Thirtur, an island village in the outskirts of Cranganore (Kodungallur) had a small Jewish settlement in 18th century. The earliest document that supports the existence of a Jewish colony at Thirtur is the Hebrew letter of Ezekiel Rahabi in 1768 (Koder, 1949). The letter identifies a Jewish community there with one synagogue and 40 Jewish families. In fact, it is said that the whole island belonged to the wealthy Jewish merchant, Ezekiel Rahabi (Moens, 1781) or he purchased large acres of fields on the island, and used it during summer months as a retreat. Not only that, at Thirtur he settled a few Malabari Jewish families, and built a synagogue in 1750 or 1756 (Fischel, 1962), but for reasons unknown, it became dysfunctional in 1761. There is another narrative that Tipu's invasion and the subsequent migration of Jews to Cochin and other Jewish settlements resulted in the decline of Thirtur. However, if Tipu had attacked Thirtur, the event would have happened three decades later in the late 1780s or early 1790s.
Paradesi leader, A. I. Simon (1947, pp. 34-36) brings to our attention a Jewish
Malayalam folk song composed in honour of the establishment of Thirtur
synagogue. The song says that, when Ezekiel Rahabi was the Jewish leader, the synagogue's foundation was laid in the Hebrew year 5503 (stanza 2, line 5; stanza 3, line 3) which corresponds to 1743. The Stanza 3, lines 8-9 goes: "à´¨ാà´²ുà´®്മമക്കൾ à´Žà´²്à´²ാവരും à´šെà´¨്à´¨ു; ഒറപ്à´ªാà´¯ിà´Ÿ്à´Ÿു à´…à´Ÿിà´¸്à´¥ാനമിà´Ÿ്à´Ÿു" which can be roughly translated "four mothers' children all came; and laid the foundation strongly". It is not clear what the author meant by this statement, was he referring to four Malabari Jewish congregations existed at his time or may be they represent four prominent Jewish families? Nevertheless, Simon in
his introductory remarks gives 1750 as the foundation date of the
synagogue and further adds that it functioned until 1761. On the other
hand, Rahabi's letter clearly specifies the existence of a synagogue at
Thirtur in 1768. After Rahabi, we have at least four more records-two Dutch reports, a Hebrew religious manuscript and a Hebrew personal
letter, from the late 18th century that prove the presence of
Jews and a synagogue in Thirtur. Notably, we can see that the statistics
have fallen drastically from 40 to 10 families within two to three
decades in all these reports viz. of Adrianus s'Gravezande (1778), Adrian Moens (1781), Sharaf, Yahya Abraham
haLevi (1781) and Samuel Abraham (1790). The number 10 here signifies a
minyan (the quorum of 10 adult males above the age of 13 required for
traditional Jewish public worship), and Rahabi made sure that a
functional synagogue existed in the island when he spent his summer
vacations, although the congregation could have been be larger (Segal,
1993).
We don't find Thirtur as an active Jewish colony after 1790,
and if Tipu's invasion is read along these lines, perhaps a connection could be established with the abandonment of the synagogue. Although, Claudius Buchanan writes in 4 February, 1807 about visiting the towns of the Black Jews (Malabari Jews) in the interior of the country, and one of them is at Thirtur, he unfortunately adds no further details (Buchanan, 1812, p. 117, 122). Interestingly, a census taken by David Rahabi (d. 1791), the son of Ezekiel Rahabi, gives the highest estimate of approximately 50 Jewish
families in Thirtur (cited by Segal in 'A History of the Jews of Cochin', 1993). Though he has not given the date of the census, it would be safe to assume sometime close to 1768. Segal (1993) also adds a detail that the synagogue building was sold to the Chief Minister of
Cochin. The Island of Thirtur was also known as Mount Sinai (Segal, 1993; Jussay 2005), and the name was probably used at the time of Ezekiel Rahabi as well. Dutch scholar, Adrianus s'Gravezande writes in 1778 that Thirtur was renamed 'Mount Sinai' because of its elevation and he also acknowledges that the island was the property of the 'recently deceased Ezekiel Rahabi' and was located near Cranganore (Note: Ezekiel Rahabi passed away in 1771).
It is interesting to see how the name Thirtur appears in the writings of various authors. Thus, Thirtur becomes Tiroctoer (s'Gravezande, 1778), Territur/Territoer (Moens, 1781), Tirthum (Samuel Abraham, 1796), Tritooa (Buchanan, 1807), Tertoor (Jackson, 1824), Trittoor (Sargon, 1822), Tritoor (Asiatic Journal & Monthly Register, 1831), Tirtur (Wolf, 1835), Tirtoor (Baber, 1839), Tritur (Oppert, 1897), Thirthoor (Hallegua, 1906), Tirthur (Simon, 1947), Tir-Tur (Bar Giora, 1958) etc. I have used the name Thirtur more frequently which is the anglicised form from Ezekiel Rahabi's Hebrew letter of 1768 (Koder's translation). In original Malayalam, the word is à´¤ുà´°ുà´¤്à´¤ൂർ and it is transliterated as Thuruthoor or Thuruthur. Modern Thuruthoor is a picturesque place located about 5 km south east of Kodungallur center (Thrissur District) and it represents two wards (Thuruthur East and Thuruthur West) of the Puthenvelikkara Grama Panchayath in Ernakulam District. It is also near Joothakulam (Kunnamkulam) and Chakkamparambu (for their Jewish connection see here and here) and the archaeologically important Kottappuram area (see map below).
Is there any trace of a Jewish structure in Thurthur? Though the answer is negative, you might be surprised to find a church in Thuruthur which claims itself to be built on the site of a Jewish synagogue! The Latin Catholic St. Thomas Church of Thurthur comes under the Diocese of Kottappuram. The hill, Thuruthur Kunnu where the church stands is still called Sinai Mount. The local traditions attribute the name to the early Jewish settlers of Thiruthur, who are thought to be merchants that came for spice trade in Malabar Coast. The official website of the church comes out with this colourful St. Thomas legend: "This little hill, where St. Thomas' Church was built was also known as Mount Sinai by the early Jews who came to Crangannore for spice trade from Middle East. It is believed that many Jews came to this place for their prayers since this place was known as Mount Sinai. According to Early Jewish historic documents it is stated that there was a Jewish Synagogue for prayers for the merchants who came for spice trade. It is believed traditionally that St. Thomas visited this place called Sinai Mount for prayers, after landing in Musiris/ Kodungalloor. St. Thomas preached the Gospel of Jesus in this area and spread the good news to the surrounding areas". The main attraction in the church is a miraculous spring or well named after the Apostle which boasts of healing the sick and ailing irrespective of gender or faith they belong. The locals claim that the well has never dried up even under scorching summer seasons. A plaque installed beside the well says: "St. Thomas landed at Maliankara in 52 AD and during his journey proclaiming the Gospel, he visited Thirtur. When the Jews at the synagogue denied water to him, the tired and thirsty Apostle stretched out his hand and touched the earth, and water gushed out in the form of a stream. The miraculously formed stream is turned into a well today and both the soil and water is considered sacred here". You will also hear about miracle stories of how once the church bells rang on their own and a powerful divine aura surrounded the head of a St. Thomas statue in the church. Church scholar Joseph, T. K. (1955) notes about Thuruthoor's claim of having a fragment of the Ortona St. Thomas bones long before 1950 and that it was brought by some European missionary. In fact, Mar Thoma Pontifical Shrine in Azhikode, the biggest St. Thomas pilgrim center at Kodungallur received a relic of the Apostle-a bone from his right arm from Ortona, Italy in December 6, 1953 only.
There are no historical, archaeological or epigraphical evidence to
prove that St. Thomas visited Thuruthur or a Jewish Synagogue existed at
there in the first century. There aren't also any documents to
corroborate the tradition that a
church existed at Thuruthur in the early centuries, and in fact, even a pre-Portuguese origin
(before 16th century) is highly
unlikely. Fr. Bernard Alenchery (1916) has enumerated
105 churches in Kerala at the time of
the Synod of Diamper (1599), and
Thuruthor is absent in the list, but the
nearby Thuruthipuram Latin Catholic Church (Estd. 1531) is included. The present Thuruthur church was established in 1914 and has been recently renovated. The earliest church in Thuruthur is thought to be once a sub-station to the older Thuruthippuram church. In any case, it appears that Thuruthur's St. Thomas tradition is not old, but only a recent addition probably from late 19th or early 20th century.
Regarding the Jewish
connection, it should be noted that in Mosseh de Paiva's famous report
'NotÃcias dos Judeos de Cochim' (1687), Thithur is not mentioned at all. Also, there are no known Jewish traditions that attribute a pre-18th century
date for the site. The closest we can get is a synagogue from mid- to
the end of 18th century and the site was called Mount Sinai by which it
is known till today.
Do we know anything about the location of the synagogue in the Island?
One hint could be taken from the information that the synagogue was sold
to the Prime Minister of Cochin. The position of Prime Minister in the
Kingdom of Cochin was held by the Paliath Achans (1632-1809), the same
family who played an important role in the growth of Chendamangalam's
Jewish community. We saw in previous post how Jewish Palur was connected
to the Paliam family in a folk song. Could there be an official record
with Paliyam family, let's say a sale deed perhaps, that could shed more light
into this topic?
A report by lawyer and collector of Hebrew Manuscripts, Elkan N. Adler published in the Jewish Chronicle on 11 May 1906, noted that: "Within 20 miles south of Cranganore, are four other places, all on the famous Cochin backwater, where the Black Jews (Malabari Jews) still have synagogues. Parur, Cheunan Mangalum (Chendamangalam), and Malah have each one synagogue, Ernakulam has two and Cochin three, of which one belongs to the White Jews (Paradesi Jews". He then adds a curious statement about a 9th synagogue: The Parur Jews have also the ruins of another synagogue marked by a Ner Tamid (eternal flame) which they say existed 400 years ago". In response to Adler's observation, Paradesi Jewish leader, Hallegua, I. E. (In the Jewish Chronicle, 5 October, 1906) under the pseudonym "A Cochin Jew", identifies the unnamed synagogue as the one established by Ezekiel Rabby in 5510 (1750 AD) at Thirthoor near Parur, but he takes the age of 400 years as an exaggeration. The larger question is whether ruins of a synagogue belonging to Parur Jews existed in the early 20th century and if so, was it located in or near Parur? Note that Thuruthoor is only about 6 km north-east of Parur. Additionally, an online Malayalam article written about the historic places in Puthenvelikara Panchayath with some great snaps here has an interesting detail that the Jewish center of Thuruthur was known as 'Paadasherikunnu' and that there was a synagogue and a Jewish cemetery on the site. What is the possibility of a Jewish cemetery in Thuruthur, even if it was a temporary settlement for a short period? We can only hope that future research will yield new insights that can provide answers to some of these lingering questions.
St. Thomas Church, Sinai Mount, Thuruthur
Abraham, S. (1790)- In Jackson S H (1824), The Jew-being a Defence of Judaism
Adler, E. N. (1906)-About the Indian Jews II, The Jewish Chronicle, 11 May
Alenchery, B. (1916)-Marthoma Christianikal
Baber, T. H. (1839)-The Calcutta Christian Observer
Bar-Giora, N. (1958)-A Note on the History of the Synagogues in Cochin
Buchanan, C. (1807)-The Star in The East (1809), p. 47
Buchanan, C. (1807)-Christian Researches in Asia (1812)
Fischel, W. (1962)-Cochin in Jewish History-Prolegomena to a History of the Jews in India
s'Gravezande, A. (1778)-Narichten, Betreffende de Blanke en Zwarte Jooden, Te Cochim (Dutch)
Hallegua, I. E. (1906)-Malabar Jews I, In The Jewish Chronicle
Joseph, T. K. (1955)-Six St. Thomases of South India
Jussay (2005)-The Jews of Kerala
Koder, S. S. (1949)-A Hebrew Letter of 1768
Moens, A.-In Galletti, A. van der Burg, A. J. and Groot P. (1911)-The
Dutch in Malabar
Oppert, G. (1897)-In Semitic Studies in Memory of Alexander Kohut
Sargon, M. (1822)-The Jewish Expositor and Friend of Israel (1823)
Segal J. B. (1993)-A history of the Jews of Cochin
Simon, A. I. (1947)-The songs of the Jews of Cochin and their
historical significance
Wolff, J. (1835)-Researches and Missionary Labours among the Jews,
Mohammedans and other Sects
Yahya Abraham Sharaf (1781)-Toldot Yehude Kuchin
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