The Arabic-Hebrew liaison Calligraphic Project is done.............

The project from far west to create a Hebrew Birkat ha bayith in Arabic Kufic style font was really a challenge to me it, took a long time to frame the alphabets.Initially started it with calligraphy by following some basic rules of Hebrew calligraphy but as per the request from Mr.L I had done it vise-versa i.e, I included more of Arabic calligraphic elements. There were more constrains than the comfort so after overcoming those constrains i persued with the work and the work was finally done. I had received a good comment from Mr.L and here is the picture of the Birkat Ha Bayith.

He told that he will be engraving that in Jerusalem Stone. I hope that the engraved image will be almost similar to the below given image.

 
Hope everyone will like this word.

Hebrew alphabets in Arabic kufic style, a new attempt.

Recently I had received a requisition letter for Calligraphic job; it was from Odessa, Ukraine. Mr.L(not mentioning the name due to his request) is a Jew who admires Islamic Art and Architecture he had designed his house in Moroccan (Magribi) Style. His need was to design Birkat Ha Bayit in Hebrew but the twist; it must resemble Arabic Kufic style writing. As a calligrapher it is a challenging job to create a new style of Font within a short period of time, but I am a sort of person who likes these type of Challenging works.

To My knowledge no one had created such a font a liaison of Hebrew and Arabic. Some alphabets resembles to some extend but not the corresponding or respective alphabets.But some like ש,س resembles the same, but the ultimate aim, to create a Hebrew font in Arabic specifically Floral Kufic style made me to get acquainted with the job for a long hours. Hope i can meet the need of Mr.L and make him happy.

I will soon upload the picture of the work as soon as possible.
I can even do any such challenging Calligraphic work. Contact : thoufeekzak@gmail.com

A Cochini Pesah

After a long days of studies and I got leave for the Easter holiday from my college, after a long 6 hour journey I reached back to the hometown yesterday night. As it was Pesah I went to visit Sarah aunty I know she will be expecting me, Thaha was standing in front of the house I greeted him and we both entered to the house, when I entered Sarah aunty told me that she was expecting me, why because I use to visit her during every festive occasion and this time too I did the same.

She enquired about my studies and my family then she took me and Thaha to the dining room then served some Israeli cookies and cakes. She cut cakes and gave to me and the cookies too, it had a different texture and taste quiet Israeli…..

Thaha showed me an English news paper’s supplementary where a detailed documentary was there about the Cochin Jewish community. Then Sarah aunty started to explain about the pesah preparations like cleaning the house, stacking the vessels and utensils. Cleaning and storing the ingredients, the interesting factor is that she uses to wash the sea salt and then dry it under sun and store it.

She took a carton box and showed me the Israeli made “Matzos” and she gave me a piece and insited me to eat and she told that “You will always remember me if you eat it”. She took a jar and showed me “Duoh” ie preserved dates jam which is only used for the special occasions like Pesah. And explained that it has been made 3 or 4 years back but the taste is still the same and I asked about the matzos ball soup which I had read from an Jewish cooking book “The Israeli cook book” written by “Molly Lyons Bar-David” she showed me the matzos meal packet which somebody sent from Israel and the talk prolonged for two hours and the Thaha told me about the newly opened Tourism Police museum and I went there the place was so beautiful I saw many Jewish items displayed like Kippas, Menorahs, and Hebrew books. Then I talked with the police man who takes care of the museum and talked about the Tourism and related.

Then I went back to Sarah auntie’s house, Isaac uncle was standing outside on seeing me he was happy and he asked about my studies and when it will be getting over and we talked about the pesah and I told to Isaac uncle that I know that for Pesah there will be a special plate in which contains celery/lettuce, hardboiled egg, 3 Matzos, Duoh, salt, vinegar, a roasted leg of lamb. He told I am almost right and in Israel they use honey instead of the duoh and even explained about the Rosh Hashanah in Israel only apple and honey is seen during the service but in cochin the entire dining table is filled with fresh fruits. And he explained why these items are used in the service during the Pesah Seder, in Pesah Seder the use the silverware if possible and any bitter herbs where this shows the harshness of slavery of Israelis when they were in Misrayim(Egypt),Duoh as a symbol of the mortar or the clay used by the Israelite to build the warehouses for Misrayim, any vegetable with vinegar or salt water to dip it, a roasted leg of lamb and roasted which shows the Pesah sacrifice or hardboiled egg and which symbolizes the festival sacrifice wine will be used and blessing will be recited in between followed by ritual and traditional of the meal of Seder night. And that will be lasting for 11 pm.

After that I went back to my home, having another wonderful occasion with them.

Easter egg designing competition

Today there was an easter egg painting competition held in my college and i had made an egg scroll and an Ukrainian style easter egg with an Megan David in it.i decorated it with some hay. I got a good comments from my fellow colleagues. here i am posting a picture below in which the egg with a star and colour ribbon hope u all liked it............. Even you can see my English calligraphy in it..

The Hanukah an Indo-Jewish experience

The sun was on his way to sleep, the queen of Arabian Sea with a cool and gentle breeze gave her vale to the sun. The elegant red coloured bungalow that bears a lot of histories is celebrating the Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights. The Menorahs (Jewish candelabrum) was kept ready to be lighted for rituals of the Hanukah to start with......

Here I narrate a bit of history about the beautiful bungalow and my experience of attending Hanukah there, a Jewish festival in the restaurant named Menorah in Cochin. It stands in Cochin’s one of the oldest bungalow The Koder House, it was reconstructed over an early nineteenth-century Portuguese mansion by the Koder family’s patriarch, Samuel Koder, it is believed to have been structured and gabled in Europe and shipped to Cochin. Its windows are said to be made of glass imported from Belgium and the stories go on like it.

The Koders family immigrated to Cochin from Iraq a few centuries ago. Samuel Koder ran the Cochin Electric Company which was eventually sold to the government. Also, the Koders had a huge chain of department stores across Kerala, which too, were sold. The Koders could be relied on to stock luxury goods such as alcoholic beverages from the UK, fine clothes, and chandeliers from Europe. The owners, of course, were like mini-royalty.
As Samuel Koder was the honorary consul to the Netherlands, the Dutch ambassadors visited the house often. He also began the Freemasons’ organisation in Cochin.
In its heydey under the Koders, the house was known for its famous Friday Open houses. This was a big event on the Cochin social calendar. Though informal, anticipation of the event would build up in mid-week itself. It became a focal point of anyone who wished to meet the Koders or know about Indian Jewish lifestyle. Visitors could be as many as 45, or just a handful - among them ambassadors, celebrities or heads of state! Conversation and food was the order of the day.

The house presently turned to a Boutique hotel with a Jewish restaurant, The Menorah conducts this 8-day long Jewish festival as an Indo Jewish festival for last 4 years. The American Jew Mr. Chaim Weissman is the host for the festival, he is actually an American as apple pie. The Menorah or hannukia (Jewish candelabrum with 9 branches) were kept ready for lighting for the ritual to start with. After enjoying the beauty of beach I and my friend Vishnu entered to the restaurant where the action is, we were escorted to our reserved seat, to the very next there was a small crowd of some people who were talking to each other. There were two Indians and 3 foreigners.  I could identify Mr. Chaim Weismann even though I am having only a nodding acquaintance with him. I introduced me and my friend to him. Mentioning that I know Hebrew language and have a very good relation with cochin Jewish community. Suddenly he asked me whether have you earned a blog. I told yes I do. Then he explained to others that I had made a very good and sensitive portrayal about the Samuel Hallegua, the son in law of Mr. Satu Koder the owner of this Bungalow. By saying this he introduced me to the crowd who was present over there. He asked whether you know Queenie, Samuel uncles wife. I told, Yes I do, and told that she gave me many cochin Jewish recipes and I am a frequent visitor to Sarah Cohen (the eldest among the community).

By 7 pm a group of people entered the restaurant by their appearance itself we can read they are Israelites. Mr. Chaim wished them and had a small word with them as a host, then he introduced me to them in Hebrew language, I didn’t understand it fully but what I understood is that I am a person who read and writes Hebrew language very well. They were amazed to hear that and they excitedly asking how I became curious towards their culture and language.

Then came many people to the scene and the ceremony started, Mr. Chaim explained about the history of the bungalow and then the conducting of ritual, he asked me whether can I loudly read this prayer in Hebrew I was excited and so nervous, honestly I said I can read but I could not do it right now because I would like to be an audience. He told no problem, and he gave the book to one of those who was standing in front of him. He covered his head with a white cloth and started with the blessing. The candles were lighted one after one, a candelabrum lighted by people from different part of the world with a pretty different experience. Then there were other traditional oil lamps for lighting it, Mr. Chaim called a young lady who was a cochin Jew settled in Israel her name was Aadi. The lighting ceremony was finished succeeded by the hanukah songs. To the scene, came a family they were a bit late. The ceremony concluded, some people went out after it and others settled down on their respective places for the hanukah dinner. Mr. Chaim came to us and introduced that family who came late that they came from Israel but they were emigrants from the Kerala’s oldest Jewish settlement in Mala, in Thrissur. We wished them and asked whether they had been to other synagogues in Thrissur. They told yes but not to Parur. They told they couldn’t contact with the Namiah family who has the key of the synagogue. I told I can help them by giving the contact number. Then I showed them some picture of the synagogues and cemeteries of the Mala, Parur, Chennamangalam fortunately one tombs picture in my mobile was of their grandfathers. Erela was happy to see it and the synagogue. She called her sister Lea and showed those pictures to her she was also happy and asked for my contact number and address.

Then we just went to our seat and ordered for some Indian Jewish dishes and we were discussing about the scenes that happened, then we thought of seeing the bungalow interior as it may take time to the food to get ready. So with the help of the operational manager we had a brief session. Where the each nook and corner have some to say about the past Indian Jewish history. The three storied building has good wooden flooring in the first and second the room was large and spacious and each holds a well furnished coat and other utilities. The ground floor which holds the restaurant has good flooring which resembles a chess board. The chandeliers and other fixtures had an antique touch which all together gave an endurance of a lofty visual feast for us.





The food was ready and the waiter seeks for our approval. First our table was occupied by “Oaf Marak”, which literally means chicken soup but it is a chicken based broth with vegetables and meat ball. That actually tasted well with dominating flavor of coriander leaves which is one of the main ingredients in cochin Jewish cuisinette




That was followed by the “Kubba” stuffed chicken dumpling in Jewish gravy, this least spicy curry went well with the chapattis and “Plav” (cochin jewish coconut rice dish) and the dinner to end with I ordered for “Queenie aunties fruit salad”, cut fruits with whipped cream in Queenie auntie’s style.




I was surprised to read the name of the dish, because I personally knew Queenie auntie very well and I was proud to say that to my friend and was too interested to explain about her, She is the daughter of Mr. Shabdai Samuel Koder the last owner of the bungalow and even she is the wife of late warden of the cochin pardesi synagogue Mr. Samuel Hallegua, who was also my friend actually an adorable Crichton. When I went to visit her, out of my interest she used to give a long lectures on Cochin Jewish cuisinette and Jewish dietary laws which is valuable for me as this cuisinette and the community is at its labefaction phase. It’s sad to say only ten members are remaining alive and well in the cochin Jewish community and rest emigrated to Israel years ago, as a cochinite I took an intention to preserve it ,for that she helped me out by giving some recipes and even Sarah Aunty also helped me out by sharing her valuable experience.

As my home is only a walk able distance from the Koder house we walked, I was recollecting the incidents which gifted me a lot of memories and memoirs about Cochin Jews............................

Research on Cochin Jewish Cuisine

For my research topic I chose Cochin Jewish cuisine. For that I had started collecting the data for that I got the verbal help from Sarah Auntie including the kashurath law and some recipes and a week before I got a printed recipes from Queenie Auntie, which include the dishes like Tuna Pastel, Jewish capsicum chicken etc. I even plan for the a portion to kept for the topic similarities in malabari Jewish and Muslim cuisine , that starts from the strict observance of dietary law to the identical dishes with different names
Here you can see the pictures of Sarah Auntie with Kadathala Pastel (egg mixture wrapped kadathala i.e. a thin rice flour pan cake) in the grill pan.

Simchat Torah –A Cochin version of Tolerance and Peace

The Jews in Cochin is always a bit different from the other Jews in the world as they have their own version of everything. The Pardesi Synagogue well decorated with gold and silver embroidered Parakoth, Jasmine flower garlands, Candles and other traditional decorative which they used years ago and those are used still as a symbol of love to the traditions. As explained by Sarah Auntie and Thaha.

On 8th evening I went to Sarah Auntie’s house as she invited me for seeing the Simchat Torah festival to be followed next three days. When I went there, Thaha was stitching the old Parakoth which will be above 50 years old with an ivory colour embroidered with gold plated silver thread and it was given to the synagogue by “Issaac Hallegua” as it is written. Sarah auntie was explaining about the parakoth her father brought from Bombay as a tribute to her late Mother and she told that it was brought in a big box it was also embroidered in gold plated silver and she asked Thaha to take me along with him to synagogue to show that parakoth She came out of her house and was still explaining about the parakoth all the tourists were looking at me literally a center of attraction oops….. He took me to Synagogue, the evening light gave a fine touch to it and I was amazed to see beautifully decorated synagogue.Mr.Joy the care taker of synagogue and Solomon an old man who is assistant to him both are Christians and they were decorating the synagogue with the help of some other Kashmiri shopkeepers of Jews street. we gave the stitched parakoth to Mr. joy he was still engaged in the decorating works and we went back to Sarah auntie’s house and I promised her that I will be coming tomorrow. To see the Aalvilakku “the light which resembles a banyan tree ”.

The next day when I went there Her, Seli chechi and Thaha was making Kadathala Pasthel (a delicacy snack of Cochin Jews) for Shabbat and she allowed me to try making one and she gave a good comment on it and it was easy to me as I had tried it once in my home. And we grilled it with a little of Coconut oil. After I went out I saw Gammy uncle whose name is Gamliel I sat with him in the cut stone which was there in front of aunt’s house and Thaha too joined. Gammy uncle explained many funny stories of his child hood days and about the other stories of late Sassoon kocha (Kocha and kaaka are two old words used by other people to call cochin jews generally) he was a character who used to crack good jokes as gammy uncle explained.stories took a long way and was absolutely funny and even it gave a unclear picture of old cochin Jewish community, by the time the Aalvilakku was lighted and we went to see it and clicked many photos Isaac uncle came out of synagogue and saw the Magen David lamp placed in a wrong direction by the workers.

Later Me,Thaha and Joy placed it in right position.


Then had a talk with the police men who are the guards of synagogue and answered their questions about the Jewish community and culture. By the time went on a car came to the Jew street and a family came out and they were from Hyderabad. they were amazed to see this auspicious evening with lighted aalvilakku and they asked about it to a police man but I explained to them about it was something special to me and hope for them too. And I introduced Thaha to them and show my Hebrew calligraphic pieces and said to Mr.Vinod that these are the symbols of peace and harmony which you can see only in cochin, he was happy with it I read it from his face they left I promised that I will make a call.


The next Day I went to Sarah Auntie’s house with some fruits as it was Shabbat. Seli chechi took Tea with some banana chips, and some other snacks ,“burdoor” ( a specialty sponge cake of Cochin Jews) and one special cake with dried fruits and nuts with the taste of Ghee (Indian Clarified butter). Isaac uncle also joined for that and he was talking about the similarity between Jews and Muslims and said we are brothers and he asked me how I learned Hebrew. Sarah Aunt told that Isaac Uncle liked me very much otherwise he wont talk to you this much. later Gammy uncle also came there and I asked Seli chechi to take the oranges that I brought we had it together by the time Sarah auntie came dressed with ruby red sari and gold ornaments. She asked me to bring my mom to show the decorated synagogue and she made a call and at last my whole family came to visit Sarah Auntie and Thana’s family also came by that time and Auntie took us to Synagogue it was the time for them for prayer but as there was only less number of Jews to be a Asarah (a number of ten) but she tooked us and we saw the beautifully decorated synagogue. Gammy uncle along with others was sitting with one person as I didn’t knew him I went to him and wished and he introduced as Sam and I asked for his full name he told Yosef Abraham I wrote it in Hebrew and showed he was pretty amazed and showed to his Jewish friend from Israel he also liked it then I went to gammy uncles wife who already was there just beside them stood the Sam’s wife and his daughter, gammy uncles wife explained about me and Sam’s wife asked me to write her name that is Hannah and after she told to write Yakirah her daughters name I wrote it too. And we left from there


That was a great experience to me.
I think Jew town in Cochin is a small Jerusalem where Jews and Muslims live with love peace and harmony but unlike Jerusalem this place makes the sense of the name Jerusalem “the city of peace.” with the peaceful co-existence and tolerance among the religion.