By Sayan Lodh
The three-century old Baghdadi community of Kolkata has presently dwindled to about 20-25 individuals. The community owns properties at prominent locations: two schools – Jewish Girls School at Park Street, and Elias Meyer Free School and Talmud Torah in Bowbazar; three synagogues – Maghen David, Beth El and Neveh Shalome (all in Bara Bazar); and the cemetery at Narkeldanga. Besides these, a substantial amount of money is held by Trusts of the community.
David Nahoum used to look after community affairs and used his towering influence to hold the community together. After his death in 2013 these arrangements fell into disarray, culminating in the present dispute.
The intra-community strife came out in public with the release of the teaser of Ilmaz Syed’s documentary Beginning of an End. Flower Silliman questioned Aline Cohen’s Jewishness as she converted to Judaism after her marriage with Mordechai Cohen. Ian Zachariah sided with Aline Cohen. Zachariah stated that Cohen is a thorn in the way of some who wish to sell the assets. Cohen stated that she had served the community for four decades, and the people who now have the “chutzpah” (Yiddish for ‘audacity’) to oppose her to the extent of ‘questioning her character’ were not there previously.
Jael Silliman (author, scholar, and women’s rights activist) alleges that internal politics at the Jewish Girls School (JGS) forced her mother Flower Silliman, an educationist and an alumna of the JGS, to step down as President of the School.[1] In the ‘Mrs A.M. Cohen and Others vs Sol Noah and Others’ (2019-2021) at Calcutta High Court, the two sides contested over control of the JGS. The plaintiff Aline Cohen alleged that Sol Noah tried to impede the proper functioning of the school by constituting a new Board of Management through meetings on March 6 and March 17, 2019. Cohen (Secretary) and her associates Ian Zachariah, Sydney Banerji, and Daniel Marc David were removed from the board. The defendant Sol Noah responded that Aline Cohen has been running the school without consulting the board or the Jewish community and has even used ‘strong-arm tactics’ and engaged ‘musclemen’ to prevent the members of the new board from accessing the school. It reached the Supreme Court, New Delhi in ‘David Rumnong Ashkenazy and Others vs A.M. Cohen and Others’ (2019-2021), dividing the Baghdadis with 20 members being pitted against 5. Here, Cohen and Noah were on the same side.
In ‘Ms. Jael Miriam Silliman vs Unknown’ (2020-2023) the opposing party (defendant) alleged the petitioner of holding a meeting within the precincts of the Maghen David Synagogue in November 2020 with some of the tenants and trying to collect rents. Defendant no. 2 further alleged that when she advised the plaintiffs that it was prayer time, the latter ‘abused her and her late husband’, and lawyers threatened her that she would be denied entry into the synagogue. She launched a complaint at the Burrabazar Police Station against the petitioner and some other members on November 24, 2020. The plaintiff had previously lodged a complaint against the defendants at Bowbazar Police Station on November 22, 2020.
In January 2023, things took an ugly turn. In a series of videos, David Ashkenazy (January 7-8, 2023) made some shocking revelations alleging that Susan Iyer is no longer Jewish. Ashkenazy mentioned that on Friday, January 7, 2023, he couldn’t pray at the Maghen David Synagogue as the doors were completely sealed by Iyer. Public notices were pasted on the doors of the synagogue. One such notice stated that David Rumnong Ashkenazy, Aline Mordechai Cohen, Sydney David Banerji, Ian Zachariah, and Daniel Marc David have been charged with economic offences under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The next day Ashkenazy confronted Iyer at the synagogue. He suspected Iyer to be getting tacit support from Jael Silliman. Ashkenazy further mentioned that Iyer even cut off electricity to the staff quarters and locked them.
The next week (January 13-15, 2023), Jael Silliman was locked out of the synagogue by the security guards allegedly upon the orders of Ashkenazy and Cohen. Silliman posted a few videos on social media (January 14, 2023). She claimed that Ashkenazy and Cohen have several charge sheets against them for economic offences. One chargesheet mentions that David Ashkenazy has been collecting rents from tenants at the synagogue properties. The shops have encroached upon synagogue properties to the extent of making the main gate of the Neveh Shalome Synagogue inaccessible to public.
Silliman can be seen scaling the locked gates to enter the synagogue compound, and asking for the locks to be opened. Silliman commented, “I will sit here and go on hunger strike if needed, but will not allow the cultural heritage of the community be usurped.” In his comment on Jael Silliman’s first video, Michael Ezra has labelled Jael’s attempt as a ‘clumsy publicity stunt.’ Ezra further alleged that Silliman had appointed Iyer for the past couple of months to intimidate visitors, and prevent services from taking place. In her response, Silliman has mentioned the ‘looting’/embezzlement of community funds by Ashkenazy and Cohen. Silliman repeated that Cohen, who married a Jew, never showed her conversion certificate. In a comment on a post in the closed social media group ‘Indo-Judaica’, Ashkenazy mentioned that Silliman was spreading lies without any evidence. In the comment section of the videos, Silliman has received widespread support for her cause with many shares.
On January 15 evening, Aline Cohen drove into the synagogue compound, and ‘allowed’ the staff to let the community members who had gathered in Silliman, and Iyer’s support to enter the synagogue. Fifteen members (including Jael Silliman’s mother Flower Silliman, the oldest member) gathered within the synagogue. When Jael Silliman’s post mentioning about solidarity from fifteen Jews (alongside a picture showing 13 community members within Maghen David synagogue) was shared in ‘Indo-Judaica’ social media group, David Ashkenazy remarked that half of those in solidarity were ‘not Jews’.
Alongside a video on January 16, Silliman wrote that Cohen and Ashkenazy have hired contractors to install barbed wires on the gates of the ASI protected site (without ASI’s permission), Maghen David Synagogue. Ezra commented that that Jael’s break-in, and the circulating videos have jeopardised the synagogue’s security. Silliman lamented that despite repeated requests the ASI has not installed CCTV cameras.
Currently, the dispute is at its most sensitive stage with many sub-judice litigations at the Calcutta High Court. The present conflict is more related to property and wealth owned by the community Trusts rather than religion. Denying a person entry to his/her/their place of worship is inhuman. Both the sides have accused the other of engaging in malpractices. While Jael Silliman has gone public regarding her grievances, David Ashkenazy has refrained from going public, and resorted to commenting in the posts shared within the closed group ‘Indo Judaica’ with 1,199 members. The sides are more-or-less fixed, albeit some changes due to personal and pragmatic understandings as evident from the cases discussed. Only time will tell whether the conflict would be settled amicably, or would there be an all-out-fight akin to one fought by the last two Jews of Kabul, who quarrelled and clashed on every matter till one’s death.
[1] Jael Silliman, ‘Muslim students in Jewish Girls’ School, Kolkata: A changed legacy’, in Shalva Weil, ed., The Baghdadi Jews in India: Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities and Creating Super-Diversity, (London and New York: Routledge, 2019), 123-124.
Bio:
Sayan Lodh did his MA in history from Presidency University, Kolkata, India. His primary area of interest lies in Indo-Judaic Studies (Jewish Studies in a wider context), besides Antisemitism studies with a focus on South Asia. His master’s dissertation was on the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata. A couple of his articles have been published in the English edition of Haaretz (Israel’s oldest newspaper). In the future, he wishes to pursue a PhD exploring some aspects of Indian Jewry.
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