At a time when religious polarization is threatening to derail democratic discourse, generations of Muslim families taking care of Kolkata’s last three standing Jewish synagogues – are serving as a sobering example of what communal harmony stands for.
For decades now, Beth El, Neveh Shalome and Magen David synagogues have been taken care of by four Muslim men from Orissa whose ancestors also worked at the same job.
I first got to know about it from Masood Hussain, the caretaker of Naveh Shalom, the oldest synagogue in the city – on a chance visit. Hidden behind rows of shops littered across narrow lanes, its faded yellow facade barely visible, I stood awkwardly outside the Neveh Shalome, until Hussain welcomed me in.
On meeting him, my first question to him was an obvious one, perhaps even a little silly. “Why do you work at a Jewish Synagogue?” I asked. “Why not?” he replied, “It is an honour to take care of someone else’s God.”
Hussain has been working at the Synagogue since 2014. He is the son-in-law of Rabul Khan, who is the third generation caretaker of the Magen David, one of the largest synagogues in Asia.
Beth El is taken care of by Khalil for more than 50 years now, Khalil’s two sons – Siraj and Anwar- have also decided to follow in their father’s footsteps.
“So many people express surprise that we work here. But the truth is, generations of my family have grown up inside these synagogues,” Hussain tells me.
Their job is to clean and maintain the synagogues. They stay in quarters allotted to them at the synagogue compound, and take care of the synagogues 24/7.
“The key (to the synagogue) stays with us. For generations, the Jews have kept faith in us, and we have never broken their faith. It’s almost like a blood relation between us,” Hussain says.
In Kolkata, Jews first arrived from Baghdad more than 200 years ago and established themselves as successful businessmen. When India gained independence – uncertain of their economic future due to talk of socialism and nationalization in the country – a few from the community started leaving. Others quickly followed as the Jewish community was family centred and tight-knit, leading to rapid movement of people, in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s that ultimately led to destabilization of the entire community.
Once home to over 3000 Jews, Kolkata now has only about 23 members left. And while no Saturday prayer meets happen in these synagogues, a few from the community occasionally visit the place. The synagogues were all built in the 1800s, but restored to their old beauty only in the last few years.
According to Jael Silliman, a Jewish resident of Kolkata who has put together a digital archive of the Jewish community in the city, there are several reasons for why Jewish families employed Muslims to take care of the synagogues.
“If you look closely, both Jews and Muslims have a common history because of the origins of our religions. In Kolkata particularly, Jewish families hired Muslim cooks since they came closest to the practices we follow. Like us, they ate only Halal meat. Our food habits too are actually very similar, so when we arrived in India, it was a natural choice that we wanted them to take care of our religious places,” she says.
“The synagogue is God’s home and so is the mosque. We don’t make a distinction between the two,” Hussain tells me.
Masood Hussain is clearly is a man of two religions – one that he practises and the other he is helping preserve.