since 52AD and I belong to the state of Kerala in India from where the Black Malabari Jews migrated to Israel (Aliyah). There is talk from reliable sources (Prof. Nathan Katz etc.) that we Nasranis are cousins to the Black Malabari Jews. Do you know anything about them? Will you please please put me in touch with them?

I had the opportunity to meet Ms.Sarah Cohen two days ago, i.e on the 8th of July 2010,happened to be my birthday as well. She was very pleasant and chat with me. Apparently she was the only Jew I met in Cochin during my trip over there.

shalom,India

There is an interesting book on ebay - jew town paradesi (cochin jew town synagogue)