PEREIRA DE PAIVA, MOSES

PEREIRA DE PAIVA, MOSES (17th century), Sephardi communal leader in Amsterdam. In 1686 he was head of a delegation to the Jewish community of cochin (India), sent to collect data on its history and way of life. He was warmly received by the leaders of the "white" Jewish community and his visit led to a close contact between the Jews of Amsterdam and Cochin, which lasted until Dutch rule over Malabar ended in 1795. On his return, he published Notisias dos Judeos de Cochim (Amsterdam, 1687), a comprehensive report on the origin, economic situation, traditions, and communal organizations of the "white" Jews, naming all the householders and particularly mentioning David Rahabi. He also deals with the "black" Jews, whom he calls the Malabar Jews, though according to him they are Jews only by religion and not by race. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Pereira de Paiva, Notisias dos Judeos de Cochim, ed. by M.B. Amzalak (1923), introd.; Souvenir Volume of Cochin Synagogue… (Cochin, 1968), 31–50; Steinscheider, Cat Bod, 2723. (Walter Joseph Fischel)