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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
'''Abraham Barak Salem''' (1882–1967) was an [[Indian nationalism|Indian nationalist]] and [[Zionist]],<ref>[http://www.easas.org/?q=panel39 PANEL 39: Nationalisms and their Impact in South Asia]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} - European Association of South Asian Studies</ref> a lawyer and politician, and one of the most prominent [[Cochin Jews]] of the twentieth century. A descendant of ''[[meshuchrarim]],''{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} he was the first Cochin Jew to become an attorney. He practised in Ernakulam, where he eventually used ''[[satyagraha]]'' to fight the discrimination among Jews against his people. An activist in the trade union and Indian national causes, he later was attracted to [[Zionism]]. After visiting Palestine in the 1930s, he later helped arrange the migration of most Cochin Jews to Israel by 1955. He stayed in Kochi for the remainder of his life.

==Early life==
Salem was born in 1882 to a Jewish family in [[Cochin]] ([[Kingdom of Cochin]] ), then a [[princely state]] in [[British India]] and now part of the Indian state of [[Kerala]]. His family were regarded as ''[[meshuchrarim]]'', a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word used, sometimes neutrally and sometimes with derogatory intent, to denote a [[manumission|manumitted]] slave or her descendants. The [[Paradesi Jews|Paradesi]] [foreign] Jews of Cochin had arrived there since the 16th-century following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. They discriminated against the ''meshuchrarim'' in their community who were relegated to a subordinate position in the [[Paradesi Synagogue]] in Cochin. Given the cultural differences between them, the Paradesi (or "White") Jews and the older communities of Malabari Jews also maintained ethnic distinctions for centuries, which became associated historically with differences in skin colour.

Brought up by his mother, Salem attended the [[Maharaja's College, Ernakulam|Maharaja's College]] in [[Ernakulam]]. He moved to [[Chennai]] to earn his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree, becoming the first university graduate among the ''meshuchrarim''.<ref>Katz 2000:67</ref> Whilst in Chennai he also earned his law degree, the first Jew from Cochin to do so,<ref name="shenoy">[http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/08flip.htm T. V. R. Shenoy, "The Jewish Gandhi and Barack Obama"], ''Rediff,'' 8 September 2008</ref> before returning to practise as a lawyer in the Cochin Chief Court in [[Ernakulam]].

==Activism==
The Malabari Jews had seven places of worship; the White Jews had one, the [[Paradesi Synagogue]], which for centuries had been barred to those whom they considered impure. The contemporary historian Edna Fernandes calls it "a bastion of white purity".<ref>Fernandes 2008:155</ref> The White Jews practised [[endogamous]] marriage, which excluded both the ''meshuchrarim'' and Malabari Jews (who also practised endogamy that excluded the other groups). The ''meshuchrarim'' had to sit in the back of the synagogue or outside. The separation resembled Indian discrimination against lower castes, which was sometimes repeated in [[Christianity in India|Christian churches in India]].

Salem fought against this discrimination by boycotting the synagogue for a time. He used ''[[satyagraha]]'' (or non-violent protest) as a means of combating discrimination within the community. This led some people to later refer to him as the "Jewish [[Gandhi]]".<ref>[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-kochi-dream-died-in-mumbai/397831/0 "A Kochi dream died in Mumbai"], ''Indian Express,'' 13 December 2008</ref> By the mid-1930s, Mandelbaum reported that many of the old taboos had fallen, reflecting wider changes in Indian society as well.<ref>Fernandes 2008:164</ref>

Salem served in the Legislative Council in the [[princely state]] of Cochin from 1925 to 1931 and again from 1939 to 1945. A supporter of the nascent [[trade union]] movement in Kerala and an active Indian [[nationalist]], at the end of 1929 he attended the Lahore session of the [[Indian National Congress]]. It passed a resolution calling for complete independence from the [[British Raj|Raj]].<ref name="shenoy"/>

After visiting Palestine in 1933, Salem was attracted to the Zionist cause. After Indian independence, he worked to promote [[aliyah]] to [[Israel]] among the Cochin Jews. In 1953, he visited Israel to negotiate on behalf of Indian Jews who wanted to migrate. This also helped to diminish the divisions among the Cochin Jews.<ref>Chiriyankandath 2008:21</ref> After emigration they were all considered foreigners to Israel, and many struggled to assimilate.

Although most of Cochin's ancient Jewish community eventually left for Israel by 1955 (and, in the case of many White Jews, for North America and England), Salem lived in Cochin until his death in 1967. He was buried in the White Jewish cemetery in Jew Town in Cochin.

==Honours==
*The road adjacent to the White Jewish Cemetery in Kochi was named after Salem.<ref name="shenoy"/>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*James Chiriyankandath (2008). "Nationalism, religion and community: A. B. Salem, the politics of identity and the disappearance of Cochin Jewry", ''Journal of Global History'', 3, pp 21–42, {{doi|10.1017/S1740022808002428}}
*Edna Fernandes. ''The Last Jews of Kerala''. Portobello Books, 2008.
*{{cite book |title=Who are the Jews of India? |last=Katz |first=Nathan |year=2000 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salem, Abraham Barak}}
[[Category:Cochin Jews]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Kerala]]
[[Category:Jewish anti-racism activists]]
[[Category:Politicians from Kochi]]
[[Category:Indian Zionists]]
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian nationalists]]
[[Category:Maharaja's College, Ernakulam alumni]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Kerala]]
[[Category:People of the Kingdom of Cochin]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]

Abraham Barak Salem - Revision history

->BattyBot: Removed non-content empty section(s), performed general fixes

>Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 1 template: del empty params (5×);