Cochin, India - Death of Last Kohen Just Before Rosh HaShanah Deals Blow to Jewish Community

Cochin, India - The Jewish community of Cochin has witnessed a series of “ends of eras” during its 500-year history on India’s southwestern coast. Now another sad milestone was marked: Shalom Cohen, 87, the community’s last Kohen, died just before he would have blessed the dwindling congregation on Rosh Hashanah.

All the Jews of the Fort Cochin neighborhood of Mattancherry turned out for Cohen’s funeral - as did an equal number of Jews from the mainland Ernakulam side of greater Cochin - as well as neighbors and shopkeepers from Jew Town Road.
The funeral was held in the Sasson House, a former community center-turned-senior citizens' home across from the Paradesi Synagogue. The procession was short: The Jewish cemetery is around the corner from the synagogue, and everyone except for the very aged - who rode with the coffin - followed behind the slow-moving vehicle on foot. Though the monsoon season was virtually over, as soon as the cortege reached the gates of the cemetery, it began to drizzle.

Jews of Cochin do not have any tradition of rabbis serving the community: The religious leaders were called hachamim, or sages. Cohen came from the last family to have a member who could lay claim to being a hacham: His older brother, who died a few years ago, was the shochet for the community. Though he managed to pass the skill along to a younger man, the present shochet - who is not religiously observant and runs a flower shop on Shabbas out of one of the unused synagogues — has proven controversial.

Cohen is survived by a sister, and with Cohen’s passing, only 13 Jews remain in Jew Town, this section of Cochin is famous for the Paradesi Synagogue, one of the oldest synagogues in continuous operation in the world. The shul was built and dedicated in 1568.