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Alibaug’s secret: A legendary drink with a Jewish connect
Namita Devidayal | TNN | May 15, 2016, 12.54 AM IST
A Star of David and picture of Moses on the wall of the quaint stall.
is one such non-monument to history, which tells the story of Alibaug's amazing connection with Jews and with Israel. With its Mangalore-tiled roof and Marathi signage, this could be any other vada-pav or cold drink stall, if it weren't for the Star of David and pictures of Moses that hang on the wall. This quaint beverage stop, which serves an array of delicious bespoke aerated drinks like ginger-lemon soda, ice-cream soda and masala soda, was founded 80 years ago by a Bene-Israeli Jew, Daniel Samson Digodkar.
Like many of his brethren — at one time there was a population of several thousand Jews in this area and a synagogue still stands tall in Alibaug town — his first name, Daniel, attests to the Jewish heritage, while the surname acknowledges his village, Digodi, near Mandwa. This intermingling of names reflects the manner in which the Raigad Jews have comingled Marathi culture with their very particular rituals, dissolving like sugar into water — in this particular case, carbonated water.
D Samson's cold drinks, once a favourite among the British collectors, are by now legendary in the area. "We continue to use the same secret recipes and the same carbonating machine that my uncle started with all of five rupees," says his nephew Sydney David, who lives in Mumbai but returns every Sunday to oversee the family business. Most other members of his family have migrated to Israel.
For the longest time, the Bene-Israelis of Alibaug ran rice and oil pressing mills. When the Digodkars' mill shut down, Daniel Samson pursued a personal passion — creating flavourful drinks, first with the marble inside the bottle to contain the bubbles, later with sealed caps. When he died, his sister Mary Moses David took over. Her son Sydney is one of the last in the family - indeed in the community — left here today.
According to Jewish author and historian Esther David, there are very few written records about the Bene Israel community of Alibaug. "It is said we were a seafaring tribe who arrived more than 2,000 years ago, after facing persecution in the Greek or Roman empire. The ship happened to wreck at Navgaon in Alibaug district. Seven couples survived and spawned a community that mostly ended up as coconut oil pressers and supari plantation owners. Because they continued to practice Shabbath and took Saturdays off, they became known as 'Shanvar-telis'."
A little over 100 years ago, the community built the Magen Avot Synagogue (which means Shield of the Fathers) in the Alibaug, with the prayer hall facing the west, with eyes on Jerusalem. "At one point there must have been 50,000-60,000 Bene-Israelis in western Maharashtra. During the British rule, they started moving to neighbouring cities like Pune and Mumbai, but the highest concentration remained in Alibaug," says David.
Everyone was raised with the belief that they would eventually make it back to the Promised Land. By the 50s and 60s, most people started leaving for Israel, forming a little India in south Israel, where they continued to wear saris and create spice markets, but lived under the aegis of a new state which prided itself on embracing Jewish refugees not just from the Holocaust but from all over the world.
One of the last of the Jews left in Alibaug is the elderly Jacob Dandekar, who has served as a chazan or cantor at the Synagogue and is widely referred to as 'Rabbee Dandekar', the Marathi version of Rabbi. The oldest Bene Israel cemetries continue to lie in Alibaug and the Israeli government has built a monument there in memory of the original seven couples who landed there and kept the community alive, says David.
As for D Samsons Cold Drinks, it may not be around very long. The family of the current proprietor's is not interested in the business. His son works in a media company in Mumbai and his daughter has joined Israel Airlines and already been through the military training that is a must for all young people. Many have asked for the formula that makes these drinks the ultimate delicious quenchers, but he guards it fiercely - and it may well remain one of Alibaug's many charming and forgotten secrets.
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Alibag is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District of Maharashtra. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district.Wikipedia
Elevation: 0 cm
Weather: 32°C, Wind NW at 18 km/h, 63% Humidity
Local time: Sunday 5:31 PM
Population: 20,743 (2011)
Alibag - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibag
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