Rosh Ha Shana – The Shul at 2 Humayun Road

Rosh Ha Shana, in New Delhi. A city with 10 indigenous Jewish families, plus some uncounted number of expats like ourselves. There is but one synagogue – Judah Hyam (http://jewishdelhi.org/) When I contacted them about Shabbat services, the religious leader there asked if I was ok with a service that included women as well as men as part of the “quorum” (minyan of 10); he said that if they DIDN’T include women they wouldn’t have a minyan at all. (We belong to a Reconstructionist synagogue in White Plains – Bet Am Shalom – which is fiercely egalitarian. We are just fine with a mixed minyan.) Adam and I went there for Friday night services while Amnon was in Israel last month, and they were very welcoming.
We planned to go there for Rosh HaShana. The synagogue is several miles from where we live, so we took a taxi. The driver that took Adam and I last time was unavailable, and so we arranged to go with a different driver. We gave him the address – Two Humayun Road, and some rough demographic information (near the President’s House). (While I had been there before, my non-existent sense of direction can get me lost on the easy grid of Manhattan….so my navigation skills were useless…) Street names and numbers are not easy to spot here. When the driver seemed a bit lost, Amnon emphasized that we needed TWO Humayun Road. We drove for a bit, and the driver pulled up to Humayun TOMB. (sort of sounds like “two”….) No, no, we said. Amnon then tried to convey that we wanted a temple, a temple for Jews. The taxi continued driving, and then pulled up at the ZOO. (sort of sounds like “Jew”….) At this point the boys are hysterically laughing and enjoying the whole experience far more than actually being in services. Amnon stops to ask policemen along the way, and is continuing to convey the notion of Jews, prayer, etc. But no one knows what “Jew” means…in this city of 12M or so people, 10 families don’t really stand out. (Even the highly educated people that I work with don’t know much about Jewish people. For those that didn’t spend time in the US, I am the first Jewish person they have met. ) The driver got the “prayer” part, and then took us to a Hindu Temple, and then to a Christian church. By then, it was too late for services - - (I didn’t want to walk in so late to a small congregation with our team of 5.) We will be better prepared for Yom Kippur – with mapped out directions in hand.