My friends Sonny (Samuel), Benny (Benjamin), Gary (Gershon) and all those Mahimkars, Poonekars, Samsons and Solomons once of Bombay and now in Israel can soon apply for Portuguese citizenship if the proposed law for admitting Sephardic Jews is passed soon.
It is good of Portugal which follows Spain, to make reparation even though 500 years later, for the sins of the Inquisition that were heaped upon innocent Sephardics (Asian Jews) once in time, not only in Europe but in all the territories over which Portugal held sway including Bombay and Bassein. The ancestors of Sonny, Benny and Gary, originally Moroccan and Tunisian Jews who probably set up shop in Europe, were displaced by Portuguese zealousness in practising their Catholicism and found their home and refuge with some kindly Indian Raja in the south and later on with the British in Bombay which was becoming a major trading city. Not wanting to retain their distinctiveness in the public eye, to avoid repetition of their persection history, they took on Marathi names and began speaking Marathi fluently in order to meld with the locals, although they kept their Jewish identity at home and in synagogue worship. Life in Israel is quite comfortable, westernized and more peaceful than before thanks to American support so I think Sonny et al will no longer need to learn Portuguese in addition to the English, Marathi and Hindi they knew in India and the Hebrew they had to learn in Israel. They had to serve their compulsory military service and became tough with the life in early Israel. Therefore the only reason they would take Portuguese citizenship would be either to satisfy one of their children for whom the EU beckoned or to get it to spy for the ubiquitous Mossad who no doubt have a presence in Goa. Viva my Jewish friends and a toast to our shared history with the Portuguese. Roland. Toronto. Sent from Samsung Mobile
