namaste from mumbai

Namaste everyone!

I'm writing from a teeny roadside internet cafe here in the middle of Mumbai, with the monsoon pouring just outside this booth. Black and yellow taxis are all over the streets, blaring their horns and narrowly missing cows, rickshaws and pedestrians as they zoom by on the left side of the road, and I defiantly feel as if I have dropped into the middle of it all.

My first day here the site supervisor took me on a small tour of the Jewish sites in this city, joking and smiling the entire time. The people that I have met thus far have all been incredibly kind and friendly, and I am excited to begin working with each of the staff members and the community. After stopping by the social welfare office in Byculla and the new Jewish Community Center west of Mumbai center, I participated in a Malida ceremony, a thanksgiving ritual unique to the Bene Israel Indian Jewish Community which is performed at births, weddings, holidays and other happy occacasions. An elderly woman had undergone a succsful cataract surgery and so many people gathered, recited prayers over flowers, pomegranate, dates and other fruits, and then ate together in her honor. At first I wasn't sure what to do with the delicate white flowers that were handed out, but after the blessing had been said I soon noticed that everyone simply smelled them and then put them in their hair or shirt pocket.

After the ceremony one of the staff members of the JDC gave an informal session about Jewish prayer . He spoke about the Shema, one of the fundamental prayers in Jewish life, which proclaims the One-ness of God. The Bene Israel, like many other Jewish communities, cover their eyes while saying this sentences, but do so in a slightly different way, forming the letter " Shin" ( the first letter in the word "Shema") with their fingers and placing it over their eyes and on their foreheads as they recite this prayer. After witnessing the malida and talking about other rituals with these Jews I am amazed at their vitality and our commonalities in our practice. It never fails to boggle my mind that Jewish life exists literally half way around the world. I cannot stress how excited I am to become a part of this community, and also how much I miss my own communities back home. You all are in my thoughts and I hope all is well with everyone!