>People often liked discussing the similarities and differences between each other's cultures. Yes, that's fun to do, if done without denigrating them. >I rem

>People often liked discussing the similarities and differences between each other's cultures. Yes, that's fun to do, if done without denigrating them. >I remember a gypsie person being fascinated by the fact that gypsies and jews share some customs, such as covering the mirrors when people die and putting away their shoes. Well, that makes a kind of sense, if you consider to be true the theory that gypsies came to Europe from north-west India (Rajasthan and nearby areas) by way of Iran, the Middle East, etc. Since the Middle East had many Jews, and migration would have been slow in those days (no fast modern transport), the gypsies may have picked up some Jewish customs like those you mentioned, by interacting with Jews while en route to Europe. And going to Europe may not have been their original plan anyway. One guess is that they could just have slowly, organically, drifted further and further away from India, possibly staying in each place until they had to leave, for trading for livelihood, or because forced out, or for any other reason. .