Evelyn, Ezekiel and I on the Beema
In front
I looked it up in a Delhi info brochure and there it was! The only synagogue in all of Delhi- Judah Hyam synagogue:
(http://jewishdelhi.org/) From the website: There are only about 10 Jewish families who are long-term residents of the area, composing about 40 people in total. In addition, Judah Hyam Synagogue is the primary place of worship in New Delhi for many Jewish diplomats, businesspeople, artisans and others from around the world who are posted in India's capital city. Erev Shabbat services are held Fridays at 7 pm during the summer and 6:30 pm during the winter. Services are also held on the High Holy Days, Purim, Pesach , Shavouth and Chanukah. There are usually no Shabbat morning service for lack of a minyan.
I called and Ezekiel Isaac Malekar answered. He said to come by anytime and he would show me around. His accent sounded so so Indian so I didn't know what to expect. Of course no rickshaw driver knew where the hell it was (alarukus, I guess), but me and two other volunteers eventually found one driver who found it in no time. The gate was locked so I gave him a call- and he answered saying he just woke up and if we could please wait 5 or 10 minutes, but then came running out in his pajamas. A very short very Jewish white man, he was born in Jerusalem and is the all-in-one: rabbi, director, secretary. He came to India to work as an attorny and now runs the small synagogue. He insisted we all stand on the beema for photos and showed us the three Torahs. Other than it being non-AC and small, nothing about the imagery,decorations, or siddurs were Indian inspired. It reminded me a lot of a small synagogue in Tsafat, Israel. They have 125 chairs for the 125 2-days-a-year jews who show up on the 2 high holidays- but usually have a shabbat service consisting of less than 40. Anyway, he gave us each a blessing while holding his hand on our heads and told us about all the interfaith (American jewish men and hindu women) weddings he's conducted lately. I'm defintely going to return for a Friday night service before heading home. The whole time I was there I was just thinking about how proud Grandma Givarz would be of me for seeking the temple out. Hopefully you are reading this entry right now! :)
By the way, 2 days after writing the entry about Jitender and his sudden dissapearance, he returned to the center. Turns out he just went for a visit to see his family in Varanasi and is back for good. Thank god!
Shalom/Namaste/Salaam (Arabic, as I visited several mosques today)
Erin
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