The women's section, the ezrat nashim, is the most prominent feature distinguishing Orthodox synagogues from those of other movements. Orthodox men and women pray separately and, in almost all cases, the Torah reading takes place in the men's section. Women follow the Torah reading from afar.
But this is not the case, with the Malabar Jews - often referred to as the Cochin Jews - of southern India. They actually have two reading tables, one in the centre of the main floor and another in the gallery or balcony, especially built for women worshippers. Outside India and Israel, reading from a second table was apparently only practised in the medieval synagogues of Carpentras and Cavaillon in France's Provence region and in Bursa, Anatolia.
The Malabar Jews are descendants of refugees who reached the coast of southern India following the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, though legend traces them earlier to the time of King Solomon. By 1000 CE, they had become such a thriving, wealthy and loyal community that on a set of copper plates - which were used to inscribe official charters - King Parkaran Iravivanmar spelled out the rights that he had granted his Jewish subjects. Between 1500 and 1600, the Malabar Jews established cemeteries and eight or nine synagogues.
On Shabbat and Jewish festivals, the Torah was read from the upper tevah (bimah), demonstrating how important it was to include women in the Torah reading. The practice encouraged females to attend Shabbat morning and holiday prayers. According to Professor Barbara Johnson, many local Jewish girls became proficient in reading Hebrew prayers and the weekly Torah portion, along with the cantillation of the Torah. Sometimes it was a grandmother or aunt who coached young boys as they prepared for chanting their first haftarah and Torah portions in the synagogue.
Yossi Oren, an expert on Cochini Jewish custom and tradition, explains that traditionally women have been in charge of children's education. It is a responsibility which, he maintains, is based on Proverbs 1:8: "My son, heed your father's discipline and do not forsake your mother's Torah [instruction]."
In his community, hagbah, the lifting of the Torah is performed twice, first in the men's section and then in the women's section. Only after the male worshippers and the female worshipers have gathered around to take note of the place where the reading begins, does the Torah reading proceed from the second tevah.
The origin of the second tevah is obscure, according to another member of the community, Yaela Cooper, who is writing her doctorate on the Cochini community in Kerala in the early 20th century. Professor Johnson has suggested the custom might come from Italian synagogues in which a single tevah was placed against the entrance wall, opposite the ark. Access was from a staircase from the main hall.
A more intriguing theory about the origin of the second tevah, however, dates it back to Second Temple times. Nathan Katz, author of Who Are the Jews of India? credits South African Rabbi Aaron Greenbaum with finding a passage in the Talmud, which says when the agricultural sabbatical ended, a special tevah was built in the women's court for reading the Torah (Sotah 41a-41b).
Seating in the women's section was a pleasurable experience, as the entire synagogue ceiling consisted of painted wood-carved lotus flowers. Wood is in good supply in lush Kerala and lotus flowers are a commonly used Hindu symbol. Numerous coloured-glass lamps of assorted sizes and shapes also hung from the ceiling.
Men carried the Torah up to the second tevah via a special indoor staircase. A low mechitzah separated the reading area from the women's seating. The bowed wood railing of this unique Torah reading area jutted out from the gallery. Apparently, this was the case in the two synagogues of Ernakulam (not active, but today maintained by a local Jew, Elias Josephai); Parur (restored by the Kerala government and now a museum); Mala, Chennamangalam (also a museum); and Mattancherry. Women accessed the ezrat nashim from a separate staircase which was also used by children, whose classes were held on the second level.
A significant proportion of India's Jewish population resettled in the young state of Israel, motivated by love of Zion. Living in multicultural Israel, the Israeli Malabar community can now compare their tradition with that of other Orthodox congregations.
When the Malabar Jewish community moved, they left behind their institutions, but not their customs. Reading the Torah from the women's section continues at the synagogue at Moshav Nevatim. The ezrat nashim now covers not one, but three sides of the sanctuary. All the female members of the moshav can find a place to sit in the horseshoe-shaped gallery. An honourable custom has been lovingly transplanted in Israel.
