JDC’s Global Vision inspires the creation of regional strategies tailored to the specific realities in existence in worldwide Jewish communities.

JDC's Africa-Asia Regional Strategy

Overview: India 
Unique among its counterparts for having been spared the scourge of anti-Semitism, India’s Jews have been free to practice their religion and develop a vibrant community for over 2,000 years. While the majority of the community—a tiny drop in the vast sea of India’s 1.1 billion residents—is centered in Mumbai and its suburb Thane, smaller populations in the Pune, Ahmedabad, the Konkan Villages, Cochin, Kolkata, and Delhi continue to practice.

In a country with few government-run social services, the poor, the elderly, and those with special needs are particularly vulnerable, and JDC provides social services, financial assistance, and medical care for the elderly and indigent. What’s more, Jews are often isolated from traditional Jewish centers of culture and learning, and they lack a formal Jewish educational system.

To address these needs, JDC supports the Bayiti Home for the Aged, a Jewish residence outside of Mumbai, which provides local seniors with important educational and social outlets, including weekly classes and events. JDC is currently working to relocate the home to a larger facility that will better serve the needs of the elderly population.

In addition to meeting the community’s material and physical needs, JDC supports Jewish cultural and educational programs and community activities and offers training to develop the next generation of leaders. The hub of Jewish life in Mumbai is the Evelyn Peters Jewish Community Center, which offers a range of Jewish educational and cultural programming for all ages and has about 300 members.

In response to the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks on targets in Mumbai, including the deadly siege of the Jewish community's active Chabad House, JDC gathered leaders of the local Jewish community organizations to secure a coordinated plan for the general well-being of the community and its institutions moving forward.

India Current Programs