Ancient and Historical Jewish Connections: Evidence suggests Jewish presence in Sri Lanka dating back to antiquity (possible links to biblical Tarshish/Galle) and confirmed by 9th-century travelers; later waves included Dutch East India Company Jews who intermarried and contributed to the Burgher community.

British-Era Contributions Despite Small Numbers: British Jews, though few (only eight recorded in the 1911 census), played notable roles in law (Sir Sydney Abrahams), education, tea plantation development (Rothschild brothers), and architecture (Ulrik Plesner), leaving lasting cultural and institutional impacts.

Contemporary Contrast with Overlooked History: While recent Chabad houses have sparked controversy and anti-Jewish sentiment, the article highlights a long, largely forgotten positive history of Jewish presence and contributions, including a wartime synagogue in Colombo, to counter modern misconceptions.

The formation of Chabad houses in Weligama and the East Coast sparked a mass agitation across the country, paving the path for many social media pundits to depict Jewish tourists to the island as bogeymen. Yet the history of the Jews in Sri Lanka tells us a different narrative; a story that many are reluctant to admit. 

The demographic structure of Sri Lanka after independence has not given the slightest clue about a permanent Jewish population. In contrast to Sri Lanka’s neighbouring state, India, where Cochin and Baghdadi Jews survived amidst all the chaos. In post-independent Sri Lanka, Jewish connections to the island’s culture largely remained overlooked, as there was significant scholarship to explore the island’s history with the Jews. Holocaust survivor, a German-born Jew, Anna Ranasinghe, settled in Sri Lanka after the end of the war with her Sri Lankan husband and remarked towards the end of her life, “ I am the only Jew in this country with a Sri Lankan passport “. 

Despite this obscure history, the connection between the Jews and........

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