Yehuda Pava
About
Judepava@gmail.com
Yehuda Pava is a PhD candidate in Jewish History at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
His research focuses on the material culture of the Malabari Jews of Kerala from 1658 to 1954.
He investigates how ritual and everyday objects acted as agents of social and religious knowledge, shaping Jewish identity and trans-oceanic networks during the Dutch and British colonial periods.
Pava’s broader interests include Indian Ocean exchange and the role of mobility in structuring social relations and gendered practices within diasporic communities, highlighting the importance of material remains in historical reconstruction.
Lecture Abstract:
This thesis examines how the movement of people, money, and ideas shaped the dynamic and interconnected Baghdadi Jewish diaspora in the late nineteenth century. Focusing on the weekly newspaper, “Magid Mesharim”, published by Hakham Shlomo Twena (1855-1913) in the final decade of the nineteenth century, Calcutta emerges as a central hub in the diaspora’s transnational networks. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis of travel reports and philanthropic donations found within the weekly with primary source analysis, this study identifies key nodes, mechanisms, and mobility patterns that connect the diasporic landscape, while also highlighting disparities based on gender, class, and geographic location that risk fragmenting it. Finally, this thesis investigates the role of intellectual exchange in diasporic formations by highlighting Twena’s role as publisher, translator and cultural mediator, disseminating ideas from across transnational spheres.