 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 100,000–120,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Or Yehuda, Lod, Holon | |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew, Bukhori, Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Orthodox Judaism |
Bukharan Jews in Israel , also known as the Bukharim, refers to immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Bukharan Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel.
The first Bukharan Jews to make Aliyah arrived in the 1870s and 1880s, establishing the Bukharim quarter in Jerusalem. [1]
In 1890, seven members of the Bukharan Jewish community formed the Hovevei Zion Association of the Jewish communities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent. [2] By 1914, around 1,500 Bukharan Jews had immigrated, and 4,000 more arrived in the early 1930s. [3] In 1940, publications in Bukhori were shut down by the Soviets along with most Bukharan schools. [4] [3]
In 1948 began the "Black Years of Soviet Jewry," where suppression of the Jewish religion resumed after stopping due to war. [5] In 1950 thirteen religious Bukharan Jews in Samarkand were arrested and sentenced to 25 years. [6] Similar arrests happened to prominent Bukharim in Kattakurgan and Bukhara. [6] The Six-Day War led to a rise in Jewish patriotism among Bukharan Jews and many carried out demonstrations as refuseniks. [7] Until 1972, there was no major immigration of Bukharim to Israel. It was from then until 1975 when 8,000 managed to immigrate from the USSR. [8] By 1987, 32,000 Bukharan Jews lived in Israel, around 40% of the Bukharim. In 1990, there were riots against the Jewish population of Andijan and nearby areas. This led to most Jews in the Fergana Valley immigrating to Israel or the United States. [7]
From 1989 to 2005 over 5,000 Bukharan Jews from Kyrgyzstan came to Israel due to increased hostility in the region. [3] In 1992, there was a secret airlift operation which brought a small number of Bukharan Jews from Tajikistan to Israel. From 1989 to 2000, over 10,000 made aliyah from Tajikistan. [3] Today, most Bukharim live in Israel with a significant population in America. Only 1,000 Jews remain in Tajikistan, 1,500 in Uzbekistan, and only 150 in the city of Bukhara. [9]
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described as "the act of going up", moving to the Land of Israel or "making aliyah" is one of the most basic tenets of Zionism. The opposite action—emigration by Jews from the Land of Israel—is referred to in the Hebrew language as yerida. The Law of Return that was passed by the Israeli parliament in 1950 gives all diaspora Jews, as well as their children and grandchildren, the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship on the basis of connecting to their Jewish identity.
Bukharan Jews, in modern times also called Bukharian Jews, are an ethnoreligious Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that historically spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Tajik dialect of the Tajik language, in turn a variety of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara, which once had a sizable Jewish population. Bukharan Jews comprise Persian-speaking Jewry along with the Jews of Iran, Afghanistan, and the Caucasus Mountains. Bukharan Jews are Mizrahi Jews, like Persian, Afghan and Mountain Jews.
Jews and Judaism in Tajikistan have a long and varied history. Many of the Tajik Jews were originally Bukharan Jews.
Bukharian is a Judeo-Persian dialect historically spoken by the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia. It is a Jewish dialect derived from —and largely mutually intelligible with— the Tajik branch of the Persian language.
The Emirate of Bukhara was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the fertile land along the lower Zarafshon river, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarqand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarazm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. In 1920, it ceased to exist with the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.
The Dushanbe Synagogue, also known as the Bukharian Synagogue, located in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, was constructed in the 19th century in one of the two Jewish Quarters in Dushanbe at the time. It was part of the Jewish community compound, which also included ritual buildings and a school. In February 2006, the Government of Tajikistan began demolition of the Jewish community compound as part of an urban redevelopment plan designed to make way for a new presidential residence, the Palace of the Nation, with adjoining landscaped areas. The demolition of the synagogue was delayed due to international protests and a series of court actions until the end of June 2008, when the old building was finally razed.
The history of the Jews in Uzbekistan refers to the history of two distinct communities; the more religious and traditional Bukharan Jewish community and the Ashkenazi community.
Gavriel Aronovich Mullokandov is widely regarded as the greatest Bukharian Jewish singer and musician. He was the People's Artist of Uzbekistan.
The First Aliyah, also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah) to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen, stimulated by pogroms and violence against the Jews. An estimated 25,000 Jews immigrated. Many of the European Jewish immigrants during the late 19th-early 20th century period gave up after a few months and went back to their country of origin, often suffering from hunger and disease.
Barno Iskhakova was a Soviet and Bukharian Jewish musician from Tajikistan.
The 1990s post-Soviet aliyah began en masse in the late 1980s when the government of Mikhail Gorbachev opened the borders of the Soviet Union and allowed Jews to leave the country for Israel.
Chala is an Uzbek term meaning "neither this nor that," referring to Bukharan Jews who were coerced into converting to Islam from the late eighteenth century onwards. In response, these Chala Jews outwardly practiced Islam, but secretly retained their Jewish traditions. These crypto-Jews married among themselves and lived in their own separate neighborhoods that bordered on existing Jewish neighborhoods. The Chala Jews carry a very similar story to the Dönmeh and to the Marranos of Spain.
The Bukharan Quarter, also HaBukharim Quarter or Bukharim Quarter, is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel. The neighborhood was established by Bukharan Jews of the Old Yishuv. The neighborhood also anchored communities from modern-day Afghanistan and the Iranian city of Meshad. It belonged to the early Jewish neighborhoods built outside the Old City of Jerusalem as part of a process which began in the 1850s. Today most of the residents are Haredi Jews.
The history of the Jews in Kyrgyzstan is linked directly to the history of the Bukharian Jews of Uzbekistan. Until the 20th century, most Jews living in the Kyrgyz areas were of the Bukharian Jewish community. However, during the 20th century, large amounts of European Jews began to emigrate to Kyrgyzstan which was then part of the Soviet Union, and a small amount of them still live in the country.
Georgian Jews in Israel, also known as Gruzinim, are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Georgian Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 75,000 to 80,000. The Georgian community is considered to be aligned with Mizrachi in Israel.
The history of the Jews in Central Asia dates back centuries, where Jews have lived in countries which include Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Russians in Israel or Russian Israelis are post-Soviet Russian citizens who immigrate to Israel and their descendants. As of 2022, Russian-speakers number around 1,300,000 people, or 15% of the Israeli population. This number, however, also includes immigrants from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states other than Russia proper.
Russian Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Russian Jewish communities, who now reside within the State of Israel. They were around 900,000 in 2007. This refers to all post-Soviet Jewish diaspora groups, not only Russian Jews, but also Mountain Jews, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks, Bukharan Jews, and Georgian Jews.
Mountain Jews in Israel, also known as the Juhurim, refers to immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Mountain Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. The Mountain Jewish community are involved with "Mizrachi Jews" (Oriental) groupung.
Central Asians in the United States are Americans with ancestry from Central Asia. They include Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek individuals. People of Afghan, Baloch, and Uyghur descent are also sometimes classified as Central Asians. The United States census does not mention Central Asians under any category.