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Bukharian Jews used the [[Persian language]] to communicate among themselves and later developed "[[Bukhori]]", a distinct dialect of the [[Tajik language|Tajiki-Persian language]] with certain linguistic traces of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. This language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was "[[Russification|Russified]]" by the Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. The elderly Bukharian generation use Bukhori as their primary language while the younger generation use [[Russian language|Russian]] as their primary language, but a few younger Bukharians do understand or speak Bukhori.
Bukharian Jews used the [[Persian language]] to communicate among themselves and later developed "[[Bukhori]]", a distinct dialect of the [[Tajik language|Tajiki-Persian language]] with certain linguistic traces of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. This language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was "[[Russification|Russified]]" by the Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. The elderly Bukharian generation use Bukhori as their primary language while the younger generation use [[Russian language|Russian]] as their primary language, but a few younger Bukharians do understand or speak Bukhori.


The Bukharians Jews are [[Mizrahi Jews]] and practice [[Sephardic Judaism]].
The Bukharian Jews are [[Mizrahi Jews]] and practice [[Sephardic Judaism]].


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 01:51, 21 March 2008

Bukharian Jews
Bukharan Jews
Total population
approx. 150,000-180,000
Regions with significant populations
 Israel100,000-120,000[1]
 United States50,000-60,000[1]
 European Union5,000
 Uzbekistan100-1,000
 Tajikistan100-1,000
 Pakistan100-1,000
Languages
Traditionally Bukhori, Russian and Hebrew spoken in addition.
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Jewish groups
(Mizrahi, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, etc.)

Bukharan Jews, also Bukharian Jews or Bukhari Jews, (Template:Lang-he, Bukharim) are Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara, which once had a large Jewish community. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast majority have moved to Israel or the United States, while others have emigrated to Europe or Australia.

Background

A majority of Bukharian Jews trace their ancestry to the Lost Tribes of Israel. These Jews claim to be descendants of the Issachar, Nephtali, and Ephraim Israelite tribes who never came back from the Babylonian captivity after exile in the 7th century BCE. They maintain that some of the Israelites migrated eastwards in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, in the time between the fall of Nineveh to Nabopolassar in 612 BCE and the fall of Jerusalem to his successor Nebuchadrezzar II in 597 BCE, during the transition from Neo-Assyrian to Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) rule.[2][1] Jews from other Eastern countries such as Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Morocco migrated into Central Asia, as did Jews who were exiled from Spain during the Inquisition [1]; all these joined the Central Asian Jewish community that was later on called the Bukharian Jews. In Central Asia, they survived for centuries, subject to many conquering influences. The community was essentially cut off from the rest of the Jewish world for more than 2,000 years and somehow managed to survive and preserve their Jewish identity and heritage in the face of countless odds. They are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the years they have developed their own distinct culture.

Most Bukharian Jews lived in Emirate of Bukhara (currently Uzbekistan and Tajikistan), while a small number lived in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and some other parts of the former Soviet Union. In Emirate of Bukhara, the largest concentrations were in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khokand. In Tajikistan, they similarly were mainly concentrated in the capital, Dushanbe.

Prior to the Partition of British India, some Bukharian Jews could be found among the Afghan population of Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province of northwestern India, (now Pakistan). After partition and the creation of Israel, nearly all of these Jews left for Israel and other countries. One synagogue still exists in Peshawar and there are two main synagogues and several Jewish cemeteries that still function in the port city of Karachi.

Name and language

Interior of the Great Synagogue in Bukhara, sketch based on a photograph by Elkan Nathan Adler.

The term "Bukharian" was coined by European travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Emirate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharian Jews. The name by which the community called itself is "Isro'il" and "Yahudi."

The appellative "Bukharian" was adopted by Bukharian Jews who moved to English-speaking countries, in an anglicisation of the Arabic and Hebrew "Bukhari." However, "Bukharan" was the term used historically by English writers, as it was for other aspects of Bukhara.

Bukharian Jews used the Persian language to communicate among themselves and later developed "Bukhori", a distinct dialect of the Tajiki-Persian language with certain linguistic traces of Hebrew. This language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was "Russified" by the Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. The elderly Bukharian generation use Bukhori as their primary language while the younger generation use Russian as their primary language, but a few younger Bukharians do understand or speak Bukhori.

The Bukharian Jews are Mizrahi Jews and practice Sephardic Judaism.

History

Having developed over the millennia from Spanish Jewish and northeastern Persian and Arab Jewish communities, this Central Asian community has experienced alternating periods of freedom and prosperity, as well as periods of oppression. With the establishment of the Silk Road between China and the West in the 2nd century BCE that lasted well into the 16th century, many Jews flocked to the Emirate of Bukhara and played a great role in its development. After the Babylonian exile, they came under the Persian Empire, as they prospered and spread through the area. However, around the 5th century, began a period of persecution. Famous Jewish academies in Babylon were closed, while many Jews were killed and expelled (See Mishnah). After Arab Muslim conquest in the early 8th century, Jews (as well as Christians) were considered Dhimmis and were forced, among other things, to pay the jizya head tax. The Mongol invasion in the 13th century also adversely affected the Jews of Bukhara.

In the beginning of the 16th century, the area was invaded and occupied by nomadic Uzbek tribes who established strict observance of Islam and religious fundamentalism. Confined to city quarters, the Jews were denied basic rights and many were forced to convert to Islam. Under the Uzbeks, Bukharians went through a lot of discrimination. They had to wear black and yellow dress to distinguish themselves from the Muslims. Since the Bukharian Jews were dhimmis, during their annual tax, the heads of the dhimmi households had to be slapped in the face by "peace-loving" muslims. [2]

By the middle of the 18th century, practically all of Bukharian Jews lived in the Bukharan Emirate. In 1843, Bukharian Jews collected 10,000 silver tan'ga and purchased land in Samarkand, known as Makhallai Yakhudion close to Registon.

At the beginning of 17th century, the first synagogue had been constructed at Bukhara city. It was done in contravention of the law of Caliph Omar who had forbidden the construction of new synagogues as well as the destruction of those that existed in the pre-Islamic period. [3] The story of construction of the first Bukhara synagogue relates to two persons: Nodir Divan-Begi - important grandee, and nameless widow, who outwitted an official.

File:Prokudin-Gorskii-54.jpg
Jewish students with their teacher in Samarkand, ca. 1910.

In 1793, a Sefardi Jew from Tetuan, Morocco, named Yosef Maman traveled to Bukhara and found the local Jews in very poor condition, and he decided to settle there. Maman was dissapointed to see so many Jews lack knowledge and observance of their religious customs and Jewish law. He became a spiritual leader and wanted to educated and to revive the Jewish community's observance and faith in the Jewish religion. [4] He changed their Persian religious tradition to Sephardic Jewish tradition. Yosef Maman is an ancestor to Shlomo Moussaieff (businessman), author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, and First Lady of Iceland Dorrit Moussaieff.

In the middle of the 19th century, Bukharian Jews began to move to the historic Land of Israel. Land on which they had settled in Jerusalem was called the Bukharian Quarter (Sh'hunat HaBucharim) still exists today. [5]

In 1865, Russian troops took over Tashkent, and there was a large influx of Jews to the newly created Turkestan Region. From 1876 to 1916, Jews were free to practice Judaism. Dozens of Bukharian Jews held prestigious jobs, and many Jews prospered. Many Bukharian Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, and singers. Several Bukharian enteratiners gained the title of "People's Artist of Uzbekistan," "People's Artist of Tajikistan," and even "People's Artist of the Soviet Union." Many of the talented Bukharian Jewish performers include Suleiman Yudakov, who wrote the Anthem of the Tajik SSR, Malika Kalantarova, Gavriel Mullokandov, Rena Galibova, Shoista Mullodzhanova, Ari Babakhanov, and many more.

Soviet era

Bukharian Jews celebrating Sukkot, c. 1900.

Prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, the Bukharian Jews were one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world.[3]

With the establishment of Soviet rule on the territory in 1917, Jewish life seriously deteriorated. Throughout 1920s and 1930s, thousands of Jews, fleeing religious oppression, confiscation of property, arrests, and repressions, fled to Palestine. In Central Asia, the community attempted to preserve their traditions while displaying loyalty to the government. World War II and the Holocaust brought a lot of Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from the European regions of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through Uzbekistan. In the early 1970s, one of the largest Bukharian Jewish emigrations in history occurred as the Jews of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan emigrated to Israel and the United States, due to looser restrictions on immigration. In the late 1980s to the early 1990s, almost all of the remaining Bukharian Jews left Central Asia for the United States, Israel, Europe, or Australia. This was another large Bukharian Jewish emigration.

After 1991

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union and foundation of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, there was an abrupt growth of nationalism, chauvinism, and xenophobia in Uzbek public consciousness. Advent of Islamic fundamentalism in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan caused a sudden increase in the level of emigration of Jews (both Bukharian and Ashkenazi). For the next two decades, about 100,000 immigrated to Israel, another 50,000 to the US (mainly Queens, New York) and about 100-1,000 still remain in Uzbekistan and almost no Bukharian Jews remain in Tajikistan (compared to 15,000 in Tajikistan 1989)

Currently, Bukharian Jews are mostly concentrated in the U.S. cities of (New York, Arizona, Atlanta, Denver,Los Angeles,San Diego), as well as in Israel, Austria, Russia, and Uzbekistan. New York City's 108th Street in Forest Hills Queens, is filled with Bukharian restaurants and gift shops. They have formed a tight-knit enclave in this area that was once primarily inhabited by Ashkenazi Jews (many of the Ashkenazi had also become more assimilated to wider American and American Jewish culture with successive generations).

On the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5765 (2005), the Bukharian Jewish Community of Queens (mainly Rego Park and Forest Hills) celebrated the opening of the Bukharian Jewish Congress. This establishment further reflects the growing Bukharian community in Queens and their desire to preserve their identity in an ever-changing world.

In early 2006, the still-active Dushanbe synagogue in Tajikistan as well as the city's mikveh (ritual bath), kosher butchery, and Jewish classrooms were demolished by the government (without compensation to the community) to make room for a new Presidential residence. After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan reversed its decision and will allow the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site. Because Tajkistan's government decided to destroy the country's only synagogue, most of the Bukharian Jews from Tajikistan have very negative views towards the country.

Even though the Bukharian Jews are from Muslim countries in Central Asia, they still support the state of Israel and are against Islamic Fundamentalism. Most Bukharian Jews are Zionists and support Israel more than they support the Central Asian countries.

In 2007, Bukharian-American Jews initiated lobbying efforts on behalf of their community. [6] One of the Bukharian leaders said, "This event represents a huge leap forward for our community. I am so grateful to God that we are here, that I was able to witness this. Now, for the first time, Americans will know who we are." Senator Joseph Lieberman intoned, "God said to Abraham, ‘You’ll be an eternal people’… and now we see that the State of Israel lives, and this historic [Bukharian] community, which was cut off from the Jewish world for centuries in Central Asia and suffered oppression during the Soviet Union, is alive and well in America. God has kept his promise to the Jewish people." [7]

Culture

Dress Codes

Bukharian Jews had their own dress code, similar to but also different from other cultures (mainly mongolo-turkic cultures) living in Central Asia. On weddings today, one can still observe the bride and the close relatives put on the traditional kaftan (Jomah-джома-ג'ומא in Bukhori and Tajik) and the richly-embroidered fur-lined hats and dance.

Music

The Bukharians have a distinct music called Shashmaqam, which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with Central Asian rhythms, much klezmer, Muslim melodies, and even Spanish chords.

Cuisine

Bukharian cuisine consists mainly of shish kabobs of chicken, beef or lamb. The cuisine has been influences by the many cultures it has interacted with over its history. Pulled noodles,known as lagman, are similar in style to Chinese lamian, and both are traditionally served in a meat broth. Samsa, pastry filled with spiced meat or vegetables, are baked in a tandoor oven, and bear a resemblance to Indian samosas.

Plov is a very popular slow cooked rice dish that contains carrots and is often topped with beef or lamb. Bukharians have two main types of bread. One is called Leeposhka, which is a circular bread topped with black sesame seeds, and the other is called Non Toki, which is sometimes compared to matzah.

Notable Bukharian Jews

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Joan Roth Photography: Bukhara
  2. ^ IM NIN'ALU's 2nd. Page - HISTORY (2)
  3. ^ "The Silk Road Leads to Queens" New York Times 18 January 2006
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