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Final Jewish embroidery shop stands in Kochi's Jew Town
A narrow cobbled lane in Kochi, once home to hundreds of Jewish families, now hosts only one remaining Jewish resident-and a Muslim man determined to keep its heritage alive.
Thaha Ibrahim, 55, runs the last Jewish embroidery shop in the southern Indian city, a business inherited from Sarah Cohen, the woman who became his second mother.
The friendship that bridged communities
Thaha first met Sarah and her husband Jacob in the early 1980s, when he was a 13-year-old school dropout selling postcards to tourists near the Paradesi Synagogue. Jacob offered him storage space in their home, though Sarah initially kept her distance.
Over time, their bond deepened. When Sarah discovered Thaha's talent for embroidery-likely inherited from his tailor father-she taught him the craft, and together they opened Sarah's Hand Embroidery from her living room. The shop sold traditional Jewish items like kippahs, challah covers, and menorahs.
"She taught me everything I know," Thaha says. "The Jews and Muslims in Jew Town didn't interact much, but Sarah aunty and Jacob uncle never made me feel like an outsider."
A dwindling community
Kochi's Jewish population once numbered 2,500 in the 18th century but has since plummeted to just one: 67-year-old Keith Hallegua. Many emigrated to Israel after 1948, drawn by economic opportunities and the promise of a Jewish homeland. Others stayed, including the childless Cohens, who had no immediate family to care for them.
Anna Zacharias, a researcher studying Kerala's Jews, notes that religious persecution was never a factor in their departure. "They were welcomed in Kochi for centuries," she says. "Yet they maintained their identity-speaking Malayalam, the local language, while preserving their traditions."
A promise to preserve memory
Before Jacob's death in 1999, he asked Thaha to look after Sarah. Thaha, by then a married father of three, moved his family closer to Jew Town to care for her as her health declined. When she died in 2019 at 96, he ensured her coffin was draped with a Star of David cover and continues to visit her grave.
"I was like a son to her," Thaha says. "I spent more time looking after her than my own mother."
Keeping traditions alive
Thaha maintains the shop exactly as Sarah left it, closing every Saturday for Shabbat. Though a practicing Muslim, he lights a lamp on Friday evenings to honor the tradition she held sacred.
"To me, it's not about religion but about humanity," he says.
Tourists, including many Jews, still flock to Jew Town, drawn by its history and the legacy Thaha preserves. Zacharias calls his dedication exemplary: "It's remarkable how a Muslim man took care of a Jewish woman and continues the traditions she followed."
A history spanning millennia
The first Jews arrived in Kerala 2,000 years ago as traders during King Solomon's reign, settling near the ancient port of Cranganore (now Kodungallur) before moving to Kochi. Known as Malabari Jews, they were later joined by Sephardic Jews fleeing Spain in 1492, who became known as Paradesi (foreign) Jews.
Together, they formed the Cochin Jewish community, living under the protection of the Cochin king and thriving as traders alongside Portuguese, Arab, British, and Dutch merchants. By the early 20th century, Jew Town was a vibrant hub-until emigration and time reduced its population to near extinction.
