Judeo-Marathi



Judeo-Marathi (Marathi: जुदाव मराठी) is a variety of Marathi spoken by the Bene Israel, a Jewish ethnic group in Maharashtra. There is no evidence that Judeo-Marathi substantially differed from other forms of Marathi. However, there are several manuscripts of Jewish texts written in Marathi using Devanagari or Hebrew script. For instance, a Haggadah from 1911 contains Hebrew written in Devanagari, and a prayer book with instructions in Marathi written in the Hebrew script. In 2011, a Marathi-Hebrew text titled Poona Haggadah, was found in Salford. The 137-year-old book, which was used by the Bene-Israel community, was discovered by historian Yaakov Wise.

Currently, the Bene Israel community mainly resides in Israel, but some continue to live in Mumbai.