Midrash Eicha Rabba [Lamentations]. For use by the Jews of Cochin.

(INDIA).

(Cochin)

19th century

Manuscript written on paper. Two columns, vocalized square Hebrew with translation alongside into Malayalam (Malabari). The David Solomon Sassoon copy. See D.S. Sassoon, Ohel Dawid: Catalogue of the Sassoon Library (1932) p. 48, no. 447.

The text is part of the Pethichta (introduction) to Midrash Eicha starting with “Besha’ah Shebikesh Hakadosh Baruch Hu” and ending with “Veshavu Banim Ligvulam Amen Kein Yehi Ratzon” (see Buber ed. p. 24). No published version of this translation exists. The Jews of Cochin have had a long tradition of singing devotional hymns (piyyutim) and songs on festive occasions as well as Biblical and narrative midrashim in Judeo-Malayalam. Few manuscripts are extant written in Hebrew and Malayalam, the local dialect of the miniscule community of Cochini Jews. Judeo-Malayalam is the only known Dravidian Jewish language. Cochin, a delightful town at the southern tip of India, has had a Jewish presence whose roots are said to extend back to the time of King Solomon. Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Hebrew Manuscripts from the Collection of the Late David Solomon Sassoon, 4th December, 1984, Lot 37.