India February 2018 - Friday and Shabbat in Delhi

After a relatively good night’s sleep, considering we had just completed a 14 hour flight and were operating under a 10 and a half hour time difference from Toronto, we awoke to a very smoggy Friday morning. We went to the hotel gym to exercise a bit and then headed down to breakfast. 

Normally in a hotel in most places in the world, you can find enough items to eat for breakfast. A variety of Kellogg’s cereals, yogurt that is approved on the kosher list of a local kashrut agency and uncut fresh fruit and vegetables. The offering here in India was quite dismal. While there was corn flakes, we had been told that we could not drink the local milk. And there was no yogurt. And we were staying away from anything that required washing or thin skinned fruits and vegetables.

Thankfully we had come prepared. We brought with UHT long life milk from Canada and a variety of hard cheese and cream cheese. We asked the hotel kitchen for some fruit, and they brought us oranges and bananas. 

Once we leave Delhi, things will improve, as India Kosher Travel has supplied us with a kosher fry pan and we can ask and assist the local hotel chef in preparing eggs and omelettes for us in the various hotels in which we will stay for the duration of the trip. 

At 9 AM, our driver Vikram and a local guide, were waiting for us in the lobby and we were off to explore the sights, sounds and smells of Delhi.

The main religions in India are Hindu (80%) and Muslim (12%). And then there are significant representation of Bhuddists, Jains and Sikhs. There are small numbers of Christians and negligible numbers of Jews. There are temples all over. 

On Friday morning, our guide first took us to see the huge mosque of Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in Delhi. It was built between 1644 and 1656. Our guide told us that he brought us here at this point because as a rule, it was relatively empty this early on a Friday. The two minarets are 40 metres high. The mosque is constructed from red limestone and white marble.

Visitors to the mosque have to remove their shoes and women have to wear a robe, irregardless of how tznius they believe they are dressed. There is no charge, but if you wish to take photos, there is a “camera charge”. 

We entered the large outer courtyard of the mosque that can hold 25000 worshipers at one time. Attendants were busy placing carpets on the floor in preparation for the Friday prayers later that day.

Here is a picture of the mosque filled with 25000 worshipers that I took from the web.

The mosque is located in one of the oldest parts of “old” Delhi. As a means of protecting the city against invaders, this part of town was organized with an intricate maze of narrow streets and lanes, so that in case of attack, the locals could split up and confuse the enemy. Two shots of the local scenery, someone washing himself in the middle of the street and a local colourful fellow.

Today these streets are lined with small shops and stalls selling a variety of goods. Many of the shops were shuttered, because we had arrived during a civil strike with locals protesting against new government regulations that is legislating some basic building codes. The locals feel that this is unfair and that their status should be grandfathered. 

As we walked thru the narrow lanes, we saw wild monkeys who live and maneuver above the stalls, jumping from roof to roof. 

As well, we noticed the reverse swastika symbol proudly displayed above many doorways. As opposed to what we have learned, the swastika is a symbol of peace and it was hijacked and distorted by the Nazis.

The area is very rundown and we will have more to say about the general infrastructure in Delhi and other places we’ve seen thus far in India. Add to the lack of order the narrow streets and numerous tuktuks and hundreds of motorcycles, all blowing their horns and the occasional cow or bull strolling by unattended and you have absolute chaos.

We walked to the spice and flower market and then took a brief rickshaw ride through the area.

We then drove to the memorial in honor of Mahatma Gandhi, the famous freedom fighter who helped bring independence to India from the British in 1947. Because bodies are cremated here with the ashes “offered” to the river, the memorial is not a burial place, just a garden dedicated to his memory. 

We then drove to the tomb of Humayun, who was the Mughal Emperor of India in the 16th century. 

 It is a huge mausoleum and garden built by his first wife Empress Bega Begum between 1562 and 1571 and designed by a Persian architect. It was completed 85 years before the Taj Mahal. By comparing the two structures, you will see how the Mughals refined and perfected their original design to create their ultimate masterpiece: the Taj Mahal. 

There is no one currently buried there as any tombs were moved long ago. Obviously this is a non Hindu structure because Hindus do not bury their dead. 

One cannot help but notice the Magen Davids that adorn the structure. It was explained to us that these are Muslim symbols and is a symbol used widely in the world of Islam. Muslims know the hexagram as the Seal of Solomon — both Solomon and David were prophets, and both are mentioned in the Quran. The hexagram appears in Islamic artifacts and mosques worldwide.

Because of the beauty of the place it is widely visited by school groups and by brides and grooms for their wedding pictures. 

We drove next to the Judah Haim Synagogue, the only remaining shul in Delhi (other than Chabad) which was completed in 1956. It was originally Orthodox but a number of years ago, as a result of being unable to get a minyan, the community decided to count women to the minyan. There are only 7 or 8 Jewish families remaining in Delhi. 

We were told by our driver that we would be unable to see the inside of the shul, because it is only open for visitors just before Shabbat. But as we were driving by, we met Ezekiel, a local lawyer, who is the volunteer person in charge of the shul.

He showed us around and invited us to come and pray there for Shabbat but we told him that we were staying in walking distance to Chabad and as such we would be davening there. 

On to India Gate, a huge war memorial dedicated to the 70000 Indian soldiers who died in the First World War. 

Looking though the memorial, you can see the Capitol Buildings of India and the President’s residence. It reminded me of the open area between the US capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial. 

And so after a long day and needing to prepare for Shabbat, we returned to the hotel.

About half an hour before Shabbat, our driver, Vikram, came to drive us to Chabad. 

Chabad is located on a street called Main Bazaar Street, a narrow bustling rundown street of small shops, stalls and lots of traffic. Across the top of the street is a huge banner proclaiming “Yechi Adonainu etc” with a picture of the Rebbe and an arrow pointing to a very narrow lane to the walk up entrance to Chabad. As we walked down the street, we began to hear calls of Shalom, Shabbat Shalom, ma shelomcha (how are you) and ata miyisrael (are you from Israel)? And then simultaneously, calls of “come see my shop”. Everywhere, there were signs in Hebrew. Clearly there are many Israeli backpackers who come to this area and I guess Chabad is in the right place to reach out to them.

When we climbed to the second floor we met Rabbi Akiva Sudri and his wife Chaya Mushka and their three children. There were also two young student shlichim and two bnot sherut (girls doing their volunteer civil service) who are part of the Chabad Delhi infrastructure. It was just one large room which incorporated the shul and the group eating area and we were soon to see the third floor which was the kitchen and the restaurant which operates throughout the week. 

Rabbi Akiva is originally from Jerusalem and his wife “Mushkie” is from a small community near Kfar Chabad. They have been in Delhi for 7 years and their youngest child was born in Delhi. It appears that they are here to stay. 

Gradually people started arriving, mostly Israeli travelers who were coming for Kabbalat Shabbat and the evening Shabbat meal. Rabbi Akiva greeted everyone warmly with a smile (for everyone) and a hug (for the men). We finally had enough for a minyan for mincha (just 10) and then by the time the maariv service concluded there were about thirty people in the room.

At the meal, which consisted of plentiful and delicious salads and a main course of chicken and rice, we interacted with  a few of the people close to our age, as the vast majority were young Israeli backpackers. Most of the people there were not observant but enjoyed having a warm meal and an even warmer environment where they could hang out with “Family”.

In typical Chabad fashion, various people were asked to speak and I accepted the invitation and shared a few stories of our travels and the warmth of Chabad that we had experienced during our travels. 

On Shabbat morning one of the guides showed up to walk us to Chabad and by now, knowing the route, we suggested that we could make our own way home. 

When we arrived there at 10:15, there was no one there other than Rabbi Akiva and his two young shlichim. Over the next two hours, there were a number of people who arrived and left and absolutely no pressure was put on anyone to stay even if it would help make a minyan. And so finally, we davened without a minyan.

And then at 12:30, when we were ready to sit down to eat, miraculously a minyan appeared and after kiddush we took out the Sefer Torah and read the weekly portion of Yitro and the Ten Commandments. I volunteered to lain and have now added another country to my impending application to Guinness as the person who has read from the Torah in the most countries in the world! :-)

After a good lunch, we made our way back to the hotel and had a pleasant Shabbat nap, made havdalah and prepared our belongings for our flight on Sunday to Udaipur, a city a few hundred kilometres south of Delhi in the state of Rajasthan. Our driver Vikram left on Friday night for the drive to Udaipur and he would be picking us up on our arrival on Sunday at noon. 

That’s it for now....next post will be Udaipur.

All the best

Fran and David