While the 50 plus fire temples in Bombay are struggling to attract devotees, the 10 synagogues in the city are facing a more dire situation in getting worshippers. Ten synagogues located in Raigad district in Maharashtra are either shut or need repairs. A dwindling Jewish population (4,650 in India as per the last census) and migrations have made it difficult to hold regular Shabbat (Saturday) prayers, noted the Hindustan Times (HT) of March 4, 2019. At least 10 male community members need to be present to form a minyan (gathering) to read the holy Torah.
(L): Magen Aboth Synagogue, Alibag (Photo: Farrokh Jijina);
Kenesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Bombay (Photo: Khaki Tours)
The newly renovated Kenesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue located at Forbes Street in Bombay (see "Synergies at the Synagogue,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 7, 2019) is one such place of worship that finds it difficult to conduct regular services, while at the 175-year-old Shaare Rason Synagogue in Masjid Bunder, members read the Torah only once a month. At the Shaar Haramaim Synagogue, also in Masjid Bunder, community members commute from Dombivili, Thana and Mulund every second Saturday to make up the required quorum of 10 men. This place of worship is believed to be the oldest in Maharashtra.
The Beth El Synagogue at Revdanda in Raigad district has not had a minyan for the last 10 years. "We have… (an) arrangement where people from the entire district visit every synagogue in Alibag, Revdanda and Pen every alternate Saturday,” Beth El president Benjamin Waskar told the newspaper.
A synagogue in Tale village has been converted to a library. "With no one left in our village, the temple might be of use to others,” president of Shaar Haramaim Synagogue told HT. The report noted that community members are forced to form informal groups to maintain synagogues, farmlands and cemeteries belonging to the community.