OF FAITH AND THE FAITHFUL

The synagogues of Mumbai are testimonials to the integral role that Jews have played in the city’s history

- RANGAN DATTA

Every day, thousands of Mumbaikars make their way through the Masjid station in the Masjid Bunder area of South Mumbai on the Central and Harbour lines of the city’s local trains,but most are perhaps unaware that Masjid does not refer to a mosque, but the Shaar Harahamim Synagogue. It is located a stone’s throw from the station and is locally referred to as Juni Masjid.

Shaar Harahamim Synagogue dates back to 1796 and is the oldest in Mumbai. It can be reached through a network of complex lanes and bylanes from Yusuf Meher Ali Road, on the other side of which another maze of lanes leads to Israel Mohalla, where stands the Share Rason Synagogue, the city’s second-oldest. Both the synagogues are housed in small buildings, with simple prayer halls.

Shaar Harahamim (meaning ‘Gate of Mercy’) was built by Samuel Ezekiel Divekar, a Bene Israel Jew. He was part of the Bombay Presidency’s army, which fought Tipu Sultan in the Second Mysore War (1780-84). Divekar was captured by Tipu’s army, and was sentenced to death. He, however, survived because of an intervention by Tipu’s mother when she learnt he was a Jew, who she considered to be ‘God’s chosen people’. While a prisoner, Divekar vowed to build a synagogue in Bombay after his release, and he kept this promise, building Bombay’s first synagogue for the Bene Israel Jewish community. In the 1850s, the old synagogue was demolished to make way for the current larger one.