The Tradition of Israelite Origin among Pathans

A talk given by Dr Navras Jaat Aafreedi recently at the Sephardi Synagogue

Dr. Myer Samra, The Sephardi Synagogue Pesach, 2013

Dr Navras Jaat Aafreedi, the only academic in India today with a focus on Jewish studies, visited Sydney recently for the conference organized by the Australian Association for Jewish Studies. While here, Dr Aafreedi addressed a number of Jewish groups, discussing matters as diverse as Jews in Bollywood film industry, Muslim-Jewish relations in India, Muslim involvement in Hebrew teaching and Hebrew calligraphy, and the surprising popularity of Hitler in a country where Jews have not experienced anti-Semitism.

We were fortunate to have Dr Aafreedi talk on the topic of the tradition of Israelite origins among the Pathans who hail from the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, a tradition which goes back many centuries and has been discussed in the writings of Jewish, Muslim and Christian travellers. The Pathans are said to refer to themselves as Bani-Israel though they do not identify as “Jews”.

A number of tribes have names like those of the ancient Israelite tribes; some practice levirate marriage (the brother marrying his deceased brother’s widow), light candles on Friday, and wear a cloth similar to the Jews’ Tallith.

Dr Aafreedi indicated that he himself belongs to the “Afridi” Pathan tribe, which has a tradition of connection to the tribe of Ephraim in the Bible. Growing up in a diasporic Pathan community in Uttar Pradesh in India, he did not hear of this tradition when he was a child but was fascinated when he became aware of it. This is the seed that sparked Dr Aafreedi’s interest in Jewish studies and the Jewish people, and he has worked endlessly on interfaith dialogue to imrove the image of the Jews and Israel among Indians. He was also responsible for organizing a retrospective of films about the Holocaust, of which most Indians have little or no knowledge.

The audience at the Sephardi Synagogue were clearly impressed with Dr Aafreedi’s warmth, his approachability and engaging personality – and questions after the talk continued long into the evening.

The evening was capped by a presentation by Jan Poddebsky, of a copy of the book “The Eye of Paradise” by Moses Aaron, containing stories told to him as a child by his grandmother and his father, the late Aaron Aaron.

"Jewish Studies in Urdu": The Story of Dr. Aafreedi

Aryeh Savir, Weekly Press Pakistan, March 24, 2013

 

Dr. Aafreedi, a Professor of Jewish studies and a Jewish-Muslim Relations Activist from India, has concluded a speaking tour as a visiting scholar in Australia recently. This follows a month long tour in Israel this past summer, during which he attended conferences and lectured on various Indian-Israeli-Jewish topics, offering a unique perspective.

Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, aged thirty four, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History & Civilization, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Gautam Buddha University in Greater NOIDA, a satellite town of Delhi.

He declares himself religiously non-observant. His mother comes from a Hindu-Sikh parentage. His father is a non-conformist Muslim. He thinks that his upbringing in an environment of religious diversity, discussion, understanding and appreciation, buttressed by study and empathy have provides an exceptional background for his academic pursuits.

While studying the history of medieval and modern India, he was increasingly attracted towards the history of Jews; the vicissitudes of their struggle for survival; and their singular achievements despite seemingly insuperable difficulties. He realized that the history of Jews in India needed to be researched. His PhD thesis is entitled “The Indian Jewry and the Self-Professed ‘Lost Tribes of Israel’ in India”. He is the first person to make any contributions to Jewish Studies in the Urdu language, which is the lingua franca of almost all South Asian Muslims, who represent the largest Muslim population in the world. He spent a year studying at Tel Aviv University for post-doctoral research on the “Traditions of Israelite Descent among Certain Muslim Groups in South Asia”. He did a socio-historical study of the three Jewish communities, the two Judaizing movements, the two Muslims groups that have traditions of having descended from the lost tribes of Israel, and the two non-Jewish groups with traditions of Jewish origin in India. The intention was not to establish the historicity of the claims of Israelite origins that those groups make, but rather to explore why they claim what they do and what is it that makes some of the religious Jews take them seriously.

“I have continued with my research in India, and during this period have interviewed a number of Muslim clerics, journalists, academics, litterateurs and students to ascertain their attitudes towards Jews, Israel and Zionism and to understand what shapes their perceptions and how a positive change can be brought about in their attitudes.” He grew up in Lucknow, a center of Islamic scholarship and one of the major Shia cultural centers of the world, right in the center of the Muslim heartland of South Asia. Here he worked to bring about a positive change in the Muslim attitudes towards Jews, Israel and Zionism through various means, as a Fellow of the Center for Communication & Development Studies, Pune, under its youth outreach program called “Open Space” which aims to engage the youth with society in a meaningful manner. “I was struck by the fact that in spite of the absence of Jews in Lucknow, they find frequent mention in the Muslim discourse there, which is invariably always negative in nature. Global Jewish conspiracy theories were common, despite their small numbers. This triggered my interest in them. The more I read about them the more my interest grew. I came to admire Jews for their scholarship, resilience and tenacity and was inspired to try to bring a positive change in the attitudes of Muslims towards them” Aaafreedi said.

In this climate of anti-Jewish bias and fundamentalism, he still believes that a change in attitude towards Israel, Zionism and the Jews is still possible. “As the great Muslim scholar Prof. Akbar S. Ahmed says, “Hatred thrives on falsehood”, I believe that if awareness is created through the spread of information, it can help in eliminating many misconceptions that people have. For instance, a number of Muslims in India are under the impression that the two mosques at the temple mount in Jerusalem are not accessible to Muslims because of the Israeli control. They are certainly unaware of the high standard of living enjoyed by the Arab citizens of Israel and the fact that they enjoy equal rights and have full freedom to follow their religion. While the issue of Palestinian refugees is all over in the Indian media, the fact that Jews were driven out of Arab countries in large numbers after the creation of the modern state of Israel is never even mentioned. In spite of the fact that South Asia has had resident Jewish communities for more than two millennia, most of the South Asians, including Muslims, have never had any interaction with Jews, because of their small numbers. Hence, Jews are often known to South Asians via a secondary source such as the Bible, European fiction, and in the case of Muslims, the Qur’an, and not as a result of direct contact. The South Asian Muslim perception of Jews is formed by the Muslim press. Hence, a majority of South Asian Muslims, who have never had any interaction with Jews, harbor feelings of hostility and antagonism towards them. The Indian Muslim antagonism towards Israel kept India from formally establishing diplomatic relations with the State of Israel for four decades, as, to put it plainly, the Indian politicians feared losing the Muslim vote bank if the Indian state established diplomatic ties with Israel.”

He believes the change in perception will come by education and information. “The more resources I have the wider outreach I would have. I tried to make the most of the limited resources that I had and organized a number of events to bring Lucknow’s Muslims into direct contact with Jews, by organizing cross-cultural and international student dialogues at the University of Lucknow and by inviting Jewish filmmakers to screen their films and to speak about their films, by inviting Jewish writers to read out excerpts from their books. I also tried to introduce the Muslim students in particular and Indian students in general to introduce them to Jewish cinema and literature. I also got a number of Muslim intellectuals to speak against anti-Semitism. I made an effort to eliminate misconceptions and to bring into sharp focus the Jewish contributions to the world, and also to make the youth aware of the many vicissitudes that the Jews have had to go through in their history, and continue to do so through various means. Since I started working as an Assistant Professor, I have designed a number of courses with Jewish themes embedded in them in a camouflaged manner, as I failed to get approval for my proposed courses focused on Jewish themes and on the Holocaust. It is hard to get approval for such courses in Indian academia, as the administration fears that it might lose the goodwill of its political masters if any action of theirs has a detrimental effect on their political masters’ Muslim votes. I developed strategies to make the students aware of the Holocaust. For instance, when I was assigned the task to teach History of Science & Technology to engineering students I made them all write an article on the Misuse of Science & Technology during the Holocaust with reference to the use of gas chambers and human experimentation. This was the only way I could make them aware of it. After joining the Gautam Buddha University, it did not take me long to realize that it would not be possible to get permission to organize the Holocaust films retrospective at the university, hence I introduced a series of weekly film screenings, as part of which I screen films on the Holocaust or on other Jewish themes.”

During his tour in Israel, Dr. Aafreedi lectured at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust, during which he conducted a workshop on ‘Educating India’s Population on Hitler and the Final Solution’.

He came away with unique perceptions on Israel and the Israelis. “I would like to draw their attention to a few important things: They must never lose hope for peace. Most of the acts of Muslim aggression have been perpetrated by just one Muslim sect, the Wahabis or Salafis, which proves that it is certainly possible to have cordial relations with the rest of the Muslims. Jewish contributions to the world at large and to the Muslim world in particular should be highlighted. Availability of Holocaust literature and cinema should be ensured in all languages of the world. While Hitler’s Mien Kamf is readily available in almost all Indian languages, the only book on the Shoah in India’s national language Hindi is a thin publication from Yad Vashem with Frequently Asked Questions about the Holocaust.”

As for Israel, Aafreedi says that he has always been fascinated by the country that produced two of the world’s greatest religions which in turn led to Islam. “I fell in love with Israel during the one year that I spent there in 2006-2007 for my post-doctorate. What impresses me in particular is the indomitable spirit of the Israelis, their amazing achievements in the face of adversities and obstacles combined with their zest for life.”

Dr. Aafreedi is also Editor International and coordinator of Advisory Board of Weekly Press Pakistan.

Estudios Judíos en Urdu: La historia del Dr. Aafreedi

Por Enlace Judío el 02 April 2013 en caja de ideas0 Comentarios

El Dr. Aafreedi, un profesor de estudios judíos y activista judío-musulmán en relaciones con la India, ha concluido una gira de conferencias como profesor visitante en Australia recientemente. Esto sigue a una larga gira de un mes en Israel el verano pasado, durante el cual asistió y dictó conferencias en varios temas indio-israelí-judío que ofrece una perspectiva única.

El Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, de treinta años, es profesor adjunto en el Departamento de Historia y Civilización de la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Gautama Buda en Greater Noida, una ciudad satélite de Nueva Delhi.

Se declara religiosamente no observante. Su madre proviene de una familia Hindú-Sikh. Su padre es un musulmán no-conformista. Él cree que su educación en un ambiente de diversidad religiosa, discusión, comprensión y apreciación, reforzado por el estudio y la empatía, proporciona un entorno excepcional para sus actividades académicas.

Si bien el estudio de la historia medieval y moderna de la India, se sintió atraído cada vez más hacia la historia de los Judíos, los avatares de su lucha por la supervivencia, y sus logros singulares a pesar de las dificultades aparentemente insuperables. Se dio cuenta de que la historia de los Judíos en la India debía ser investigada. Su tesis doctoral se titula “La judería indú y las autoproclamadas “tribus perdidas de Israel” en la India”. 

Él es la primera persona en hacer cualquier contribución a los estudios judíos en lengua urdu, que es la lengua franca de casi todos los musulmanes del sur de Asia, que representan la mayor población musulmana del mundo. Pasó un año estudiando en la Universidad de Tel Aviv para su investigación post-doctoral en las “tradiciones de ascendencia israelita entre ciertos grupos musulmanes en el sur de Asia”. Hizo un estudio socio-histórico de las tres comunidades judías, los dos movimientos judaizantes, los dos grupos musulmanes que tienen tradiciones de haber descendido de las tribus perdidas de Israel, y los dos grupos no judíos con tradiciones de origen judío en la India. La intención no era establecer la historicidad de los reclamos de origen israelita que estos grupos hacen, sino explorar el por qué dicen lo que hacen y qué es lo que hace que algunos de los Judios religiosos los tomen en serio.

“He seguido con mi investigación en la India, y durante este período se han entrevistado a un número de clérigos musulmanes, periodistas, académicos, literatos y estudiantes para conocer sus actitudes hacia Judios, Israel y el sionismo y para entender lo que da forma a sus percepciones y cómo un positivo cambio puede llevarse a cabo en sus actitudes.” “Me llamó la atención el hecho de que a pesar de la ausencia de los Judios en donde nací, encuentran la frecuente mención en el discurso musulmán allí, que es invariablemente siempre de naturaleza negativa. Teorías de la conspiración mundial judía eran comunes, a pesar de su escaso número. Esto provocó mi interés en ellos.

Cuanto más leía sobre ellos la más mi interés creció. Llegué a admirar a los Judios por su erudición, resistencia y tenacidad y se inspiró para tratar de traer un cambio positivo en la actitud de los musulmanes hacia ellos “, dijo Aaafreedi.

Durante su gira por Israel, el Dr. Aafreedi dio una conferencia en la Escuela Internacional de Yad Vashem para Holocausto, durante la cual se llevó a cabo un taller sobre “La educación de la población de la India sobre Hitler y la Solución Final”.

En cuanto a Israel, Aafreedi dice que siempre ha estado fascinado por el país que produjo dos de las más grandes religiones del mundo, que a su vez condujo al Islam. “Me enamoré de Israel durante el año que pasé allí en 2006-2007 para mi post-doctorado. Lo que me impresiona en particular, es el espíritu indomable de los israelíes, sus logros asombrosos en la cara de las adversidades y obstáculos combinados con su entusiasmo por la vida.”

Fuente:infopublico.com

Renowned Indo-Judaic Studies Scholar completes a lecture tour of Australia

Weekly Press Pakistan, March 3, 2013

 

Renowned Indo-Judaic Studies Scholar and Jewish-Muslim Relations Activist, Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, Assistant Professor of History & Civilization at Gautam Buddha University, Greater NOIDA, U.P., India, returned to India on February 25 after a fortnight long lecture tour of Australia as a Visiting Scholar of the School of Languages & Cultures, Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney, during which he spoke at four universities, an international conference, two organizations and a synagogue in two states in Australia, viz., New South Wales and Queensland. His tour was sponsored by the Fund for Jewish Higher Education. 

Dr. Aafreedi started his tour in Sydney by presenting a paper on the “Indian Muslim Involvement with the Hebrew Language” as part of a panel dedicated to the Asian Sub-Continent: India, at the 25^th annual conference of the Australian Association for Jewish Studies on “Jewish Languages, Jewish Cultures: The Shaping of Jewish Civilization” on February 10. He traced the history of Hebrew language teaching in India and highlighted the contributions of some Indian Muslims to the Hebrew language. It was a prestigious conference exploring the profound place and importance of language in shaping Jewish culture in the past, present and future. The next day at the conference, on February 11, Dr. Aafreedi chaired the session focused on the Egyptian Jewish World.

In a lecture he gave at the Shalom College of the University of New South Wales in Sydney under its lecture series Network on February 12, he drew attention to the “Paradox of the Absence of Anti-Semitism and the Popularity of Hitler in India”. He also pointed out the paradox that the biggest advocates in India of India’s closer ties with Israel, the Hindu right wingers, also happen to be admirers of the Nazis. He also asked for support in terms of books and films on the Holocaust in his efforts to create an awareness of the Shoah in India. The same day in the evening, at Mandelbaum House, a residential college of the University of Sydney which hosted Dr. Aafreedi during his entire stay in Sydney, he brought into sharp focus the Jewish contributions to Indian Cinema and Literature and also discussed their portrayal in them. He gave the same talk also under the auspices of the National Council of the Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) in Brisbane on February 18. 

On February 13, Dr. Aafreedi explored the South Asian Muslim Attitudes towards, Jews, Israel and Zionism for a huge audience at a lecture he gave under the auspices of the lecture series Encounters of the Shalom College of the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He shared his knowledge and insights into the South Asian Muslim Attitudes towards Jews, Israel and Zionism also with Griffith University on February 19 and the University of Queensland on February 21 in Brisbane.  In a lecture Dr. Aafreedi gave on February 15 on “India, Islam and Israel in the 21^st century”, under the auspices of Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council in Sydney, and in a lecture he gave on February 20 on “Muslim-Jewish Relations in India” at the Institute of Asian Studies in Brisbane, he emphasized that South Asian Muslim perceptions of Jews are based on information gained from secondary sources and not as a result of direct contact with them because of their small numbers. Hence, the Muslims who are neighbours to them in the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad have a very cordial relationship with them, but most of the Muslims who know them only through secondary sources have bitter feelings against them. He called for support in his efforts to introduce Jewish Studies in India.

Among the many lectures that Dr. Aafreedi gave in Australia, he also delivered one on the “Tradition of Israelite Origin among the Pathans/Pashtuns”, the people he comes from, at the Sephardi synagogue in Sydney on February 13. He pointed out that unlike the other claimants of Israelite descent across the world the tradition was not a recent development among the Pashtuns/Pathans and that it finds mention in texts written by Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars from the tenth century onwards. He also shared the results of the genetic studies of his own Pathan tribe, the Afridi, conducted in laboratories at University College London, UK and Haifa Technion, Israel, to ascertain its Israelite origin. In his last lecture in Australia, which he gave at the Institute of Asian Studies in Brisbane on February 23, Dr. Aafreedi spoke on the “Contribution of India’s Jews to Indian Arts and Letters”.

Dr. Aafreedi’s lectures were greatly appreciated by scholars as well as interfaith relations activists, both Jewish as well as Muslim, and also attracted diplomats, both Australian as well as from other countries.

The Reality of Muslim-Jewish Relations in India

Gareth Narunsky, The Australian Jewish News, Friday, February 22, 2013

Anti-Semitism is on the rise among South Asian Muslims, India’s only Jewish studies scholar warned last week. However, in areas of India where Jews and Muslims have regular contact, they live in harmony, Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi said while speaking at Sydney’s Waverly Library for Encounters@Shalom. 

“The tiny minority of Muslims which does have direct interaction with Jews – being neighbours in the cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad – has an exceptionally pleasant and cordial relationship with them,” Dr. Aafreedi, an assistant professor at Gautam Buddha University, said.

“Personal acquaintance with Jews does not leave any room for negative stereotypes of Jews.” He explained that all Jews in India live within Muslim areas. “India is also the only place in the world where Jews can live in peace and in complete harmony with their non-Jewish neighbours,” he said.

He also noted that all synagogues in India have always been taken care of by Muslims and continue to be, while most of the students in the Jewish-run schools in India are Muslim. But matters were different on a macro scale, he said. “In recent decades there has been a rise in anti-Semitism among South Asian Muslims with the growing influence of Wahhabis in the country,” he explained, adding that all Sunni Islamic seminaries are funded by the Wahhabis. “It emanates from overly literal interpretations of the polemics of the Koran and the Hadiths [alleged sayings of Mohammad].” 

Jewish global conspiracy theories were very common, Dr. Aafreedi said, as were anti-Israel protests. He added that fictional characters in English literature, such as Fagin from Oliver Twist, also fuelled antagonism towards Jews.

Dr. Aafreedi said “Yellow Journalism” [sensationalist journalism] in the south Asian Muslim press also went a long way in shaping the Muslim perceptions of Jews, Israel and Zionism. He gave an example of when he organised a Holocaust film retrospective in his home city of Lucknow, a major Muslim centre. “While it was in progress, the two largest-circulated Urdu-language newspapers in the city published front-page lengthy stories denying the Holocaust, with the aim of sabotaging the event.”

He added that the biggest factor in keeping India from establishing relations with Israel until 1991 “was the Muslim factor”. 

Dr. Aafreedi, who called Jewish studies “a consuming passion”, also spoke about the work he is personally undertaking to promote Judaism in India.  This includes holding poster exhibitions, organising lectures with prominent Muslim intellectuals who speak against Holocaust denial, and adding Jewish-related content to his own teaching. Dr. Aafreedi was in Australia to speak at the Australian Association of Jewish Studies conference.

Australia Lecture Tour of Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi (February 2013)

Indian Scholar of Indo-Judaic Studies on a Lecture Tour of Australia

 Weekly Press Pakistan, January 29, 2013

Perhaps the only Indian scholar of Indo-Judaic Studies and a Jewish-Muslim Relations Activist, Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi would be on a lecture tour of Australia from 9th to 24th February 2013, during which he would speak at four Australian universities in Sydney and Brisbane among many other venues on a wide variety of topics. His tour is sponsored by the Fund for Higher Jewish Education and Mandelbaum House, a residential college of the University of Sydney. Dr. Aafreedi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History & Civilization at the Gautam Buddha University, Greater NOIDA

He starts his tour with a presentation on the “Indian Muslim Involvement with the Hebrew language” as part of a panel dedicated to the Asian Sub-Continent: India, at the 25th annual conference of the Australian Association for Jewish Studies on “Jewish Languages, Jewish Cultures: The Shaping of Jewish Civilization” on Sunday, 10th February at 2:30 p.m. at the Jewish Museum in Sydney. It is a prestigious conference exploring the profound place and importance of language in shaping Jewish culture in the past, present and future. During the conference Dr. Aafreedi would also chair the session focused on the Egyptian Jewish World. 

He would draw the attention to the “Paradox of the Absence of Anti-Semitism and the Popularity of Hitler in India” in a lecture under the auspices of the Shalom Institute’s lecture series Network on Tuesday, 12th February at 12:30 p.m. at ABL Level 24, Chifley Tower, Sydney. The same day in the evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Mandelbaum House, 385 Abercrombie Street, Darlington, Sydney 2009, he would bring into sharp focus the “Jewish Contributions to Indian Cinema and Literature”. The very next day on Wednesday, 13th February, he will explore the “South Asian Muslim Attitudes towards Jews, Israel and Zionism” under the auspices of the Shalom Institute’s lecture series Encounters at Waverley Library, 32-48 Denison Street, Bondi Junction. In the evening that day, Dr. Aafreedi will deliver a lecture at the Sephardi synagogue at 7:30 p.m. on the “Tradition of Israelite Origin of Pathans”. Before leaving for the second leg of his lecture tour in Brisbane, he will speak on the interconnections between “India, Islam and Israel in the 21st century” under the auspices of Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. During his stay in Sydney, Dr. Aafreedi can be reached for a potential interview through Professor Suzanne Rutland of the University of Sydney, whose email address is suzanne.rutland@sydney.edu.au

 

In Brisbane, Dr. Aafreedi would give a lecture each on “South Asian Muslim Attitudes towards Jews, Israel and Zionism” at the Multi-Cultural Centre, Griffith University and the University of Queensland on Tuesday 19th February and Thursday 21st February respectively. He will be hosted in Brisbane by the Institute of Asian Studies.

Dr. Aafreedi is a well known orator whose lectures have been greatly appreciated in the US, the UK, Israel and India, and he has held fellowships at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge, UK, Tel Aviv University, Israel, and the Centre for Communication and Development Studies, Pune, India. He would be touring Australia as a Visiting Scholar of the University of Sydney. He has to his credit the first ever Holocaust films retrospective in South Asia, held in Lucknow, a major centre of Muslim scholarship, in India in 2009. He sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Indo-Judaic Studies, the International Advisory Board of Asian Jewish Life and is the Editor (International) of the English section of the online newspaper Weekly Press Pakistan.

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