Kerala witnesses Jewish wedding after 15 years

The Jewish community of Kerala celebrated a traditional wedding after a gap of 15 years capturing the essence of Jewish customs. The ceremony, which was held at a private resort here on Sunday was attended by the family, friends, and community members and officiated by a rabbi who reached the state from Israel.

Rachel Malakhai, a data scientist in the US and daughter of the former crime branch SP Benoy Malakhai got married to Richard Zachary Rowe, an American citizen and a NASA engineer.

Rabbi, Ariel Tyson, from Israel officiated the wedding.

The wedding ceremony took place under a canopy (that symbolised the home) called Huppah.

Family sources said this was the first wedding in Kerala that happened outside a synagogue.

The event assumed significance due to the rare nature of such weddings in Kerala. The last Jewish wedding to take place in the state was in 2008 after a gap of nearly two decades at the Thekkumbhagam synagogue, Mattancherry.

As the number of participants were limited inside the synagogue, the families decided to conduct the ceremony at the private resort in order to allow other family members also to witness in the rituals.

According to some historians, the first Jews to reach Kerala were traders and they came during the time of King Solomon, that is, more than 2,000 years back.

Only a few families are right now left in the state.