Her father,Reuben David, was a hunter-turned-veterinarian, who founded the Kamala Nehru Zoological Garden and Balvatika nearKankaria lake in Ahmedabad.[5] Her mother, Sarah, was a school teacher.[6]
After her schooling in Ahmedabad, She was atMaharaja Sayajirao University ofBaroda, as a student of Fine Arts and Art History. There she met Sankho Chaudhary, a sculptor, who taught her sculpture and Art History.[4] After her graduation she returned to Ahmedabad and started her career as a professor in art history and art appreciation. She taught at theSheth Chimanlal Nagindas Fine Arts College,CEPT University andNIFT.
She started writing about art and became theTimes of India art critic, a national English daily. Later she became a columnist forFemina, a women's magazine, the "Times of India" and other leading national dallies. She is an advisory editor of Eve Times, Ahmedabad.[7] She has authored several books; and also been an editor and contributor.[8] Her books are related to Bene Israel Jews in Ahmedabad.[4]
TheHadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) featuredShalom India Housing Society in the Hasassah-Brandeis 2010–2011 calendar, which highlights 12 Jewish women authors across the world whose "writing illuminates a particular city". The title of the calendar wasJewish Women Writers and the Cities that Influence Them.[9]
^Weil, Shalva (2008). "Esther David: The Bene Israel Novelist who Grew Up with a Tiger". In Shulman, David; Weil, Shalva (eds.).Karmic Passages: Israeli Scholarship on India. New Delhi:Oxford University Press. pp. 232–253.
^Weil, Shalva (2012). "The Bene Israel Indian Jewish Family in Transnational Context".Journal of Comparative Family Studies.43 (1):71–80.
^Paniker, Shruti (14 February 2016)."Come, visit my city".Ahmedabad Mirror. Retrieved28 March 2016.
^Roland, Joan (2009) [2002]. "The Contributions of the Jews of India". In Weil, Shalva (ed.).India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle (3rd ed.). Mumbai: Marg Publications.
^David, Esther (2009) [2002]. "Sari-Sutra: Bene Israel Costumes". In Weil, Shalva (ed.).India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle (3rd ed.). Mumbai: Marg Publications.
^abcdefgh"Esther David Books". Archived fromthe original on 2 September 2013. Retrieved5 October 2012. For a review, please refer to: Weil, Shalva. 2003 The Book of Esther by Esther David, reviewed in Biblio: A Review of Books, New Delhi: Manohar, p. 26.
^Weil, Shalva (2009) [2002]. "The Heritage and Legacy of Indian Jews". In Weil, Shalva (ed.).India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle (3rd ed.). Mumbai: Marg Publications. pp. 8–21.
Weil, Shalva (2009) [2002]. "Bene Israel Rites and Routine". In Weil, Shalva (ed.).India's Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle (3rd ed.). Mumbai: Marg Publications. pp. 78–89. Reprinted in Marg:A Magazine of The Arts, 54(2): 26–37.
Weil, Shalva (2011). "Bene Israel". In Baskin, Judith Baskin (ed.).Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 59.
