Buddhist Monk Discovered to Be Descendant of European Rabbis

Rabbi Yitzchak Carmeli, a Torah observant Jew, has been tracing Jewish roots around the world, having already visited dozens of countries, including hostile ones. His last expedition aimed to explore the biblical Tarshish, located on the wild and picturesque island of Sri Lanka. "Chronicles describe ships sailing from Tarshish carrying elephants, monkeys, peacocks, and treasures mined from Tarshish, which is precisely what I found on the scenic island," he says.

Amidst lush tea fields and rushing rivers, Carmeli encountered former Tamil guerrilla fighters, intriguing villagers riding on massive elephants, and a surprising marvel he hadn't anticipated. "While exploring and trying to understand the fate of thousands of Jews who once resided on the island, I stumbled upon a fascinating story—the story of the Jewish-German philosopher Sigmund Feniger," Carmeli recalls. "The initial goal was to determine whether the local Jews had migrated or assimilated among the island's 24 castes."

What did you discover?

"We heard numerous stories about the extensive Jewish culture that existed here, including a synagogue structure. But one story particularly captivated us," explains Carmeli. It was the life story of Buddhist monk Nyanaponika, whose name did not reveal his Jewish origins. In fact, Nyanaponika was a Jewish-German philosopher named Sigmund Feniger, who fled into the depths of the Sri Lankan jungle on the eve of the Holocaust. There, Feniger reinvented himself, established a meditation center, and became a prominent Buddhist monk considered one of the pioneers who popularized Buddhism in the Western world.

"The locals informed us that Feniger lived in wooden huts in the heart of the forest, but after wandering 'around the tail' for long hours and planning to return without finding them, we suddenly spotted two modest-looking huts. We knew we were in the right place immediately."

The Monk Pulled from a Dusty Box Two Photos of Jews in Traditional Attire

Interestingly, Feniger, who had adopted a clearly local name, never denied his Jewish identity. Carmeli discovered he was a descendant of a family of rabbis and even corresponded with Ben-Gurion until the latter's last day after they met in Burma in 1961.

An old monk in an orange robe, who met Carmeli next to Feniger's hut, began a conversation with him and, to Carmeli's great surprise, said, "Of course, I remember Nyanaponika. He was a great man, and I was one of his disciples." In his lifetime, the monk encountered many Jews who journeyed to Sri Lanka out of interest in Nyanaponika's teachings and experiences.

"Suddenly, he told us, 'I even have photos and documents that belonged to Nyanaponika,' and when he entered the wooden hut, he returned with an old, dusty tin box. I couldn't believe my eyes when the monk pulled out dozens of documents and photos, many of which, he claimed, no one except him had ever seen.

"Until that moment, those who studied Nyanaponika's life and work assumed he came from an assimilated Jewish family—a common situation in Germany of those pre-Holocaust days. But when we looked at the photos the monk pulled out, an entirely different reality unfolded before us, leaving quite an impression."

In one picture, Feniger is seen alongside bearded men with distinctly Jewish-Hasidic appearances next to women dressed modestly. The same is true for the second photo, which shows a man wearing a kippah and a long, white beard. It remains unclear whether this was Feniger's father or grandfather. "It was a very formative moment for us," Carmeli recalls.

If not for the storm that hit them and forced them to proceed to the next destination, they would have stayed to talk with the monk for hours. "We returned to Colombo, the most populous and congested city in Sri Lanka, home to approximately half a million residents," says Carmeli.

According to him, most buildings in Colombo are old. Still, since the end of the civil war in 2009, there has been a tremendous building boom, and alongside dilapidated structures, you can now see towering skyscrapers.

What was your objective in coming to Colombo?

"The purpose was, of course, to find the remnants of the Jewish community that lived here. We learned, for example, that during the British occupation nearly 200 years ago, Jews arrived here who tried to build different, peaceful lives. Some were Holocaust survivors and World War II refugees like Nyanaponika, settling in Sri Lanka and other places."

An Abandoned Synagogue and Tombstones with Magen David

Even members of the famous Rothschild family came to Sri Lanka during the British occupation, engaged in tea and spice trade. Although evidence of genuine Jewish life in the area remains, to Carmeli, ambiguous and unclear, he decided to investigate further to the fullest extent.

"The first thing I did was to locate the synagogue in Sri Lanka with the only landmark being a photo taken by a Jew named Ze'ev Rafael from Haifa, who stayed in Sri Lanka as a UNESCO representative in 1966," Carmeli says. "Rafael photographed the picture during a trip when he noticed Latin letters bearing the word 'synagogue' above one of the abandoned houses."

Thanks to this picture, Carmeli tried to search for the synagogue in the area of the abandoned houses. However, he encountered a surprise: local residents told him that although the synagogue was a central and active place, over the years, the abandoned houses area was renovated and now occupied by an upscale neighborhood home to doctors, lawyers, and government officials, who are not too keen to welcome curious tourists. "Some even approached us with vigorous hand gestures, trying to drive us away from the neighborhood. But I didn't give up. I came here to find a synagogue, and I will find a synagogue."

However, within a 500 km radius, only equipped with a photo—the task was not simple. Moreover, most old wooden buildings were no longer standing and had been replaced with new, beautiful structures. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack. We believe we've found the synagogue's remains beside a wooden building in an area where all other buildings were demolished."

All traces of Jewish life in the area vanished and disappeared. Carmeli took some photos and retraced his steps, contemplative and reflecting on the recent wave of assimilation that carried away the remnants and memories of the Jewish community that once existed here.

However, as if in compensation, on his last day in Sri Lanka, when Carmeli decided to end the journey with a visit to the cemetery in Colombo, a miraculous event occurred. He visited the cemetery with a local historian named Dr. Campbell, who has been researching Jewish roots in Sri Lanka for years. "I believe there's no better way to understand the history of a place than to visit the cemetery and trace the gravestones planted there.

"The cemetery in Sri Lanka has thousands of gravestones, without exaggeration, but in a remarkable divine providence, Dr. Campbell went straight to two gravestones with Magen David, which bore inscriptions in Hebrew. She quickly sent the pictures to Chabad emissary Rabbi Mendy Krombi, who confirmed that these were Jewish gravestones. One bore the name 'Yosef Ben Boim,' 1899, and the other 'Nisim Feingstein,' a seven-year-old boy who lived from 1901-1908. What caused his death, which family he belonged to, and how he ended up in Sri Lanka—these are questions we may never know the answers to."

Two Pictures the Monk Pulled from Feniger's Dusty Box