Bene Israel women perform kirtans at AJDC program in Mumbai, 2016 (Surabhi Sharma)
This year, COVID-19 competes with Haman as the villain of the Jewish holiday of Purim for India’s Bene Israel “
kirtankars.” The kirtankars, a group of elderly women from the Mumbai Jewish community who sing
kirtan, or traditional devotional songs, had planned to perform a kirtan about Queen Esther in the synagogue for the holiday. But with places of worship mostly closed due to the pandemic, the women’s performance has been canceled.
Kirtans are traditional storytelling songs inspired by Hindu devotional music. The ones sung by the Bene Israel are in the local Marathi language and include Hebrew words. They extol great figures of the Hebrew Bible, such as Joseph, Moses, David and Elijah. The one the women had hoped to perform this week is called “Esther Ranichi Katha” or the tale of Queen Esther who saved the Jews.