Jews of Kurdistan
| |
---|---|
![]() Rabbi Moshe Gabai, head of the Jewish community of Zakho, with Israeli President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi in 1951 | |
Total population | |
200,000–300,000[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | c. 200,000[2][3][4][5] |
Languages | |
Israeli Hebrew, Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects (mainly Judeo-Aramaic), Kurdish dialects (mainly Kurmanji), Persian, Azeri Turkish (in Iran)[6] Additional: Mizrahi Hebrew (liturgical use) | |
Religion | |
![]() | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Mizrahi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews; also Samaritans |
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
---|
![]() |
Kurdish Jews are an Iranic ethnic group who follow the Jewish religion. Kurds come from the geographic region of Kurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
"Kurdish Jews" lived as closed ethnic communities until they were expelled from Arab and Muslim states from the 1940s–1950s onward. The community largely spoke Judeo-Aramaic. As Kurdish Jews adhere to Judaism and originate from the Middle East, Mizrahi Hebrew is used for liturgy. Many Kurdish Jews, especially the ones who hail from Iraq, went through a Sephardic Jewish blending during the 18th century.[7]
In the present-day, the overwhelming majority of Kurdistan's Jewish population resides in occupied State of Israel, with the community's presence coming as a direct result of either the Jewish exodus from Muslim states or the making of Aliyah by stragglers in the following decades (see Kurdish Jews in Israel).
History
[edit]Middle Ages
[edit]According to the memoirs of Benjamin of Tudela and Pethahiah of Regensburg, there were about 100 Jewish settlements and substantial Jewish population in Kurdistan in the 12th century. Benjamin of Tudela also gives the account of David Alroi, the messianic leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the Seljuk Sultan Muktafi and had plans to lead the Jews back to Jerusalem. These travellers also report of well-established and wealthy Jewish communities in Mosul, which was a commercial and spiritual center in close proximity to Kurdistan. Many Jews fearful of approaching crusaders had fled from Syria and Palestine to Babylonia and Kurdistan. The Jews of Mosul enjoyed some degree of autonomy in managing their own community.[8]
Ottoman era
[edit]Tanna'it Asenath Barzani, who lived in Mosul from 1590 to 1670, was the daughter of Rabbi Samuel Barzani of Kurdistan. She later married Jacob Mizrahi, Rabbi of Amadiyah (in Iraqi Kurdistan), who lectured at a yeshiva.[9] She was famous for her knowledge of the Torah, Talmud, Kabbalah, and Jewish law. After the early death of her husband, she became the head of the yeshiva at Amadiyah and eventually was recognized as the chief instructor of Torah in Kurdistan. She was called tanna'it (female Talmudic scholar), practiced mysticism, and was reputed to have known the secret names of God.[10] Asenath is also well known for her poetry and excellent command of the Hebrew language. She wrote a long poem of lament and petition in the traditional rhymed metrical form. Her poems are among the few examples of the early modern Hebrew texts written by women.[11]
Kurdish Jews had lived in Kashan, Iran, and many Jews migrated to Turkey during the 1700s to 1800s. They were active in trade in rural villages in Turkey; regions like Gaziantep and Malatya had a substantial Jewish populations. They were usually quite concealed but did not have any negative interactions with other communities.
Immigration of Kurdish Jews to the Land of Israel initiated during the late 16th century, with a community of rabbinic scholars arriving to Safed, Galilee, and a Kurdish Jewish quarter had been established there as a result. The thriving period of Safed, however, ended in 1660, with Druze power struggles in the region and an economic decline.
Modern times
[edit]Since the early 20th century some Kurds who follow the Jewish religion had been active in the Zionist movement. One of the most famous members of Lehi was Moshe Barazani, whose family immigrated from Iraqi Kurdistan and settled in Jerusalem in the late 1920s.
The vast majority of Kurdish Jews were forced out of Iraqi Kurdistan and evacuated to Israel in the early 1950s, together with the Iraqi Jewish community. Almost all the Kurdish Jews of Iranian Kurdistan relocated mostly to Israel as well in the same period.
The Times of Israel reported on September 30, 2013: "Today, there are almost 200,000 Kurdish Jews in Israel, about half of whom live in Jerusalem. There are also over 30 agricultural villages throughout the country that were founded by Kurds."[12]
On October 17, 2015, the Kurdistan Regional Government named Sherzad Omar Mamsani as the representative of the Jewish community at the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, who was later dismissed following a period of absence due to health reasons,[13] with members of the Israeli Jewish community claiming that there were no Jews remaining in the Kurdistan Region.
Historiography
[edit]One of the main problems in the history and historiography of the Jews in Kurdistan was the lack of written history and the lack of documents and historical records. Kurdish people simple chose to follow the Jewish religion and migrated to the occupied state of israel or "Jewish Kurdish" communities in the Kurdistan region.
Gallery
[edit]-
Illuminated plaque on paper with calligraphy and decorative elements. Includes four liturgical poems for Purim customary among Kurdish Jews; mid-19th century, Kurdistan
-
Jewish Kurd, 19th century, Ottoman era
See also
[edit]- History of the Jews in Iraq
- Israel–Kurdistan Region relations
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Jewish diaspora
- Judeo-Aramaic
- Kurdish Jews in Israel
- Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
- Dönmeh
Bibliography
[edit]- Mordechai Zaken, "Jewish Subjects and their tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A study in Survival", Jewish Identities in a Changing World, 9 (Boston: Brill Publishers, 2007)
- Brauer, Erich; Patai, Raphael, The Jews of Kurdistan. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993).
- Asenath Barzani, "Asenath's Petition", First published in Hebrew by Jacob Mann, ed., in Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, vol.1, Hebrew Union College Press, Cincinnati, 1931. Translation by Peter Cole.
- Yona Sabar, The Folk Literature of the Kurdistani Jews (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982, ISBN 0300026986).
- Ariel Sabar, My Father's Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq. Illustrated. 332 pp. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Biography & study of Yona Beh Sabagha = Yona Sabar, native scholar of this community and its language. Reviewed in The New York Times, Oct. 12, 2008 and The Washington Post, Oct. 26, 2008.
- Mahir Ünsal Eriş, Kürt Yahudileri - Din, Dil, Tarih, (Kurdish Jews) In Turkish, Kalan Publishing, Ankara, 2006
- Hasan-Rokem, G., Hess, T. and Kaufman, S., Defiant Muse: Hebrew Feminist Poems from Antiquity: A Bilingual Anthology, Publisher: Feminist Press, 1999, ISBN 1-55861-223-8. (see page 65, 16th century/Kurdistan and Asenath's Petition)
- Rabbi Asenath Barzani in Jewish Storytelling Newsletter, Vol.15, No.3, Summer 2000
- The Jews of Kurdistan Yale Israel Journal, No. 6 (Spr. 2005).
- Judaism in Encyclopaedia Kurdistanica
References
[edit]- ^ Iraqi Kurdistan's First Jewish Leader Wants To Revitalize Judaism And Boost Israel-Ties, But Challenges Lie Ahead By Michael Kaplan, 10/23/15
- ^ Zivotofsky, Ari Z. (2002). "What's the Truth about...Aramaic?" (PDF). Orthodox Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2007.
- ^ "(p.2)" (PDF). slis.indiana.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2006.
- ^ "Kurdish Jewish Community in Israel". Jcjcr.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
- ^ Berman, Lazar (30 September 2013). "Cultural pride, and unlikely guests, at Kurdish Jewish festival". timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "курдские евреи. Электронная еврейская энциклопедия". Eleven.co.il. 27 December 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
- ^ "מגורשי ספרד בעיראק – הוצאת דרכון פורטוגלי – משרד עו"ד בת"א וירושלים".
- ^ Ora Schwartz-Be'eri, The Jews of Kurdistan: Daily Life, Customs, Arts and Crafts, UPNE publishers, 2000, ISBN 965-278-238-6, p.26.
- ^ Sylvia Barack Fishman, A breath of Life: Feminism in the American Jewish Community, UPNE Publishers, 1995, ISBN 0-87451-706-0, p. 186
- ^ Sally Berkovic, Straight Talk: My Dilemma As an Orthodox Jewish Woman, KTAV Publishing House, 1999, ISBN 0-88125-661-7, p.226.
- ^ Shirley Kaufman, Galit Hasan-Rokem, Tamar Hess, Hebrew Feminist Poems from Antiquity to the Present: A Bilingual Anthology, Feminist Press, 1999, ISBN 1-55861-224-6, pp.7, 9
- ^ "Ancient pride, and unlikely guests, at Kurdish Jewish festival". timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "Dismissal of Jewish representative 'administrative,' unrelated to Baghdad: KRG".
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)