The Bene Israel Indian Jewish Family in Transnational Context

This paper traces the development of the Bene Israel family from Maharashtra in transnational context between the motherland India, and the fatherland, Israel, where the majority resides. The Bene Israel are unusual in that they are a group of Indian Jews, adhering to a monotheistic religion, yet culturally akin to Indians of other faiths. The paper focuses upon family structure and residency in the wake of migration and Westernization. The paper is based upon a re-examination of census data collected among the Bene Israel Indian Jews residing in the town of Lod in Israel, and a fresh look at the Bene Israel family today. The paper analyses the rate of joint family living in India and the deviance from it in practice due to developmental and other factors. Then it describes the Indian Jewish family structure in Israel during the 1970s and shows that 20% more families were living in nuclear units. Despite the decline in joint residency, the joint family continued to exist in novel manner, including “proximal housing”. Today, modern technology serves to unite once disparate members of joint families within Israel, and transnationally between India and Israel.