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|group = Kurdish Jews <br> {{Hebrew|יהודי כורדיסטן}} |
|group = Kurdish Jews <br> {{Hebrew|יהודי כורדיסטן}} |
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|image = File:Kurdish-jews-1930s.jpg |
|image = File:Kurdish-jews-1930s.jpg |
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|caption = |
|caption = |
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|pop = '''200,000–300,000'''<ref>[http://www.ibtimes.com/iraqi-kurdistans-first-jewish-leader-wants-revitalize-judaism-boost-israel-ties-2154230 Iraqi Kurdistan's First Jewish Leader Wants To Revitalize Judaism And Boost Israel-Ties, But Challenges Lie Ahead] By Michael Kaplan, 10/23/15</ref> |
|pop = '''200,000–300,000'''<ref>[http://www.ibtimes.com/iraqi-kurdistans-first-jewish-leader-wants-revitalize-judaism-boost-israel-ties-2154230 Iraqi Kurdistan's First Jewish Leader Wants To Revitalize Judaism And Boost Israel-Ties, But Challenges Lie Ahead] By Michael Kaplan, 10/23/15</ref> |
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|region1 = {{flag|Israel}} |
|region1 = {{flag|Israel}} |
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|pop1 = 200,000 |
|pop1 = 200,000 |
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|ref1 = {{lower|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5762summer/LEGAL-EA.PDF |title= |
|ref1 = {{lower|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5762summer/LEGAL-EA.PDF |title=What’s the Truth about...Aramaic? |accessdate=2007-01-14 |last=Zivotofsky |first=Ari Z. |year=2002 |work=[[Orthodox Union]]|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/meho/meho-bibliography-2001.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624190132/http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/meho/meho-bibliography-2001.pdf|archivedate=24 June 2006|title=(p.2)|work=slis.indiana.edu|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcjcr.org/kyn_article_view.php?aid=20|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728230338/http://www.jcjcr.org/kyn_article_view.php?aid=20|archivedate=2013-07-28 |title=Kurdish Jewish Community in Israel |publisher=Jcjcr.org |date= |accessdate=2013-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/pride-and-unlikely-guests-at-kurdish-jewish-festival|title=Cultural pride, and unlikely guests, at Kurdish Jewish festival|work=timesofisrael.com|first=Lazar|last=Berman|date=September 30, 2013}}</ref>}} |
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|region2 = {{flag|Iraqi Kurdistan}} |
|region2 = {{flag|Iraqi Kurdistan}} |
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|pop2 = 400-730 families |
|pop2 = 400-730 families |
||
|ref2 = <ref name="JPost">{{cite news|last1=Sokol|first1=Sam|title=Jew appointed to official position in Iraqi Kurdistan |
|ref2 = <ref name="JPost">{{cite news|last1=Sokol|first1=Sam|title=Jew appointed to official position in Iraqi Kurdistan|url=http://www.jpost.com/page.aspx?pageid=7&articleid=426320|accessdate=18 October 2015|publisher=Jerusalem Post|date=18 October 2015}}</ref> |
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|languages = [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] dialects (particularly [[Judeo-Aramaic]]), [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (mainly Kurmanji dialects), [[Mizrahi Hebrew]] ([[Liturgy|liturgical]] use) |
|languages = [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] dialects (particularly [[Judeo-Aramaic]]), [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (mainly Kurmanji dialects), [[Mizrahi Hebrew]] ([[Liturgy|liturgical]] use) and some [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] (in Iran).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eleven.co.il/article/12263|title=курдские евреи. Электронная еврейская энциклопедия |publisher=Eleven.co.il |date=2006-12-27 |accessdate=2013-04-11}}</ref> |
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|religions = [[Judaism]] |
|religions = [[Judaism]] |
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|related = other [[Mizrahi Jews]], [[Sephardi Jews]], [[Ashkenazi Jews]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Samaritans]] |
|related = other [[Mizrahi Jews]], [[Sephardi Jews]], [[Ashkenazi Jews]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], [[Samaritans]] |
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[[File:Kurdish Jews, Purim.jpg|thumb|Illuminated plaque on paper with [[calligraphy]] and decorative elements. Includes four [[liturgical]] poems for [[Purim]] customary among Kurdish Jews; mid-19th century, [[Kurdistan]].]] |
[[File:Kurdish Jews, Purim.jpg|thumb|Illuminated plaque on paper with [[calligraphy]] and decorative elements. Includes four [[liturgical]] poems for [[Purim]] customary among Kurdish Jews; mid-19th century, [[Kurdistan]].]] |
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'''Jews of Kurdistan''' ({{lang-he-n|יהודי כורדיסטן}}, ''Yehudei Kurdistan'', lit. |
'''Jews of Kurdistan''' ({{lang-he-n|יהודי כורדיסטן}}, ''Yehudei Kurdistan'', lit. Jews of Kurdistan; {{lang-arc|אנשא דידן}}, ''{{transl|arc|Anshi Didan}}'', lit. our people; {{lang-ku|Kurdên cihû}}) are the ancient [[Mizrahi Jews|Eastern Jewish]] communities, inhabiting the region known as Kurdistan in northern [[Mesopotamia]], roughly covering parts of northwestern [[Iran]], northern [[Iraq]], northeastern [[Syria]] and southeastern [[Turkey]]. Until their [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|immigration]] to [[Israel]] in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Jews of [[Kurdistan]] lived as closed ethnic communities. |
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The Jews of Kurdistan largely spoke [[Judeo-Aramaic|Aramaic]] and [[Kurdish language|Kurdish dialects]], in particular the [[Kurmanji]] dialect in Iraqi Kurdistan. |
The Jews of Kurdistan largely spoke [[Judeo-Aramaic|Aramaic]] and [[Kurdish language|Kurdish dialects]], in particular the [[Kurmanji]] dialect in Iraqi Kurdistan. |
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==Ancient times and classic antiquity== |
==Ancient times and classic antiquity== |
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[[File:KurdJewwomenRowendez905.jpg|thumb|Kurdish Jews in [[Rawanduz]], northern [[Iraq]], 1905]] |
[[File:KurdJewwomenRowendez905.jpg|thumb|Kurdish Jews in [[Rawanduz]], northern [[Iraq]], 1905]] |
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Tradition holds that Israelites of the tribe of [[Benjamin]] first arrived in the area of modern [[ |
Tradition holds that Israelites of the tribe of [[Benjamin]] first arrived in the area of modern Kurdistan after the [[Assyria]]n conquest of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] during the 8th century BC; they were subsequently relocated to the Assyrian capital.<ref>Roth C in the ''[[Encyclopedia Judaica]]'', p. 1296-1299 (Keter: Jerusalem 1972).</ref> During the first century BC, the royal house of [[Adiabene]]—which, according to Jewish historian [[Flavius Josephus]], was ethnically [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] and whose capital was [[Erbil]] ([[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]: ''Arbala''; {{lang-ku|Hewlêr}})—was converted to Judaism.<ref>"Irbil/Arbil" entry in the [[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]</ref><ref>The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged New Updated Edition Translated by William Whiston, A.M., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1987. {{ISBN|0913573868}} (Hardcover). |
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</ref> King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as the first [[proselyte]]s.<ref>Brauer E., ''The Jews of Kurdistan'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1993; Ginzberg, Louis, "The Legends of the Jews, 5th CD." in ''The Jewish Publication Society of America'', VI.412 (Philadelphia: 1968); and http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/kurds.html.</ref> |
</ref> King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as the first [[proselyte]]s.<ref>Brauer E., ''The Jews of Kurdistan'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1993; Ginzberg, Louis, "The Legends of the Jews, 5th CD." in ''The Jewish Publication Society of America'', VI.412 (Philadelphia: 1968); and http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/kurds.html.</ref> |
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===Middle Ages=== |
===Middle Ages=== |
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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 [[messiah|messianic]] leader from central |
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 [[messiah|messianic]] leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the king of [[Persia]] 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 the commercial and spiritual center of Kurdistan. Many Jews fearful of approaching [[crusaders]], had fled from [[Syria]] and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] to [[Babylonia]] and Kurdistan. The Jews of Mosul enjoyed some degree of [[autonomy]] over managing their own community.<ref>Ora Schwartz-Be'eri, ''The Jews of Kurdistan: Daily Life, Customs, Arts and Crafts'', UPNE publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|965-278-238-6}}, p.26.</ref> |
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===Ottoman era=== |
===Ottoman era=== |
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Tanna'it [[Asenath Barzani]], who |
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]].<ref>Sylvia Barack Fishman, ''A breath of Life: Feminism in the American Jewish Community'', UPNE Publishers, 1995, {{ISBN|0-87451-706-0}}, p. 186</ref> 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.<ref>Sally Berkovic, ''Straight Talk: My Dilemma As an Orthodox Jewish Woman'', KTAV Publishing House, 1999, {{ISBN|0-88125-661-7}}, p.226.</ref> 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.<ref>[[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</ref> |
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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 |
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 [[1660 destruction of Safed|ended]] in 1660, with Druze power struggles in the region and an economic decline. |
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==Modern times== |
==Modern times== |
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{{main article|Kurdish Jews in Israel}} |
{{main article|Kurdish Jews in Israel}} |
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Since the early 20th century |
Since the early 20th century some Kurdish Jews had been active in the [[Zionist]] movement. One of the most famous members of [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] (''Freedom Fighters of Israel'') was [[Moshe Barazani]], whose family immigrated from Iraqi Kurdistan and settled in [[Jerusalem]] in the late 1920s. |
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The vast majority of Kurdish Jews were [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|forced out]] of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] and [[Operation Ezra and Nehemiah|evacuated]] to Israel in the early 1950s, together with the [[Iraqi Jews|Iraqi Jewish]] community. The vast majority of the Kurdish Jews of [[Iranian Kurdistan]] relocated mostly to Israel as well, in the 1950s. |
The vast majority of Kurdish Jews were [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|forced out]] of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]] and [[Operation Ezra and Nehemiah|evacuated]] to Israel in the early 1950s, together with the [[Iraqi Jews|Iraqi Jewish]] community. The vast majority of the Kurdish Jews of [[Iranian Kurdistan]] relocated mostly to Israel as well, in the 1950s. |
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==Historiography== |
==Historiography== |
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One of the main problems in the history and historiography of the Jews of Kurdistan was the lack of written history and the lack of documents and historical records. During the 1930s, a German-Jewish [[Ethnography|ethnographer]], [[Erich Brauer (ethnographer)|Erich Brauer]], began interviewing members of the community. His assistant, [[Raphael Patai]], published the results of his research in Hebrew. The book, ''Yehude Kurditan: mehqar ethnographi'' (Jerusalem, 1940), was translated into English in the 1990s. Israeli scholar [[Mordechai Zaken]] wrote a phD dissertaion and a book, using written, [[archival]] and [[oral tradition|oral sources]] that traces and reconstructs the relationships between the Jews and their Kurdish masters or [[chieftain]]s also known as [[Aghas]]). He interviewed 56 Kurdish Jews altogether conducting hundreds of interviews, thus saving their memoires from being lost forever. He interviewed Kurdish Jews mainly from six towns ([[Zakho, Iraq|Zahko]], [[Aqrah]], [[Amadiya]], [[Dohuk, Iraq|Dohuk]], [[Sulaymaniyah|Sulaimaniya]] |
One of the main problems in the history and historiography of the Jews of Kurdistan was the lack of written history and the lack of documents and historical records. During the 1930s, a German-Jewish [[Ethnography|ethnographer]], [[Erich Brauer (ethnographer)|Erich Brauer]], began interviewing members of the community. His assistant, [[Raphael Patai]], published the results of his research in Hebrew. The book, ''Yehude Kurditan: mehqar ethnographi'' (Jerusalem, 1940), was translated into English in the 1990s. Israeli scholar [[Mordechai Zaken]] wrote a phD dissertaion and a book, using written, [[archival]] and [[oral tradition|oral sources]] that traces and reconstructs the relationships between the Jews and their Kurdish masters or [[chieftain]]s also known as [[Aghas]]). He interviewed 56 Kurdish Jews altogether conducting hundreds of interviews, thus saving their memoires from being lost forever. He interviewed Kurdish Jews mainly from six towns ([[Zakho, Iraq|Zahko]], [[Aqrah]], [[Amadiya]], [[Dohuk, Iraq|Dohuk]], [[Sulaymaniyah|Sulaimaniya]] and [[Oshnavieh|Shinno/Ushno/Ushnoviyya]]), as well as from dozens of villages, mostly in the region of [[Bahdinan]].<ref>Joyce Blau, one of the world's leading scholars in the Kurdish languages, culture and history, suggested that "This part of Mr. Zaken’s thesis, concerning Jewish life in Bahdinan, well complements the impressive work of the pioneer ethnologist Erich Brauer."[Erich Brauer, The Jews of Kurdistan, First edition 1940, revised edition 1993, completed and edited by Raphael Patai, Wayne State University Press, Detroit])</ref><ref>Jewish Subjects and their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan A Study in Survival By Mordechai Zaken Published by Brill: August 2007 {{ISBN|978-90-04-16190-0}} Hardback (xxii, 364 pp.), Jewish Identities in a Changing World, 9.</ref> His study unveils new sources, reports and vivid tales that form a new set of historical records on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society. His PhD thesis was commented by members of the PhD judicial committee and along with the book upon which it has been translated into several Middle eastern languages, including Arabic,<ref>Yahud Kurdistan wa-ru'as'uhum al-qabaliyun: Dirasa fi fan al-baqa'. Transl., Su'ad M. Khader; Reviewers: Abd al-Fatah Ali Yihya and Farast Mir'i; Published by the Center for Academic Research, Beirut, 2013,</ref> Sorani <ref>D. Mordixi Zakin, Culekekany Kurdistan, Erbil and Sulaimaniyya, 2015,</ref> Kurmanji <ref>French into Kurmanji translation of an article by Moti Zaken, "Jews, Kurds and Arabs, between 1941 and 1952", by Dr. Amr Taher Ahmed Metîn n° 148, October 2006, p. 98-123.</ref> as well as French.<ref>Juifs, Kurdes et Arabes, entre 1941 et 1952," Errance et Terre promise: Juifs, Kurdes, Assyro-Chaldéens, etudes kurdes, revue semestrielle de recherches, 2005: 7-43, translated by Sandrine Alexie.</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Line 54: | Line 54: | ||
* [[Jewish ethnic divisions]] |
* [[Jewish ethnic divisions]] |
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* [[Kurdish people]] |
* [[Kurdish people]] |
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* [[Assyrian people]] |
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* [[Syriac Christians]] |
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* [[Mizrahi Jews]] |
* [[Mizrahi Jews]] |
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* [[Jewish diaspora]] |
* [[Jewish diaspora]] |
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* [[Judeo-Aramaic]] |
* [[Judeo-Aramaic]] |
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* [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] |
* [[Northeastern Neo-Aramaic]] |
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* [[ |
* [[Samaria]] |
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* [[Seharane]] |
* [[Seharane]] |
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* [[Yazidis]] |
* [[Yazidis]] |
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<!-- remark out unused ref |
<!-- remark out unused ref |
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<ref name="Glitzenstein2004p205">{{cite book|author=Esther Meir-Glitzenstein|title=Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZU2QAgAAQBAJ|date=2 August 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-76862-1|page=205|quote="in mid September 1950, Nuri al-Said replaced |
<ref name="Glitzenstein2004p205">{{cite book|author=Esther Meir-Glitzenstein|title=Zionism in an Arab Country: Jews in Iraq in the 1940s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZU2QAgAAQBAJ|date=2 August 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-76862-1|page=205|quote="in mid September 1950, Nuri al-Said replaced...as prime minister. Nuri was determined to drive the Jews out of his country as quickly as..."}}</ref> |
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--> |
--> |
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===Bibliography=== |
===Bibliography=== |
||
* [[Mordechai Zaken]], "Jewish Subjects and their tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A study in Survival |
* [[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). |
* 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. |
* [[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}}). |
* [[Yona Sabar]], ''The Folk Literature of the Kurdistani Jews'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982, {{ISBN|0300026986}}). |
||
* Ariel Sabar, [http://www.arielsabar.com/ ''My Father's Paradise: A |
* Ariel Sabar, [http://www.arielsabar.com/ ''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 [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/books/review/Beckerman-t.html The New York Times], Oct. 12, 2008 and [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102302573.html The Washington Post], Oct. 26, 2008. |
||
* Mahir Ünsal Eriş, Kürt Yahudileri - Din, Dil, Tarih, (Kurdish Jews) In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], Kalan Publishing, Ankara, 2006 |
* Mahir Ünsal Eriş, Kürt Yahudileri - Din, Dil, Tarih, (Kurdish Jews) In [[Turkish language|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) |
* 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) |
Revision as of 17:03, 21 February 2019
![]() | |
Total population | |
---|---|
200,000–300,000[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 200,000[2][3][4][5] |
![]() | 400-730 families[6] |
Languages | |
Northeastern Neo-Aramaic dialects (particularly Judeo-Aramaic), Kurdish (mainly Kurmanji dialects), Mizrahi Hebrew (liturgical use) and some Azeri (in Iran).[7] | |
Religion | |
Judaism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
other Mizrahi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Assyrians, Samaritans |
Part of a series on |
Jews and Judaism |
---|
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/RABBI_MOSHE_GABAIL.jpg/220px-RABBI_MOSHE_GABAIL.jpg)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Kurdish_Jews%2C_Purim.jpg/220px-Kurdish_Jews%2C_Purim.jpg)
Jews of Kurdistan (Template:Lang-he-n, Yehudei Kurdistan, lit. Jews of Kurdistan; Imperial Aramaic: אנשא דידן, Anshi Didan, lit. our people; Kurdish: Kurdên cihû) are the ancient Eastern Jewish communities, inhabiting the region known as Kurdistan in northern Mesopotamia, roughly covering parts of northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. Until their immigration to Israel in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Jews of Kurdistan lived as closed ethnic communities. The Jews of Kurdistan largely spoke Aramaic and Kurdish dialects, in particular the Kurmanji dialect in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Today, the vast majority of Kurdistan's Jews live in Israel.
Ancient times and classic antiquity
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/KurdJewwomenRowendez905.jpg/220px-KurdJewwomenRowendez905.jpg)
Tradition holds that Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin first arrived in the area of modern Kurdistan after the Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BC; they were subsequently relocated to the Assyrian capital.[8] During the first century BC, the royal house of Adiabene—which, according to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, was ethnically Assyrian and whose capital was Erbil (Aramaic: Arbala; Kurdish: Hewlêr)—was converted to Judaism.[9][10] King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as the first proselytes.[11]
Middle Ages
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 king of Persia 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 the commercial and spiritual center of 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 over managing their own community.[12]
Ottoman era
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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]
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
Since the early 20th century some Kurdish Jews had been active in the Zionist movement. One of the most famous members of Lehi (Freedom Fighters of Israel) 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. The vast majority of the Kurdish Jews of Iranian Kurdistan relocated mostly to Israel as well, in the 1950s.
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 Kurdish Jews."[16]
According to recent reports, there are between 400-730 Jewish families living in the Kurdish region. On October 18, the Kurdistan Regional Government named Sherzad Omar Mamsani, a Kurdish Jew, as the Jewish representative of the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs.[6]
Historiography
One of the main problems in the history and historiography of the Jews of Kurdistan was the lack of written history and the lack of documents and historical records. During the 1930s, a German-Jewish ethnographer, Erich Brauer, began interviewing members of the community. His assistant, Raphael Patai, published the results of his research in Hebrew. The book, Yehude Kurditan: mehqar ethnographi (Jerusalem, 1940), was translated into English in the 1990s. Israeli scholar Mordechai Zaken wrote a phD dissertaion and a book, using written, archival and oral sources that traces and reconstructs the relationships between the Jews and their Kurdish masters or chieftains also known as Aghas). He interviewed 56 Kurdish Jews altogether conducting hundreds of interviews, thus saving their memoires from being lost forever. He interviewed Kurdish Jews mainly from six towns (Zahko, Aqrah, Amadiya, Dohuk, Sulaimaniya and Shinno/Ushno/Ushnoviyya), as well as from dozens of villages, mostly in the region of Bahdinan.[17][18] His study unveils new sources, reports and vivid tales that form a new set of historical records on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society. His PhD thesis was commented by members of the PhD judicial committee and along with the book upon which it has been translated into several Middle eastern languages, including Arabic,[19] Sorani [20] Kurmanji [21] as well as French.[22]
See also
- History of the Jews in Iraq
- Israeli–Kurdish relations
- Jewish ethnic divisions
- Kurdish people
- Assyrian people
- Syriac Christians
- Mizrahi Jews
- Jewish diaspora
- Judeo-Aramaic
- Northeastern Neo-Aramaic
- Samaria
- Seharane
- Yazidis
References
- ^ 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. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
- ^ "(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 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
- ^ Berman, Lazar (September 30, 2013). "Cultural pride, and unlikely guests, at Kurdish Jewish festival". timesofisrael.com.
- ^ a b Sokol, Sam (18 October 2015). "Jew appointed to official position in Iraqi Kurdistan". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "курдские евреи. Электронная еврейская энциклопедия". Eleven.co.il. 2006-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
- ^ Roth C in the Encyclopedia Judaica, p. 1296-1299 (Keter: Jerusalem 1972).
- ^ "Irbil/Arbil" entry in the Encyclopaedia Judaica
- ^ The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged New Updated Edition Translated by William Whiston, A.M., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1987. ISBN 0913573868 (Hardcover).
- ^ Brauer E., The Jews of Kurdistan, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1993; Ginzberg, Louis, "The Legends of the Jews, 5th CD." in The Jewish Publication Society of America, VI.412 (Philadelphia: 1968); and http://www.eretzyisroel.org/~jkatz/kurds.html.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Joyce Blau, one of the world's leading scholars in the Kurdish languages, culture and history, suggested that "This part of Mr. Zaken’s thesis, concerning Jewish life in Bahdinan, well complements the impressive work of the pioneer ethnologist Erich Brauer."[Erich Brauer, The Jews of Kurdistan, First edition 1940, revised edition 1993, completed and edited by Raphael Patai, Wayne State University Press, Detroit])
- ^ Jewish Subjects and their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan A Study in Survival By Mordechai Zaken Published by Brill: August 2007 ISBN 978-90-04-16190-0 Hardback (xxii, 364 pp.), Jewish Identities in a Changing World, 9.
- ^ Yahud Kurdistan wa-ru'as'uhum al-qabaliyun: Dirasa fi fan al-baqa'. Transl., Su'ad M. Khader; Reviewers: Abd al-Fatah Ali Yihya and Farast Mir'i; Published by the Center for Academic Research, Beirut, 2013,
- ^ D. Mordixi Zakin, Culekekany Kurdistan, Erbil and Sulaimaniyya, 2015,
- ^ French into Kurmanji translation of an article by Moti Zaken, "Jews, Kurds and Arabs, between 1941 and 1952", by Dr. Amr Taher Ahmed Metîn n° 148, October 2006, p. 98-123.
- ^ Juifs, Kurdes et Arabes, entre 1941 et 1952," Errance et Terre promise: Juifs, Kurdes, Assyro-Chaldéens, etudes kurdes, revue semestrielle de recherches, 2005: 7-43, translated by Sandrine Alexie.
Bibliography
- 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