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Pakistani Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Pakistani Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number between 1000 and 2000. The majority of these refugee Jews are those who migrated from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan to India and then many to Israel as part of the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries, and formed a small community in the city of Ramla.

History

Pakistan hosted a small thriving multicultural Jewish community from the 19th century until the end of the 1970s. The majority of Jews in Pakistan were Bene Israel, Bukharan Jews and Baghdadi Jews.

Colonial era (1842-1947)

Jewish migration to the territories that now constitute Pakistan began during the British Raj in 1857. In the first half of the 20th century, there were nearly 1000 Jewish residents in Pakistan living in various cities. Karachi was the center of Pakistan's Jewish community and home to Magain Shalome Synagogue, the largest Synagogue in the country at the time. It was inaugurated by Solomon David Umerdekar in 1892 on the corner of Jamila Street and Nishtar Road and officially opened in 1912. Jews also lived in Peshawar and Lahore (home to Bukharan Jews), and Quetta (home to Baghdadi Jews). Peshawar also had two small synagogues. Karachi Jews were of various origins, but most were from the Bene Israel community. Yifah, a student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, relates that her great-great-grandfather Samuel Reuben Bhonkar, who was a Bene Israel, came to Karachi to work as a jailer, and died there in 1928. The Bene Israel originated in the Konkan villages. In Pakistan, they spoke Urdu and English mainly while Bene Israel also spoke Marathi and Bukharan Jews Bukhori. Prayers were conducted in Hebrew. In 1903, the community set up the Young Man’s Jewish Association, and the Karachi Bene Israel Relief Fund was established to support poor Jews. In 1918, the Karachi Jewish Syndicate was formed to provide housing at reasonable rents, and the All India Israelite League, which represented 650 Bene Israel in Sindh province (including Hyderabad, Larkana, Mirpur Khas and Sukkur), was first convened – founded by two prominent Bene Israel, Jacob Bapuji Israel and David S. Erulkar. Karachi became a fulcrum for the Bene Israel in India, the place where they congregated for High Holiday prayers. There was also a prayer hall, which served the Afghan Jews residing in the city. A 1941 government census recorded 1199 Pakistani Jews: 513 men and 538 women. So accepted were the Jews of Karachi in these years that Abraham Reuben, a leader in the Jewish community, became the first Jewish councilor on the Karachi Municipal Corporation.

Post-independence

Following Pakistan's independence in August 1947, many Jews became concerned of their future in the new Muslim majority country. Many Jews from Peshawar, Lahore and Quetta decided to move to Karachi during this period. The situation was exacerbated by the declaration of independence for the state of Israel in May 1948. Pakistan was never traditionally anti-Semitic, however an anti-Israel sentiment began growing in the 1950s. Following the The Six Day War in 1967, Pakistani Jews began moving to Israel in greater numbers, while some chose to go abroad and settle in Canada and the United Kingdom. By 1968, the Pakistani Jewish community numbered only 350, mainly centered in Karachi, with one synagogue, a welfare organization and a recreational organization. After 1968, there is no record of any Pakistani Jews outside Karachi. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Pakistan hosted many Persian Jews as refugees as part of the United Nations Political Refugee program. Many of them sought to settle in Israel while others opted for Canada and the United Kingdom like there fellow Pakistani Jews had done in the years prior. Magain Shalome Synagogue was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a shopping plaza. By the 1990s, most Pakistani Jews had left the country. The majority today live in Ramla, Israel, with minorities in Toronto, Canada. Jewish immigrants from Pakistan have served with distinction in the Israel Defense Forces, helped revive the game of cricket in Israel and have added a fair amount of colour to Israeli society. According to unofficial sources, there are rumors that some Jews remain in Pakistan, including doctors and members of the free professions, who converted or pass themselves off as members of other religions. In 2015, Fishel Benkhald publicly announced his Jewish faith and claimed to the "the last Jew in Pakistan". His aim to the restore the Karachi's Jewish Cemetery and for the Magen Shalom synagogue to be rebuilt, which was previously being fought by Rachel Joseph who died in 2006.

See also

• Aliyah
• Jewish ethnic divisions
• Bene Israel
• One Million Plan

References

1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fishel-benkhald/observing-passing-as-the-_b_6981120.html
2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fishel-benkhald/observing-passing-as-the-_b_6981120.html
3. http://www.jewishtimesasia.org/community-spotlight-topmenu-43/pakistan/544-pakistan-communities/2806-a-jewish-presence-in-pakistan-karachi-in-another-time
4. http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/216326/advice-jewish-refugee-canada/
5. Jewish Virtual Library - Pakistan
6. Cricket in Israel
7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fishel-benkhald/observing-passing-as-the-_b_6981120.html
8. www.jewishtimesasia.org/community-spotlight-topmenu-43/pakistan/544-pakistan-communities/2806-a-jewish-presence-in-pakistan-karachi-in-another-time

External links

• In search of the Jews of Karachi

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