History of the Bene Israel of India: Natal Ritual

Haeem Samuel Kehimkar

1897–1937

Chapter IV. The Present Social Condition of the Bene-Israel

On the morning of the twelfth day, the child is bathed and laid in a cradle with the repetition of the word Beshem Adonai that is, “in the name of God”; one or two songs are then sung to lull the child to sleep, and at other times a pretty lullaby is always repeated while it is being rocked to sleep.* But on the first occasion when the child is being put into the cradle, a coconut or two are broken and their water is sprinkled on all sides, and the coconut Kernals and sugar are handed round to the children of the house. [ . . . ]

1. Jo, my child,
My seed of pearl,
Keep your eyes
From crying, my treasure, jo.
2. I waved your cradle
of sea-weed, my child;1
Lie quietly,
Sleep, my sweet, jo.
3. I’ll lay you in it,
You’ll sleep pleasantly;
I’ll pray to the Above,
The Lord of the world, jo.
4. My milk has quietened you,
Has sweetened your lips,
And within the hand of God
I shall deliver your soul, jo.
5. I washed your flesh,
I pitied you dear;
In the Name of the Lord
I put you to sleep, jo.
6. Your shirt is green,
Your matlet of silk;
The Pipalpan is yellow
And pure are the pearls, jo.
7. Your cradle is of Sandalwood,
Your cushion of silk;
Grandmother will come
And will sing you to sleep, jo jo.
8. I’ll tread pearls for you
To decorate your neck;
Your mother will dress
Her head with flowers.2

In the morning of the fortieth day after a boy’s birth or the eightieth3 day after a girl’s, a woman lately confined is being purified. A barber is sent for in the afternoon of this day, and the head of the child is shaved, as the Bene-Israel women regard it improper to allow the hair, which the child had while in the womb, to grow on after its birth. Some elderly person takes it on his or her lap and a new hand-kerchief is spread below its head, so that its hair may fall upon the kerchief while it is being shaved off. The hand-kerchief with the hair in it is presented after the shaving is over to the barber who receives a seer of rice and a coconut as ration, and four or eight Annas in addition.4

Page of sheet music.
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Musical notation and words for a lullaby sung to babies in the Bene Israel community in India.

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Page of sheet music.
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Musical notation and words for a lullaby sung to babies in the Bene Israel community in India.

Notes

The author probably refers to the following popular Lullaby which I saw reproduced in a collection of Hebrew Smiroth. The tune was given to me by Mrs. Simon, a Bene-Israel lady of Bombay. [This note appears in the 1937 edition of the book by Kehimkar, edited by Immanuel Olsvanger.—Eds.]

In the 2nd verse the Bene-Israel see an allusion to Moses [note appears in the 1937 edition, edited by Olsvanger.—Eds.].

The last stanza implies a father’s wish that the child will remain alive, since it is forbidden by Indian custom for a widow to wear flowers [note appears in the 1937 edition—Eds.].

Leviticus XII:1–5.

[An anna was worth 1/16 of an Indian rupee.—Eds.]

Credits

Haeem Samuel Kehimkar, from The History of the Bene Israel of India, ed. Immanuel Olsvanger (Tel Aviv: Dayag Press, 1937), pp. 120–22. Used with approval from Immanuel Olsvanger’s family.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.

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Creator Bio

Haeem Samuel Kehimkar

1831–1908

A member of the Bene Israel community, the largest of the three distinct Jewish communities of India, Haeem Samuel Kehimkar was born in Alibag (today in Maharashtra, India) and worked as a civil servant for the British governorate in Bombay. In 1853, he helped form the Bene Israel Benevolent Society, a social services organization dedicated to providing support for primary Jewish education and orphan care in the community. Along with his two brothers, Kehimkar opened a primary school in 1875 to teach children both Marathi and Hebrew. The school eventually expanded to include secondary education. In addition to his charitable and education work, Kehimkar edited a journal of communal affairs, published a Hebrew primer and book of Hebrew and Marathi songs, and wrote a pioneering history of the Bene Israel community; completed in 1897, the book remained in manuscript until 1937, when the Zionist activist, Jewish folklorist, and Hebrew translator from Eastern languages Immanuel Olsvanger had it published in Tel Aviv.

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