Solomon Sopher

Solomon Sopher's death was announced on the morning of Tuesday, 3 November 2026. His age, the place and cause of death and funeral arrangements had not been made public at the time of the first reports.

Israeli ambassador to India Reuven Azar wrote that he was saddened by the passing of Sopher, who as head of the Sir Jacob Sassoon trusts had helped care for the community's historic synagogues and sustain its communal life. Yaniv Revach, consul general of Israel in Mumbai, said Sopher had dedicated his life to preserving historic synagogues, supporting education and charitable institutions, and strengthening the Jewish community's roots in India, and that his legacy belonged to Mumbai and India as a whole.

Little has been published about Solomon F. Sopher's early life. He belonged to Mumbai's Baghdadi Jewish community, whose families came to the city from Iraq and other parts of the Middle East from the late 18th century, drawn by the port's trade under British rule. His date of birth, his parents and his education have not been reported in the coverage of his death.

Sopher served as chairman and managing trustee of the Sir Jacob Sassoon and Allied Trusts, which manage the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Fort and the Magen David Synagogue in Byculla in Mumbai and the Ohel David Synagogue in Pune. He was also a trustee of the David Sassoon Fund and a trustee or chairman of other Sassoon institutions, among them the E.E.E. Sassoon High School, the Sassoon Guest House, the David Sassoon Library and the Lady Rachel Sassoon Dispensary. The World Jewish Congress listed him as president of the Council of Indian Jewry.

He was the community's public face for decades. He organised the 125th anniversary of Keneseth Eliyahoo, hosted Israeli prime ministers and Indian leaders at the synagogues, and in 2016 arranged a memorial gathering there for Lieutenant General J. F. R. Jacob, the Indian Jewish war hero of 1971. He worked with the JSW Foundation, the Kala Ghoda Association and the World Monuments Fund on the restoration of Keneseth Eliyahoo, which the Governor of Maharashtra rededicated in February 2019. In March 2026 he led the launch of Namaste Shalom, a monthly magazine on India and Israel relations, at the synagogue.

Sopher kept his family life largely private, and coverage of his death did not name his relatives. Israel's consulate in Mumbai sent condolences to his family, friends and the wider Jewish community.

Mumbai's Jewish population once numbered about 30,000 and is now fewer than 4,000. Sopher's work meant that the Sassoon synagogues remained working places of worship and open heritage sites rather than closed buildings, and the restored Keneseth Eliyahoo became one of the city's best known landmarks. His insistence that the trusts' charity was open to people of every religion and caste, and his long work hosting Israeli and Indian leaders, made him a familiar figure in India and Israel relations.