ELIYAHOO HANABICHA MALIDA.

One of the unique practices with the Jews of India isto perform a service of thanksgiving to Prophet Elijah. The service is either called �Eliyahoo Hannabi� or �Malida�. When an Indian Jew says, �We are going to have �Eliyahoo Hannabi� or �We are going to have �Malida�, he means the same thing, that is, he is going to have a thanksgiving ceremony in honor of the Prophet Elijah. Surprisingly enough, the former only means Prophet Elijah, and the latter, the name of a kind of food put on the platter during the thanksgiving ceremony (fried beaten rice mixed with grated coconut, sugar, cardamom and other smelling spices and dry fruit). But what it clearly indicates is that the Indian Jews know, when they call the ceremony by these names, they are well understood by their community members. Before we look into the
origin of this practice and its importance in the lives of the Jews of India, let us see who this person Elijah is and when and where he lived. Thus we will also be able to dig into the possible departure date of Indian Jews from Israel towards India.
Elijah was one of the foremost prophets of Israel. Evidently his home was in Tishbeh, thought by some to be a village in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan River (1Kings, 17:1). He started his long career as prophet in Israel during the reign of King Ahab, who began to rule about 940 B.C.E. and continued his teachings against wrong doings during Ahab�s son
Ahaziah (began 919 B.C.E.) (1 Kings, 22:51). The last time he is mentioned as serving as a prophet, this time for Judah, is towards the end of the eight- year reign of King Jehoram of Judah, which the rule started in 913 B.C.E. (2Kings, 8:16).
The loftiest and most wonderful prophet of the Old Testament, 8th century BC. The eventful life of Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Testament, isrecorded for us in 1 and 2 Kings. He was a real but almost legendary figure, like John the Baptist, hairy, dressed in animal skins, coming out of the wilderness to terrify the whole country with his announcements of impending calamity, and then disappearing.
Elijah lived during the reign of Ahab, at a time when the Jewish people had again turned to pagan gods. He appeared before Ahab and announced an extended drought. Yet no one repented, so he hid himself by the brook Cherith, where he was fed by ravens each morning
and evening. When the brook dried up, Elijah moved to Zarephath, where he met a poor widow preparing a last meal for herself and her son before they died of starvation. Nevertheless, the widow extended hospitality to the limit of her ability and was rewarded. God, through Elijah, constantly and miraculously renewed her supply of oil and grain. When her son died, Elijah restored him to life.
After three years of drought, God ordered Elijah to return to Ahab. During Elijah's absence, Ahab's wife,Jezebel, had ordered that all prophets of God be executed. Obadiah, one of the king's ministers and a minor prophet, hid 50 of them in a cave, where he met Elijah on his way to Ahab's court. When Elijah commanded Obadiah to take him to Ahab, he panicked
because there was a standing order to kill every prophet on sight. Nevertheless, Obadiah took Elijah to his king Ahab accused Elijah of bringing trouble to Israel.
Elijah replied: "I have not troubled Israel; but you,and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Ba'alam."
Then he proposed a public contest: "Gather all Israel on Mount Carmel, and 450 prophets of Baal." The king agreed, so they met at the appointed time and place. Elijah admonished the people to choose between Baal and the God of Israel--whosoever proved stronger. The
prophet of God and the prophets of Baal would each chose a bullock, cut it, and lay it on wood. The true God would be the one who would cause a holocaust. The prophets of Baal began first. For days and nights they prayed and danced about and leapt upon the altar,
and Elijah derided them: "Cry louder. Perhaps your god is asleep and needs to be awakened." Baal prophets redoubled their efforts and added self mutilation. But nothing happened. Then it was Elijah's turn. He calmly prepared the altar, slaughtered the bullock, set the wood, drenched everything with water, and then prayed.
At once a fire came and consumed everything And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and prayed to the living God. Elijah rounded up the priests of Baal, took them to the brook of Kishon, and killed them. Then he went to Ahab and said, "Eat and drink, for there will be an abundance of rain."And it rained. Jezebel, the queen, was furious when Ahab told herwhat had happened. She sent a message to Elijah that she would mete out to him the following day the same fate he gave to Baal's priests. Elijah fled into the desert, where he was fed by an angel. He set out for Mount Horeb (Sinai) by walking forty days without food
or rest. Elijah was near despair when God visited him on a mountainside: "And behold, the Lord passed by,and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke the rocks into pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake was a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice" that told him to anoint Elisha as a prophet. He found Elisha plowing a field. "Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah."
Before Elijah was taken up by God in a whirlwind, he asked what he should do for Elisha. Elisha responded:"I pray, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." And so it was. As they walked together along the Jordan "there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses
of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and cried, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. . . .' He took up the mantle of Elijah that fell.
Through Elijah, God provided a pillar of strength for true worship in a time when Israel�s moral and spiritual condition had fallen to an alarmingly low state. King Ahab had introduced Baal worship on a grand scale under the influence of queen Jezebel, the daughter of the Sidonian king Ethbaal. During this time when the other Israeli prophets were driven into
hiding in caves (1Kings, 16:30-33; 18:13), God asked Elijah to appear before the people to announce chastisement upon Israel for their sins. King Ahab and Jezebel tried to kill Elijah but
instead, Elijah slaughtered 450 of Baal�s prophets at the torrent valley of Kishon (1King, 18:39-46). In the end Elijah meets king Ahab and prophesizes that Jezebel�s and his blood will be licked by the dogs (1Kings, 19:19; 21:1-26). At the end of his time, Elijah goes to Bethel, from there to Jericho and down to the Jordan, there Elijah enters a fiery war chariot
driven by fiery horses and ascends towards heaven in a windstorm (2Kings, 2:1-13; 1Kings, 19:10). Even after his ascension, Elijah is still active as a prophet and appears before his people to correct the kings of Judah from the wicked course they had taken (Chronicles 21:12-15). This is very important for our theory of appearance of Indian Jews on the Konkan
coast in western India near Mumbai and their continuous faith in prophet Elijah who is believed to have appeared before them twice in their time of need.

Eight miracles are credited to Elijah in the Bible account. They are:
1. shutting off rain from heaven;
2. keeping the flour and oil supply of the widow of Zarephath renewed;
3. resurrecting the widow�s son;
4. having fire fall from heaven in answer to prayer;
5. having rain break the draught in answer to prayer;
6. calling down fire on King Ahazia�s captain and his 50 men;
7. calling down fire on his second captain and his 50 men;
8. parting the Jordan River by smiting it with his official garment.

His ascend to heavens was also a miracle, but it was the direct act of God. 450 years after Elijah, prophet Malachi prophesized that Elijah the prophet would appear before the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of God ( Malachi, 4:5,6). This statement is worth keeping in mind too.
The historian Abram, L. Sachar, describes Elijah�s position in Judaism as follows: He (Elijah) is most popular personality in Hebrew history, the patron saint of Jewish life Curiously enough, in the Biblical narratives he shows few of the gentle qualities calculated to endear him to a peace-loving people. He is harsh, severe, relentless, of the typical dervish (a Muslim fakir) type, intolerant of all the effeminate corruptions of civilized life. Yet through centuries of folklore the austere figure who never knew the meaning of peace, whose every word was a challenge, is mellowed and softened into a gentle comforter, a solicitous friend, the chivalrous champion of the weak and the oppressed. In the memory of his people, it is Elijah who opens
secret doors through which the martyred escape, who provides dowries for the unfortunate daughters of the poor, who saves the defenseless victims of powerful swindlers. There is a chair for him at every circumcision, and a cup of wine on every Passover table, (and the door is opened to him during the raising of the fourth cup during the Passover prayer).
He is stationed at the crossroads of paradise to welcome every worthy person; he weaves garlands for God from the prayers of the truly pious. He will be the precursor of the Messiah, ushering in the new world in which the suffering of Israel and of all people will be no more? He created a powerful opposition and was, at least indirectly, the cause of the revolution that was soon to plunge Israel into chaos and ruin.
It is possible that, a figure like Elijah, who stood bravely before the enemies of his God and fought them with the spiritual strength that his God bestowed upon him and even killed some of them when the rest of the prophets went into hiding, was considered to be a savior by the people of Judah and Israel. It is probably at this period of time in history that the Indian Jews left Israel in their difficult hour and crossed over by land to Basra or Abadan and from there
by ship towards India. The rest of the story is well known. Their ship drowned and seven men and seven women landed in the village of Naogav, on India�s western coast of Konkan, near Mumbai. The Jews of India believe that it is Prophet Elijah who revived the unconscious survivors of the shipwreck and that Elijah�s footprints are visible on a rock at Navgaon.
Elijah is believed to have again appeared before the Indian Jews much later at a place called Khandala, a Konkan village near Navgaon, where he promised that the Indian Jews would be redeemed. At Khandala, the impression of the footprints of Elijah�s horse and the screeching marks of the wheels of his chariot are supposed to have remained. At this spot, the Indian Jews used to gather to perform annual ceremony on the 15th of Shevat ( about the beginning of February) the day on which Elijah is believed to have appeared to the Indian Jews at Khandala, before re-ascending to heaven. Rev. Lord theorizes that, �The observance of such a festival as this seems indicative of a very prolonged sojourn of the Bene-Israel (The children of Israel) in India, for such a mixture of knowledge and ignorance in regard to the Prophet Elijah, and its incrustation into such a practice as that mentioned,
can hardly have sprung up and taken fixed form in a short time.
Historically speaking, in 930 B.C.E. when Solomonic Kingdom was split into two parts, the Northern Kingdom was deprived of the services and ceremonies revolving around the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and therefore had to eliminate many of the Jerusalem Temple rituals and improvise situations. Many of the very offerings took the form of home rituals by the
Jews and prepared by housewives at home. The �Malida� is an auspicious ceremonial offering which the Indian Jews describe as � a dish offered in the name of God�,
accompanied with an invocation for the presence and blessings of the Prophet Elijah. At the end of Sabbath, it has been customary for Jews to invoke Elijah requesting him to bless their home and the affairs of the new week. It is customary with the Indian Jews that during important rituals and special occasions and joyous life circle events like birth,circumcision, bar mitzvah, marriage, housewarmings, new jobs, success, making or annulling a vow, blessing for the protection of the loved ones, revival from sickness, gratifying fertility, health and peace, and Eliyahoo Hannabicha Urus, on the 15th of Shevat, the TuBishvat, etc, �Malida� ceremony is performed in the homes of the Indian Jews. It is obvious that the food offering, also called malida, placed in the center of the dish, is made of rice because in India, rice is the stapled food of the population living in this part of the country. I have seen here in Israel, people using �sooji� a ground wheat substance, or �pitzputze orez�, baked rice, as
the malida offering. Everywhere, the malida is sweetened with sugar, essenced with spices and enriched with dry fruits. Before partaking of malida,�Bore Mine Mezonot� or �Shehakol Nihiya Bidbaro�blessing is offered. Of the five fruits kept on the platter, at least one is for �Ha�etz� and one for �Ha�adama� prayer before partaking them. Sweet smelling flowers or twigs of myrtle is used for smelling and �Bore Atze Besamim� prayer is offered.

Specific Hebrew passages in the following order are recited during the �Eliyahoo Hannavi� ceremony.
1. Entire song of �Eliyahoo Hanavi� with pizmon.
2. Ve�iten Lecha, consists of various different blessings as bellows: Genesis:
a. Chapter 27, verses 28-29
b. Chapter 28, verses 3-4
c. Chapter 49, verses 25-26.

Deuteronomy:
a. Chapter 7, verses 13-15.
b. Chapter 28, verses 3, 6, 5, 4, 8 & 12.
c. Chapter 15, verse 6.
d. Chapter 33, verse 29.

Genesis: a. Chapter 48, verse 16 repeated thrice.

The �Malida� recitation concludes with Psalm 121 in its entirety. A �miniyan� is not required for this ceremony and a hazan may or may not be present to lead the recitation. I have seen people kissing the offering plate and offering their prayer in silence (in their
own vernacular language) and partaking of the offering and distributing it to the members of the house.
Some researchers on the subject of �The Jews of India� have compared the �Malida� ceremony to some offerings of the Hindus and the Muslims to their deities and �Peers�, or the holy saints. Even the name �Malida� is of Persian origin. It is but natural for people living
for so long among the Hindus or Muslims to be influenced by their day to day practices and the way of offerings of the native people. It is well known among the Muslims and Arabs that visit to the Macbaras, Dargahs or graves of holy saints fulfills their wishes. Millions of Muslims and people of other religions visit the Dargah of a Sufi saint Khwaja Muim-uddin-Chishti in Ajmer in India. Arabs throng in their millions to places of worship which are either graves or some such symbolic monumental structures. In Israel, Jewish people visit graves of our forefathers in Hebron. Millions, specially from the east, have made it a practice to visit the graves of famous saints like Rabbi Shimon Baryohai in Meron, Baba Sali�s grave in Netivot near Beer Sheba, Ma�arat Ha Macpella, the graveyard of our forefathers in Hebron,and many other places in Israel. This is clearly local influence on the Jews. Some Westerners living in Israel consider it very near to idol worship. What is important here is that as the prayers are offered in Israel by Jews to their own saints and prophets so the Jews of India make their offering to Eliyahoo Hannavi, in a very ancient traditional way or to some, as it
appears, in an Indian way. This does not reduce in any way, the importance of Prophet Elijah in the lives of the Jews of India. More importantly, the practice of �Malida� throws light on some of the unanswerable questions as to who the Jews of India are, where they lived in Israel, when they left Israel and why!

Bibliography:
1. Abram Leon Sachar: 1965, �A History of The Jews�.
2. Kehimkar: 1937, �The History of the Bene-Israel of India.�
3. Shirley Berry Isenberg: 1988, �India�s Bene Israel�
4. Soncino Books of the Bible. Soncino Press.
5. The Israel Museum Jerusalem: 1995, �The Jews of India.�


  Isaac Solomon