Judeo-Marathi

A page from a Haggada shel Pesah in Judaeo-Marathi which was printed in Mumbai in 1890.

Judeo-Marathi (Marathi: जुदाव मराठी) is a variety of Marathi spoken by the Bene Israel, a Jewish ethnic group in Maharashtra. There is no evidence that Judeo-Marathi substantially differed from other forms of Marathi.[1] However, there are several manuscripts of Jewish texts written in Marathi using Devanagari or Hebrew script. For instance, a Haggadah from 1911 contains Hebrew written in Devanagari,[1] and a prayer book with instructions in Marathi written in the Hebrew script.[2] In 2011, a Marathi-Hebrew text titled Poona Haggadah, was found in Salford. The 137-year-old book, which was used by the Bene-Israel community, was discovered by historian Yaakov Wise.[3]

Currently, the Bene Israel community mainly resides in Israel, but some continue to live in Mumbai.[4]

See also

• Judeo-Urdu
• Jewish languages

References

1. Aaron D. Rubin; Lily Kahn. "Urdu and Marathi". Jewish Languages from A to Z. Routledge. pp. 189–194.
2. Lily Kahn; Aaron D. Rubin (eds.). "Other Jewish Languages, Past and Present". Handbook of Jewish Languages. Brill. pp. 189–194.
3. "Rare Jewish-Indian Haggadah found in Salford". BBC News. 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
4. Weil, Shalva. "The Bene Israel of India". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.