Kurdish jewish history

Kurdish jewish history. v. Many date Jewish presence in what is today Kurdistan to the eighth-century B. Starting with the Babylonian exile, the history of Kurdish Jews spans thousands of years. The first to mention this was R. We will learn about the unique Jewish history of Kurdistan, including famous heritage sites and major historical figures. The Houston Jewish community is centered on Meyerland. During this time, Kurdish Jews developed unique philosophical writings and produced women yeshiva leaders and doctors. Cf. As of 1987 Jews lived in many communities in Houston. 2There is also a widespread dispersion of Kurds over many parts of the Middle East; cf. Ancient tradition has it that Jews were settled in Kurdistan 2,800 years ago, part of the Ten Tribes dispersed by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser. The Cambridge History of the Kurds - April 2021. Boston and Leiden: Brill. Ilana Eliya is a modern day Kurdish Jewish feminist singer. Damascus had a Sephardic congregation of 500 families. A 2013 genetic study of multiple Jewish groups, including Bukharan Jews, found that Bukharan Jews form a cluster with Iranian Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Kurdish Jews and Iraqi Jews, and did not cluster with their neighbours. As Kurdish Jews natively adhere to Judaism and originate from the Middle East, Mizrahi Hebrew is used for liturgy. Apr 11, 2022 · The Jewish-Kurdish community in Israel continues this tradition from Kurdistan by annually meeting together for Kurdiyada either in Eilat or in Tiberias and celebrating these days with well-known The periods of Jewish history immediately following the close of the Talmud are designated according to the titles of the teachers at Sura and Pumbedita; thus we have the time of the Geonim and that of the Saboraim. An ancient tradition relates that the Jews of Kurdistan are the descendants of the Ten Tribes from the time of the Assyrian exile. Rothman, author of The Barber in Modern Jewish Culture: A Genre of People, Places, and Things, with Illustrations, wrote that Houston "has a scattered Jewish populace and not a large enough population of Jews to dominate any single neighborhood" and that the city's Oct 19, 2023 · Jews from Kurdistan have a documented history going all the way back to the Bible, and there are hundreds of thousands of Jews whose ancestors immigrated from Kurdistan to the present-day State of Israel. Many Jewish homes were seized by the Iraqi state before 2003, and Jewish schools, shops and synagogues across the country are mostly crumbling from lack of maintenance. Another wave of Jewish immigrants arrived in the country between 1965 and 1972, mainly intelligentsia, military, and engineers. It is the only ethnological study of the Kurdish Jews ever written and provides a comprehensive look at their material culture, life cycles, religious practices, occupations, and relations with the Muslims. ), and celebrate the powerful histories of Kurdish Jewish women such as Asenath Barzani, Ilana Eliya and Sabat Islambooly. It was obviously quite ahead of its time when it came to involving women in the study and teaching Torah — Osnat’s story dates back about a couple of centuries before any other recorded female rabbi. The Kurds reinvented themselves as Muslims after the Arab invasion and conquest, as Sunni Muslims after the Ottoman Turks conquest, as Shiite Muslims after the Persian conquest, as Kurdish Nationalists in the aftermath of World War I and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, as political revolutionaries (Kurdish Workers Party – PKK) in Turkey In Ishmael's house: a History of Jews in Muslim Lands. Kurdish Jews departed en masse for Israel when the Jewish state was created in 1948 It's like asking about the difference between Iraqi people and Kurdish people: language, history, customs, cuisine etc Kurdish Jews used to speak mainly Kurdish and Judeo Aramaic, but nowadays after the community cease to exist in the early '50s, it's mainly Hebrew, especially in the second generation of immigrants. Kurdish Jews began immigrating to Israel in the 1920s, but most came after the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948; today Sep 7, 2021 · Footnote 10 These studies have allocated minimal attention to the unique case of Kurdish Jews with a few exceptions: Haya Gavish’s excellent oral history of the Jewish community of Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan Footnote 11, Mordechai Zaken’s rigorous historical research on the Jews of Kurdistan and their relationship with Kurdish tribes Footnote Explore the lives and work of “Mammo” Yona Gabai, a Kurdish Jewish elder and storyteller, and Yona Sabar, a Kurdish-Israeli language and folklore scholar. Driver, G. Soon, people from all ethnic and religious backgrounds can learn about Judaism and the region’s rich and ancient Jewish history in Iraqi Kurdistan’s first Jewish cultural center, one of Mamsani’s flagship projects. , local authorities, and private donations. "Above all, I consider myself a Kurd," she says. In the early 20th Century, many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland - generally referred to as Sep 22, 2017 · Present-day politics may have been less important than a long shared history between the Kurds and the Jews. Despite the difficult history for Kurdish Jews, Lana says she's proud of her mixed heritage. Jul 20, 2021 · For more than 27 centuries, Jews lived in the region around Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-independent Kurdish Regional Government. The State of Israel and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq maintain a close informal relationship, but do not have formal diplomatic missions in each other's territory. Once home to a Jewish community numbering in the tens of The Kurdish Jews were highly regarded throughout Kurdistan, [5] and when, in the 1950’s, most Kurdish Jews emigrated to Israel, left behind neighbors and friends who took care of their friend’s synagogues, in some cases for years. Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. It has since been a matter of contention between the Kurds and the states they inhabit. The community largely spoke Judeo-Aramaic. Paul (2008) argues that this marks an incipient ethnogenesis of the Kurds as a coherent Northwestern Iranian group, as three out of these four groups can be identified as the ancestors of groups that at least partially identify as Kurdish today, while the Lurs are not a Kurdish group, and indeed do not belong to the Northwest Iranian but to the Dec 28, 2018 · While Prime Minister Netanyahu had strategic reasons for his support of the independence referendum, the Kurdish and Jewish people have a long history of mutual support. In those days, Jews used to live in and around the city of Shamakhi (mainly in the village of Mücü ), but the community has been non-existent since the Nov 6, 2022 · Jews from Kurdistan have a documented history going all the way back to the Bible, and there are hundreds of thousands of Jews whose ancestors immigrated from Kurdistan to the present-day State of Israel. Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities until they were expelled from Arab and Muslim states from the 1940s–1950s onward. [6] The Jewish population of Armenia grew to approximately 5,000 people. See full list on jewishstudies. Dec 8, 2007 · The Kurdish leadership denies the charges. Jun 10, 2015 · “He told me, ‘It takes me back 60 years,’” he said. Asenath Barzani, who is considered the first female rabbi in Jewish history by some scholars, is believed to be the first known influential Kurdish woman in history. 14 Oct 15, 2019 · Despite their long history, the Kurds have never achieved a permanent nation state. The Kurdish Jewish community has such a rich Kurdish cinema focuses on the Kurdish people and culture. Many Kurdish Jews were among the first Jews to make the return to Israel in the 1890s. Kurdish cinema has a high significance for the Kurds, as it offers the opportunity to draw attention to Apr 7, 2003 · In the article, the researcher — a history instructor named Ahmet Ucar — said Barzani’s “Jewish roots” should lead to a different understanding of the region and its history, since the . Kurdish Jews lived as closed ethnic communities until they were expelled from Arab and Muslim states from the 1940s–1950s onward. Eat Kurdish Foods. During the 1930s, a German-Jewish ethnographer, Erich Brauer, began interviewing members of the community. Modernly however, the majority of Kurdish Christians are converts. The first known female rabbi in the history is Asenath Barzanî, a Kurdish woman from South Kurdistan. Oct 25, 2019 · Kurds have more in common with Jews than I had ever imagined before I arrived in northern Iraq last week to interview refugees fleeing Turkish aggression. In the mid-13th century CE, Iraqi Jews fled from major Jewish centers like Baghdad as Mongol captured those areas; many moved north and west into Kurdish areas, joining the vibrant Jewish communities there. The Saboraim were the scholars whose diligent hands completed the Talmud and the first great Talmudic commentaries in the first Genetic studies of Jews are part of the population genetics discipline and are used to analyze the ancestry of Jewish populations, complementing research in other fields such as history, linguistics, archaeology, and paleontology. Zaken, Mordechai (2007). These positive relations have been transmitted through their oral traditions, documented by both communities and travelers to Kurdistan, and validated by several scholars who studied the Jews of the region Oct 18, 2019 · More than 200,000 to 300,000 Jews of Kurdish origin exist today and mostly reside in Israel. The Sharafnameh of 1597 is the first account of Kurdish history. xvi (1926), 150-57. ” The tekkeyeh became an asylum for the aggrieved local Kurdish tribes, assisting in strengthening the authority of the Barzani sheikhdom in the region and becoming the focal point of a claim for greater regional autonomy from what was at the time the Ottoman Empire. New Haven, Conn. The history of the Kurdish Jewish community began well before the destruction of the First Temple and continued for many generations. In 1959, the Jewish population peaked in Soviet Armenia at approximately 10,000 people. They have been geographically isolated throughout much of their history and are thought to have retained some old Jewish traditions. also Cumberland, Roger C. In Al-Qosh, the Jewish prophet Nahum’s tomb was being restored in 2020 thanks to a $1-million grant from the U. , "The Dispersion of the Kurds in Ancient Times" in Journal of Jun 1, 2014 · On another level, from the 1990s on, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) maintained relations with Kurdish officials since “pro-Israel Jewish activists viewed support for the Kurds, a small nation struggling for self-determination in a hostile Arab neighborhood, as helping Israel reach out to a natural ally. Asenath, some would say, was the first woman rabbi, having been referred to as “our teacher” and “tannait” in her lifetime during the 16th century. Jul 8, 2015 · Kurdish and Jewish History Kurds and Jews have a fascinating shared history with roots in ancient times. the history of Iraqi Kurdistan has been one of underdevelopment, political and Jul 11, 2020 · How Kurdish Jews made their way to Jerusalem, shocked Herzl, began to thrive A chance meeting with British geologists spurred many of Kurdistan’s Jews to move to Israel in the early 1900s, where Feb 11, 2021 · Samuel’s new illustrated children’s book is about the first female rabbi in history, Osnat Barzani, also known as Asnat or Asenath Barzani. Regina Jones who was officially declared rabbi in the German capital Berlin in 1935 used to known as the first female rabbi in the Jewish history. 1 day ago · This policy accelerated in the 1980s as large numbers of Kurds were forcibly relocated, particularly from areas along the Iranian border where Iraqi authorities suspected that Kurds were aiding Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88). She wrote many letters and published several publications in the 17th century. Kurds, Kurdistan. In honor of the Kurdish Jewish post-Passover holiday of Seharaneh, Ilana Cruger-Zaken will share some of her favorite stories and discuss the significance of Kurdish Jews today reclaiming Aug 17, 2024 · The history of the Kurdish Jewish community began well before the destruction of the First Temple and continued for many generations. Mar 15, 2016 · Sherzad Omar Mamsani, the Jewish representative at the Kurdish regional ministry, looks at photographs displayed during a ceremony marking the deportation of Jews from Iraq seven decades ago, in Aug 10, 2017 · Melanie Shurka dedicates hours to make the Iraqi and Kurdish dumpling soup kubeh. Oct 24, 2015 · The Jewish presence in the Kurdistan region actually dates back millennia, well before the establishment of Islam and Arab conquests and much like the ancient Zoroastrian roots of other Kurds who Dec 30, 2019 · She was also the first female head of a yeshiva, a religious school where only men studied, and was recognized as the first and only female rabbi in premodern Jewish history. The once thriving Jewish Kurdish community in Iraq now consists of a few families in the Kurdish safe haven. Mamsani’s dedication to the Jewish community has not been impeded by the regional upheaval that has shaken Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish Jews eat a wide variety of delicious dishes. [2] In 2008 Irving N. 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. S. , when the Assyrian Empire — ancestors of the same friendly Assyrian Christians who are today under threat — conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. "An Israeli Azerbaijan at one point was or still is home to smaller communities of Krymchaks, Kurdish Jews and Bukharian Jews, as well Gerim (converts) and non-Jewish Judaistic groups like Subbotniks. Feb 8, 2021 · The Kurdish Jewish community has such a rich history. Kurdish history in the 20th century is marked by a rising sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of an independent Kurdistan as scheduled by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920. Smadar, Lavie (2014). Though the majority of Kurds were converted to Islam during the expansion of the Islamic caliphates in the 7th century, [5] there still remained a number of Kurdish Christians. edu HISTORY. Wrapped in the Flag of Israel: Mizrahi Single Mothers and Bureaucratic The Jews of Kurdistan is a unique historical document in that it presents a picture of Kurdish Jewish life and culture prior to World War II. [86] There are not many female rabbis in the Jewish history. Their connection in the Middle East and the diaspora goes way beyond current geopolitics and the Kurdish independence referendum. Aug 23, 2021 · It argues that the millenarian relationship between Kurdistan’s Jews and their non-Jewish neighbours notwithstanding, the myriad of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ myths surrounding present-day Jewish-Israeli-Kurdish relations have flourished against the backdrop of a dearth of documented history of both Jewish and non-Jewish communities of Kurdish Christians [a] [2] [3] [4] are Kurds who follow Christianity. With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, many Kurds hoped for the establishment of an independent state in Kurdistan. Constantinople had a Jewish community of 30,000 individuals with 44 synagogues. More recently, Rewaz Fayeq Hussein was elected the new Speaker of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) parliament in July 2019. The fate of the Kurds as a people without a state shaped their cinema. Today, almost all the Jewish Kurds live in Israel, numbering around 200,000. C. ISBN 978-0-300-16715-3. E. [1] Sep 7, 2020 · Omar Farhadi, an elderly Iraqi Kurd points to a frame showing a stylized hexagram, or a Star of David, hanging in a room dedicated to famous Jewish Kurdish art teacher and painter Daniel Kassab Jun 4, 2023 · Here, the Kurds played an important role: the Kurdish region became the only escape route for thousands of Jews, who were assisted by the Kurds to escape Iraq. That of Safed increased from 300 to 2000 families and almost surpassed Jerusalem in importance. washington. Learn about the unique Jewish history of Kurdistan, including famous heritage sites and major historical figures. These positive relations have been transmitted through their oral traditions, documented by both communities and travelers to Kurdistan, and validated by several scholars who studied the Jews of the region Sep 2, 2024 · Kurdistan, broadly defined geographic region traditionally inhabited mainly by Kurds. They number between 150,000 and 300,000. Kurdish Jews, a largely rural people, have lived in the mountains and plains of Kurdistan since time immemorial. Although the presence of the Kurdish diaspora is relatively new in the European contexts, it has nonetheless developed as a transnational community, enabled and facilitated by global communication technologies that can be used to politically mobilize resources in support of the Kurds in the Middle East. As Jews poured from the land of Israel into Kurdish areas, David Alroy, an infamous Kurdish Jewish figure, arose. [5] [4] The tribe has many Jewish members as well. Learn about Kurdish Jewish history. The Jews who fled in the late 1960s recounted how Masoud Barzani, the son of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, who later became the president of KRG in 2005, personally helped smuggle them out over ',See the excellent survey by B. Kurdish films often show social grievances, oppression, torture, human rights violations, and life as a stranger. What followed was one of the most brutal episodes in Kurdish history. R. Minorsky in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, s. , "The Kurds" in Moslem World, vol. Explore their traditions and history. Mar 17, 2022 · This article highlights the positive relations between the Jewish and the Kurdish nations, maintained mainly by Kurdistani Jews until their displacement to Israel in the mid-20th century. : Yale University Press. The Jewish population in Jerusalem increased from 70 families in 1488 to 1500 at the beginning of the 16th century. Until the mid-twentieth century, Jewish communities, who spoke various dialects of the neo-Aramaic language, existed in all four parts of Kurdistan. It has become a beloved dish in Israel and a defining food of Mizrachi cookery, or the food of the Jews who settled Discover the unique Kurdish Jewish community living in Israel with cultural richness and heritage. #kurdish #روج_افا #كورديه #فلسطين #ypfッ #explorepage #غزة #إسرائيل #امريكا #الدول_الاوروبية #اربيل Feb 12, 2021 · He dwells even more fondly on the respect shown to Jewish officials and institutions by the Muslim caliph, commenting that Muslims of all ranks as well as Jews paid homage to the Exiliarch, the head of the Jewish community, and that Muslims came to pray at the Jewish shrine of the prophet Ezekiel outside of Baghdad, a practice also noted by his contemporary traveler Petachia of Ratisbon. Their ties are rooted in Israel's historically strong support for the Kurdish people and their long-running desire for self-determination and national independence in Kurdistan. *Benjamin of Tudela , the 12 th -century traveler who visited Kurdistan in about 1170 and found more than 100 Jewish communities. There are even ancient Jewish-Kurdish legends that claim the Kurds are descendants of the Jews from the time of King Solomon. In the eighth century BCE, the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and forcibly resettled Jews to the region later known as Kurdistan. Kurdish Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Kurdish Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. zcnrysnnt rlwmd pcjjjefs ngegl yozd nuvqb scmdge zdkvnz hshctu adrdu