Joel Jyothis Tom
About
joeljohntom@gmail.com
Joel Jyothis Tom is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at the Central University of Gujarat.
His research focuses on the intersection of conflict and geopolitics through the study of Israeli and Palestinian novels.
With a background in English and comparative literature, his areas of interest include West Asian history, politics, and the literature of conflict.
Tom’s work seeks to understand how literary narratives reflect and shape the cultural and political realities of the Middle East, contributing to the broader field of translation studies and regional literary analysis.
Lecture Abstract:
Commonly known as Cochin Jews, the presence of the Jewish community on the coasts of Malabar, Kerala, dates back to the 1st century CE. One of the important cultural products that originated from the Cochin Jews is the rich tradition of Jewish women's folk songs. Folk songs produced, performed and preserved exclusively by Cochin Jewish women. These songs are made to perform in groups during Jewish festivals and other auspicious occasions. While the majority of the traditional Jewish communities across the world prohibited women from performing before men, women in Cochin Jews found a significant place in the Jewish public and cultural sphere. Beyond being mere means of entertainment, Jewish women's songs are loaded with rich cultural, ethical, and religious meanings. Often jovial in mood, these songs communicated the Jewish moral values, informing the history and origin of Jews in Kerala, thus becoming didactic in nature. These folk songs by women have a significant role in invoking Zionism among Cochin Jews by actively preserving hopes of the return of the Jewish community to the ‘promised land’, finally leading to the mass migration of Cochin Jews to Israel. This paper attempts to understand the influence of the folk songs of Cochin Jewish women on preserving the ethnicity and identity of Cochin Jews. Thus, this study explores the less explored area of the role of Jewish women in the Jewish public sphere in forming Jewish identity and invoking Zionist ambitions.