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{{Short description|Jewish subgroup of Central Asia}}
{{Infobox Ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group = Bukharian Jews
|image = | group = Bukharan Jews
| image = Bukharian Jewish family, 1880c.png
|pop = approx. '''150,000-160,000'''
| image_caption = Jewish family in ], 1880
|region1 = {{flag|Israel}}
| pop = '''300,000–350,000''' (est.)<ref>{{cite web |title=EAJC Deputy Secretary General Participates In World Congress of Bukharan Jews Meeting |url=http://jewseurasia.org/page84/news35805.html |website=jewseurasia |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>
|pop1 =100,000
|ref1 = | region1 = {{flag|Israel}}
| pop1 = 160,000
|region2 ={{flag|United States}}
| ref1 =
|pop2 = 50,000
|ref2 = | region2 = {{flag|United States}}
:*]
|region3 ={{flag|Austria}}
|pop3 = 2,500 | pop2 = 120,000<br />80,000
|ref3 = | ref2 =
|region4 = {{flag|Uzbekistan}} | region3 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}
|pop4 = 100-1,000 | pop3 = 15,000
|ref4 = | ref3 =
|region5 = {{flag|Tajikistan}} | region4 = {{flag|Austria}}
|pop5 = 100-1,000 | pop4 = 3,000–3,500
|ref5 = | region5 = {{flag|Germany}}
| pop5 = 2,000
|region6 = {{flag|Pakistan}}
|pop6 = 100-1,000 | region6 = {{flag|Uzbekistan}}
::*]
|ref6 =
| pop6 = 1,500<br />150<ref name =NewYorkTimes>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/world/asia/uzbekistan-bukhara-jews.html|title=In Bukhara, 10,000 Jewish Graves but Just 150 Jews|work=]|date=7 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=Ido>{{cite journal |last=Ido |first=Shinji |date= June 15, 2017 |title=The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjl/5/1/article-p81_4.xml |journal=Journal of Jewish Languages |volume=5 |issue= 1 |pages=81–103 |doi=10.1163/22134638-12340078 |access-date=June 16, 2020|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|languages = Traditionally ], ] and ] spoken in addition.
| ref5 =
|religions = ]
| region7 = {{flag|Canada}}
|related = Other ]ish groups<br/>{{smaller|(], ], ], etc.)}}<br/>}}
| pop7 = 1,500
| region8 = {{flag|Russia}}
| pop8 = 1,000
| region9 = {{flag|Australia}}
:*]
| pop9 = 130+<br />130+<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/encounter/shalom-from-the-silk-road-the-story-of-the/3000902|title=Shalom from the Silk Road: The Story of the Bukharians|work=]|date=February 13, 2011|quote=And what of Melbourne's Bukharians, with around 65 families?}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vic.gov.au/jewish-community-profile|title=Jewish community profile|work=State Government of Victoria|date=March 27, 2024|quote=The Jewish community in Victoria is the largest in Australia, with the majority of Jewish people living in Melbourne.}}</ref>
| region10 = {{flag|Tajikistan}}
| pop10 = 34
| region11 = {{flag|Afghanistan}}
| pop11 = 0<ref name="last">{{Cite web|title=Woman now thought to be Afghanistan's last Jew flees country|url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/woman-now-thought-to-be-afghanistans-last-jew-flees-country-40996142.html|access-date=2021-11-12|website=Independent|date=29 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
| languages = Traditionally ]<ref name="IranicaBukhara">{{Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Zand|first=Michael|title=BUKHARA vii. Bukharan Jews|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bukhara-vii|volume=4|fascicle=5|pages=530-545}}</ref> ], ] (Israel), ] (United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia) and ] (Austria and Germany), ] (Uzbekistan)
| religions = ] ]
| related = ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]
| native_name = {{Script/Hebrew|יהודים בוכרים}}
| native_name_lang = bhh
}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar |Communities}}


'''Bukharan Jews''',{{efn|{{langx|tg|яҳудиёни Бухоро|yahudiyoni Buxoro}}, {{small|]:}} יהודיאני בוכארא, {{small|]:}} یهودیان بخارا, {{IPA|tg|jɐɦudiˈjɔnɪ bʊχɔˈɾo|IPA}}; {{langx|he|יְהוּדֵי־בּוּכָרָה|yehudi Bucharah}}, {{IPA|he|jehuˈdi buχaˈʁa|IPA}}; {{langx|uz|Бухоро яҳудийлари|Buxoro yahudiylari}}, {{IPA|uz|bʊχɒˈɾɒ jæhuˌdijlæˈɾɪ̆|IPA}}; {{lang-rus|бухарец|r=buharec|p=bʊˈxarʲɪts}}}} in modern times called '''Bukharian Jews''',{{efn|{{langx|tg|яҳудиёни Бухорӣ|yahudiyoni Buxoriy}}, {{small|]:}} יהודי בוכרה, {{small|]:}} یهودیان بخارى, {{IPA|tg|jɐɦudiˈjɔnɪ bʊχɔˈɾij|IPA}}; {{langx|he|יְהוּדִים־בּוּכָרִים|yehudim Bucharim}}, {{IPA|he|jehuˈdim buχaˈʁim|IPA}}; {{langx|uz|Бухорий яҳудийлари|Buxoriy yahudiylari}}, {{IPA|uz|bʊχɒˈɾij jæhuˌdijlæˈɾɪ̆|IPA}}; {{lang-rus|Бухарские евреи|r=Buharskije jevrei|p=bʊˈxarskʲɪje jɪˈvrʲeɪ}}}} are the ] sub-group of ] that traditionally spoke ], a ] language most similar to the ] dialect of ].<ref name="ABC-CLIO">{{cite book |editor1-last=Ehrlich |editor1-first=M. Avrum |title=Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=1124 |chapter=Caucasus and Central Asia |quote=Bukharan Jews spoke a dialect of Tajik referred to as Bukhori or Judeo-Tajik, which is still used by Bukharan Jews today.}}</ref><ref name="IranicaBukhara" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ido |first1=Shinji |title=The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift |journal=Journal of Jewish Languages |date=2017 |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=85 |doi=10.1163/22134638-12340078 |quote=The term ‘the Jewish dialect of Tajik’ is often used interchangeably with such terms as Judeo-Tadzhik, Judeo-Tajik, Bukhori, Bukhari, Bukharic, Bukharan, Bukharian, and Bukharit (Cooper 2012:284) in the literature.|doi-access=free}}</ref> Their name comes from the former Muslim-Uzbek polity ] which once had a sizable Jewish population. The vast majority lived in modern-day ] and ], with small groups in ], ], and ].
'''Bukharian Jews''' (also '''Bukharan Jews''' or '''Bukhari Jews''') (]:בוכרים , '''Bukharim''') are ]s from ] who speak ], a dialect of the ]. Their name comes from the ] city of ], which once had a large Jewish community. Since the ], the vast majority have moved to ] or the ]. Others have emigrated to ] or ].


Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups, dating back to the ], and are a branch of ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moreen |first1=Vera |title=Contracts and Controversies between Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Pre-Modern Iran |date=2010 |publisher=Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft |page=397-411}}</ref> They are also one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia.<ref name="IranicaBukhara" /><ref name="bjews.com">Goodman, Peter. "Bukharian Jews find homes on Long Island", '']'', September 2004.</ref><ref name="ABC-CLIO" />
==Background==
<!-- Unsourced image removed: ] -->
The Bukharan Jews trace their ancestry to ]s who never came back from the ] in the ]. In Central Asia, they survived for centuries subject to many conquering influences. The community was essentially cut off from the rest of the ] for more than 2,000 years and managed to survive in the face of countless odds. They are considered one of the oldest ]-] groups of Central Asia and over the years they have developed their own distinct culture. The Bukharan Jews claim descent from the tribes of ] and ].


Since the ], the great majority have ] or ], with others ] or ].
Most Bukharian Jews lived in ] (currently ] and ]), while a small number lived in ], ], ], ], ], ] and some other parts of the former ]. In Emirate of Bukhara, the largest concentrations were in ], Bukhara, and ]. In ], they similarly were mainly concentrated in the capital, ].


==Name==
Prior to the ], some Bukharian Jews could be found among the ] population of ] in the ] of northwestern India, (now ]). After partition and the creation of ], nearly all of these Jews left for ] and other countries. One synagogue still exists in ] and there are two main synagogues and several Jewish cemeteries that still function in the port city of ].
The term ''Bukharan'' was coined by ]an travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the ], they came to be known as ''Bukharan'' Jews. The name by which the community called itself is Bnei Israel.<ref></ref>


==Language==
==Name and language==
Bukharan Jews spoke in a ] language dubbed "Bukharian" or '']'', most similar to the ] and ] dialect of Farsi, with linguistic elements of ] and ] to communicate among themselves.<ref name="IranicaBukhara"/> This language was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until Central Asia was "]" by the ] and the dissemination of religious information was halted, as the Soviet Union wanted Russian as the dominant language in the region.
] in ], sketch based on a photograph by ].]]
The term "Bukharan" was coined by ]an travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the ], they came to be known as ''Bukharian'' Jews. The name by which the community called itself is "]" and "]."


During the Soviet era, the two main languages spoken by Bukharan Jews were ] and ]. The younger generation today either born outside Central Asia or who left as children generally use Russian as their secondary language, but sometimes do understand or speak ''].''
Bukharan Jews used the ] to communicate among themselves and later developed "]", a distinct dialect of the ] with certain linguistic traces of ]. 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 "]" by the Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. Although a minority speak still speaks primarily Bukhori, the majority today uses ] as its main language
]

The community is neither ] nor ]. They are one of the most self-contained and independent Jewish communities in the world. <ref></ref>


==History== ==History==
{{further|History of the Jews in Central Asia|History of the Jews under Muslim rule|Soviet Jews}}
Having developed over the millennia from northeastern ] communities, the community is neither ] nor ]. This Central Asian Jewish community has experienced alternating periods of freedom and prosperity, as well as periods of oppression. With the establishment of the ] between ] and the ] in the ] that lasted well into the 16th century, many Jews flocked to the ] and played a great role in its development. After ] from Israel in 135, they came under the ], as they prospered and spread through the area. However, around the 5th century, began a period of persecution.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}<!-- Begs the question "what caused this onset of persecution?" --> Famous Jewish academies in ] were closed, while many Jews were killed and expelled (See ]). After ] ] conquest in the early 8th century, Jews (as well as Christians) were considered ] and were forced, among other things, to pay the ] head tax. The ] invasion in the 13th century also adversely affected the Jews of Bukhara.
According to one legend, Bukharan Jews are exiles from the tribes of ] and ] during the ], basing this assumption on a reading of "Habor" at II Kings 17:6 as a reference to Bukhara.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/food-index/the-jewish-palate-the-bukharian-jews|title=The Jewish Palate: The Bukharian Jews|newspaper=]}}</ref> However, modern day scholarship associate this telling with ] myths, where stories about the "]" had been propagated in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaye |first1=Maïra |title=Memory and Commemoration across Central Asia |date=25 May 2023 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004540996 |pages=161}}</ref>


Historians associate their establishment in the region following the conquest of ] by ], which became part of the ]. Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship and allowed them to return to Israel, but a significant portion of the population chose to remain in ], later spreading to all parts of the ].<ref>], ''Uzbekistan,'' ], 2nd ed., 2007, volume 20 pp.447-448,447.</ref> In the opinion of some scholars, Jews settled in Central Asia in the sixth century, but it is certain that during the eighth to ninth centuries they lived in Central Asian cities such as ], ], ], ], and ]. At that time, and until approximately the sixteenth century, Bukharan Jews formed a homogeneous group with the Jews of Iran and Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bukharan-jews | title=Bukharan Jews}} </ref>
In the beginning of the 16th century, the area was invaded and occupied by ]ic Uzbek tribes who established strict observance of ] and ]. Confined to ], the Jews were denied basic rights and many were forced to ] to Islam. By the middle of the 18th century, practically all of Bukharian Jews lived in the ]. In 1843, Bukharian Jews collected 10,000 silver tan'ga and purchased land in ], known as ''Makhallai Yakhudion'' close to Registon.


The first primary written account of Jews in Central Asia dates to the beginning of the 4th century CE. It is recalled in the ] by Rabbi Shmuel bar Bisna, a member of the Talmudic academy in ], who traveled to Margiana (present-day Merv in ]).<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Aboda Zara, 31b, and Rashi</ref> The presence of Jewish communities in Merv is also proven by Jewish writings on ] from the 5th and 6th centuries, uncovered between 1954 and 1956.<ref>Ochildiev, D; R. Pinkhasov, I. Kalontarov. ''A History and Culture of the Bukharian Jews'', Roshnoyi-Light, New York, 2007.</ref>
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. 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.


===Under the Kara-Khanid Khanate===
]
In 1170, ], a Jewish traveler from ], wrote of the populous Jewish community in ] and claimed that there were about 50,000 "Israelites" in that city, among them "very wise and rich men."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Botticini |first1=Maristella |title=The Chosen Few |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Educated Wandering Jews, 800–1250}}</ref>
In ], a ] Jew from ], ], named ] traveled to ] and found the local Jews in very poor condition, and he decided to settle there. He became a spiritual leader and changed the Persian religious tradition to ]ish tradition. In the middle of the 19th century, Bukharian Jews began to move to the historic ]. Land on which they had settled in ] was called the ''Bukharian quarter'' (Sh'hunat Buhori) still exists today.


===Under the rule of Tamerlane===
In ], Russian troops took over ], and there was a large influx of Jews to the newly created ] Region. From ] to ], dozens of Bukharian Jews held prestigious jobs, and some Jews prospered. Many Bukharian Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, and singers. Jews were free to practice ].
In the 14th century under the rule of ] in the ], Jewish weavers and dyers contributed greatly to his effort to rebuild Central Asia following ] and the ]. In the centuries following Timur's demise, Jews came to dominate the region’s textile and dye industry.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bukharan-jews | title=Bukharan Jews}} </ref>


===Splintering of the Judeo-Persian communities===
===Soviet era===
]
], c. 1900.]]
], ] and Jews from ] meeting in ], c 1930s]]
Prior to the establishment of the state of ], the Bukharan Jews were one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world. <ref></ref>
Until the start of the 16th century, the Jews of Iran and Central Asia constituted one community. However, during the ], Iran adopted the ] branch of Islam, while Central Asia retained their allegiance to the ] branch of Islam. Due to the hostile relationship between the neighboring states because of this, the links between the Jews of the area were severed, and the Jewish community was divided into two similar but separate communities. From here, a distinct point of origin of the ethnonym and cultural identity of "Bukharan Jews" began to take formation.<ref>Ochildiev, D; R. Pinkhasov, I. Kalontarov. ''A History and Culture of the Bukharian Jews'', Roshnoyi-Light, New York, 2007.</ref>


A similar event happened in the middle of the 18th century with the Jews of Afghanistan, which saw the creation of the Afghani kingdom, ruled by the ], while the Emirate of Bukhara was ruled by the ] dynasty. Due to the hostile relationship between the two dynasties, the ties between the Jews of Afghanistan and Bukharan Jews were split into two similar but separate communities.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bukharan-jews | title=Bukharan Jews}} </ref>
With the establishment of Soviet rule on the territory in ], 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. ] and the ] brought a lot of ] ] from the European regions of the ] and ] through Uzbekistan. In the early 1970s, one of the largest Bukharan Jewish emigrations in history occurred as the Jews of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan emigrated to ] and the ], due to looser restrictions on immigration. In the late 1980s to the early 1900s, almost all of the remaining Bukharian Jews left Central Asia for the ], ], ], or ]. This was another large Bukharian Jewish emigration.


Over the centuries, whether it was to escape political turmoil, persecution, or to purse economic opportunities, Jews from Iran and Central Asia would frequently migrate to each other's communities. Notable instances that spurred such migrations include Jews from Iran fleeing persecution under the Safavid dynasty in the mid 17th century, and Jews from the cities of ] and ] fleeing forced conversion to Islam in the mid 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Calmard |first1=J |title=Cultural and Religious Cross-Fertilization between Central Asia and the Indo-Persian World. |publisher=UNESCO |location=2003 |page=557-561}}</ref> Other Jews from Iran and Afghanistan came during the Russian conquest of Central Asia, where the Russians had extended greater freedoms and economic opportunities for Jews. When ] and Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s (which resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews) a significant number went to Iran or Afghanistan.<ref name="Cross-border biographies: represent">{{cite journal |last1=Loy |first1=Thomas |title=Cross-border biographies: representations of the "Bukharan" Jewish self in changing cultural and political settings |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |date=2022 |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=5|doi=10.1080/14725886.2022.2090240|s2cid=250232378 }}</ref> <ref>{{cite book|last1=Rapport|first1=Evan|title=Greeted With Smiles: Bukharian Jewish Music and Musicians in New York|date=2014|isbn=978-0199379033|page=8|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr1oBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT33|ref=ER}}</ref>
===After 1991===
With the disintegration of the ] and foundation of the independent Republic of ] in 1991, there was an abrupt growth of ], ], and ] in Uzbek public consciousness. Advent of Islamic fundamentalism in ] and ] caused a sudden increase in the level of emigration of Jews (both Bukharian and ]). For the next two decades, about 100,000 immigrated to Israel, another 50,000 to the US (mainly ]) and about 2,000 still remain in ] and fewer than 1,000 in ] (compared to 15,000 in Tajikistan 1989)


===Under Sunni Muslim rule===
Currently, Bukharian Jews are mostly concentrated in the U.S. cities of (], ], ], ], ]), as well as in ], ], ], and ]. ]'s 108th Street in Forest Hills ], 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).
]
In the Khanate of Bukhara, Bukharan Jews lived under the status of ''],'' and experienced a series of discriminatory practices from the Muslim majority. They were forced to wear clothing that identified them as Jews, such as a ], a hat called a ''Tilpak,'' and had their belts made of rope, while the leather belts were reserved for Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253006554}}</ref> Jewish homes also had to be marked as "Jewish" with a dirty cloth nailed to their front doors, and their stores and homes had to be lower than Muslim ones.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253006554}}</ref> In court cases, any evidence from a Jew was inadmissible involving a Muslim. They were also forbidden to ride horses and donkeys and had to transport themselves by foot. Lastly, when paying their annual ] tax, the Jewish men would be ritually slapped in the face by Muslim authorities.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/06/arts/design-review-when-russia-uncovered-exotic-jewish-cultures.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917121000/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/06/arts/design-review-when-russia-uncovered-exotic-jewish-cultures.html | archive-date=2017-09-17 | title=DESIGN REVIEW; when Russia Uncovered Exotic Jewish Cultures - the New York Times | work=The New York Times | date=6 August 1999 | last1=Glueck | first1=Grace }}</ref> Despite these prohibitions and humiliations, the Jews were able to achieve financial success primarily as merchants and established lucrative trade businesses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253006554}}</ref>


Towards the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the Jewish quarter, Mahalla, was established in the town of Bukhara. The Jews were forbidden to reside outside its boundaries.<ref>Iran & the Caucasus Vol. 9, No. 2 (2005), pp. 257-272</ref>
On the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5765 (2005), the Bukharian Jewish Community of Queens (mainly ] and ]) 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.


During the 18th century, Bukharan Jews continued to face considerable discrimination and persecution. Jewish centers were closed down, and the Muslims of the region forced conversion on a significant number of Bukharan Jews (over one-third, according to one estimate), under a threat of torture and agonizing execution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ochildiev |first1=David |title=A history of the Bukharan Jews |publisher=MIR |page=75}}</ref> These Jews who forcibly converted were known as '']'s,'' a term meaning "neither this nor that."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union|last=Akiner|first=Shirin|publisher=Routledge|year=1986|isbn=0-7103-0188-X|location=London|pages=370}}</ref>
In early 2006, the still-active ] in ] 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.

By the middle of the 18th century, practically all Bukharan Jews lived in the ]. In the early 1860s, ], a Hungarian-Jewish traveler, visited the emirate disguised as a ] ''],'' writing in his journals that the Jews of Bukhara "live in utmost oppression, being despised by everyone."<ref>Malikov A. Arminius Vambery and the urban culture of Samarkand In: Orpheus Noster, Vol. 14, no. 4, 2022, p.97-108</ref>

===Rabbi Yosef Maimon===
], the great-grandson of Rabbi Yosef Maimon]]
In 1793, a missionary kabbalist named Rabbi ], who was a ] Jew originally from ], ], travelled to ] to collect/solicit money from Jewish patrons. It was during his search for funds that he chose to stay, in order to strengthen Judaism within the local Jewish population, who were said to be in a state of disarray.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meindorf |title=The Travel from Orenburg to Bukhara |date=1975 |page=96-97}}</ref>

Prior to Maimon's arrival, the native Jews of Bukhara followed the Persian religious tradition. Maimon staunchly demanded that the native Jews of Bukhara adopt ] traditions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bukharan Jews of Central Asia|url=https://www.geni.com/projects/Bukharan-Jews-of-Central-Asia/15684|website=Geni|access-date=June 15, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=SHNIDMAN|first=RONEN|date=October 19, 2011|title=Jews far and wide|url=https://www.geni.com/projects/Bukharan-Jews-of-Central-Asia/15684|website=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=June 15, 2023}}</ref> Many of the native Jews were opposed to this and the community split into two factions. The followers of the Maimon clan eventually won the struggle for religious authority over the native Bukharans, and Bukharan Jewry forcefully switched to Sephardi customs. The supporters of the Maimon clan, in the conflict, credit Maimon with causing a revival of Jewish practice among Bukharan Jews which they claim was in danger of dying out. However, there is evidence that there were Torah scholars present upon his arrival to Bukhara, but because they followed the Persian rite their practices were aggressively rejected as incorrect by Maimon.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharian Jews |date=2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=60}}</ref>

Maimon's great-grandson ] continued his great-grandfather's work as a Rabbi, and in 1870 opened the ''Talmid Hakham'' yeshiva in Bukhara, where religious law was promoted. At that time Bukharan Jews were getting only a general education, which mostly consisted of religious laws, reading, writing and some math. Even though they studied ], many Bukharan Jews did not speak fluent Hebrew. Only a few books were written in ] and many of them were old and incomplete. Hakham decided to change this situation by translating religious books into Bukhori.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dymshits |first1=Valery |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbRtAAAAMAAJ&q=Shimon+Hakham |title=Facing West: Oriental Jews of Central Asia and the Caucasus |last2=Zwolle |first2=Waanders Uitgevers |last3=Emelyanenko |first3=Tatjana |last4=Netherlands) |first4=Joods Historisch Museum (Amsterdam |date=1998 |publisher=Antique Collectors Club Limited |isbn=978-90-400-9216-9 |language=en}}</ref> But since there was no printing in Bukhara at that time, he went to ] to print his books.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thrower |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFXuAAAAMAAJ&q=Shimon+Hakham |title=The Religious History of Central Asia from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=2004 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-6417-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldberg |first=Harvey E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEnq2cYMTwYC&dq=Shimon+Hakham&pg=PA37 |title=Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and Culture in the Modern Era |date=1996 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21041-8 |language=en}}</ref>

===Under Imperial Russia rule===
]n imperial territories of ], ], and neighboring provinces in 1902–1903]]
In 1865, Russian colonial troops took over ] and established the ] region, as part of their expanding empire. Unlike the Jews of ], Tsarist Russia was largely favorable towards the Jews living there, due to years of trade relations with the Bukharan Jews, and they were viewed as potential allies in the region to act as interpreters with the local authorities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burton |first1=Audrey |title=Bukharan Jews, ancient and modern |date=1997 |publisher=Jewish Historical Society of England |page=57}}</ref> As a Russian official explained in 1866:

<blockquote>"Whatever we know of the interior of Bukhara we are chiefly indebted for its Jewish inhabitants..... Upon the whole the Jews of Bukhara are much shrewder than their oppressive masters, and able to converse on subjects of which a genuine Bokharan has no idea."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burton |first1=Audrey |title=Bukharan Jews, ancient and modern |date=1997 |publisher=Jewish Historical Society of England |page=57}}</ref></blockquote>

In spring of 1868, Russian authorities relied on Jewish support when their armies attacked the Emirate of Bukhara, as young Jewish men acted as scouts for the Russians and brought food and drinks to the Russian troops.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burton |first1=Audrey |title=Bukharan Jews, ancient and modern |date=1997 |publisher=Jewish Historical Society of England |page=57}}</ref>

An 1884 report by ] described how the Bukharan Jews viewed Tsarist Russia rule:

<blockquote>"The Jew, who in Europe has lived for centuries in enmity with the Christian, welcomes him here with a shining gaze (…) and is delighted to be able to wave a greeting to him. He proudly regards him as his new friend, his protector. In his proximity, he looks down on the Mohammedan with contempt."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Radloff |first1=Wilhelm |title=From Siberia. Loose Leaves from the Diary of a Travelling Linguist |journal=Band 2. Leipzig |date=1884 |page=446}}</ref></blockquote>

Dubbed the "Golden Age" for Bukharan Jews, from 1876 to 1916 they were no longer restricted in their autonomy and had the same rights as their Muslim neighbors.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Who Are the Bukharan Jews? |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who-are-the-bukharan-jews/ |website=MyJewishLearning}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=LIPHSHIZ |first1=CNAAN |title=Dwindling at home, Central Asia's Bukharian Jews thrive in Diaspora |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/dwindling-at-home-central-asias-bukharian-jews-thrive-in-diaspora/ |website=The Times of Israel}}</ref> Dozens of Bukharan Jews held prestigious jobs in medicine, law, and government, and many of them prospered. Many Bukharan Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, singers, film producers, and sportsmen. Several Bukharan entertainers became artists of merit and gained the title "People's Artist of Uzbekistan", "People's Artist of Tajikistan", and even (in the Soviet era) "]". Many succeeded in the world of sport, with several Bukharan Jews in Uzbekistan becoming renowned boxers and winning many medals for the country.<ref>Pinkhasov, Peter. , Bukharian Jewish Global Portal website, p. 2. Retrieved December 13, 2009.</ref>

===Hibbat Zion and immigrating into Ottoman Palestine ===
]
]
{{Multiple image
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| caption_align = center
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| footer = Bukharan Jewish women in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, 1927
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Beginning from 1872, Bukharan Jews began to move into the region of ], motivated by religious convictions and the desire to return to their ancestral homeland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rapport|first1=Evan|title=Greeted With Smiles: Bukharian Jewish Music and Musicians in New York|date=2014|isbn=978-0199379033|page=33|publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr1oBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT33|ref=ER}}</ref> The land on which they settled in ] was named the ] (Sh'hunat HaBucharim) and still exists today.<ref name=Wager>{{cite book |last= Wager |first= Eliyahu |title= Bukharan Quarter |pages= 207–201 |work= Illustrated guide to Jerusalem |year= 1988 |publisher= The Jerusalem Publishing House }}</ref><ref name=Eylon>{{cite web |last= Eylon |first= Lili |title= Focus on Israel: Jerusalem: Architecture in the late Ottoman Period: The Bukharan Quarter |year=2011 |publisher=] |url= https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/mfa-archive/1999/pages/focus%20on%20israel-%20jerusalem%20-%20architecture%20in%20the%20l.aspx |access-date= 10 May 2021}}</ref> In 1890, seven members of the Bukharan Jewish community formed the ] Association of the Jewish communities of Bukhara, ] and ].<ref name=Wager/><ref name=Eylon/> In 1891, the association bought land and drew up a charter stating that the new quarter would be built in the style of Europe's major cities.<ref name=Eylon/> Architect ] was employed to design the neighborhood.<ref name=Wager/> The streets were three times wider than even major thoroughfares in Jerusalem at the time, and spacious mansions were built with large courtyards.<ref name=Wager/> The homes were designed with ] windows, European tiled roofs, ] arches and Italian marble. Facades were decorated with Jewish motifs such as the ] and Hebrew inscriptions.<ref name=Eylon/>

Rabbi ] and Rabbi ] were some of the organizers of the quarter where Bukharan homes, synagogues, schools, libraries, and a bath house were established.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLptAAAAMAAJ&q=rehovot+habukharim |page=199 |title=איראנו-יודאיקה, כרך ה: לחקר פרס והיהדית |trans-title=Irano-Judaica, Part V: Studies Relating to Jewish Contacts with Persian Culture Throughout the Ages |last1=Shaked |first1=Shaul |last2=Netzar |first2=Amnon |year=2003 |publisher= מכון בן צבי לחקר קהילות ישראל במזרח|isbn=9789652350954 }}</ref><ref name="muni">{{cite web |url=http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/picture/atarim/Toursite_form_atarEng.asp?site_id=2242&pic_cat=4&icon_cat=6&york_cat=9&type_id=197 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802121958/http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/picture/atarim/Toursite_form_atarEng.asp?site_id=2242&pic_cat=4&icon_cat=6&york_cat=9&type_id=197 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 August 2012 |title=Bukharim &ndash; Beit Yisrael |publisher=Jerusalem Municipality |accessdate=12 April 2012 }}</ref>

The Bukharan Quarter was one of the most affluent sections of the city, populated by Bukharan Jewish merchants and religious scholars supported primarily by various trading activities such as ], ]s, and ] from ]. After World War I and the 1917 ], however, the quarter fell into decline as overseas sources of income were cut off and residents were left with just their homes in Jerusalem, forcing them to subdivide and rent out rooms to bring in income.<ref name="muni"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8SySAAAAIAAJ&q=bucharim+quarter |page=26 |title=Housing in Jewish Palestine |year=1938 |publisher=]}}</ref> From being lauded as one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Bukharian Quarter earned the opposite sobriquet, of being one of the poorest neighborhoods of Jerusalem.<ref name="arieh">{{cite book |last=Ben-Arieh |first=Yehoshua |script-title=he:עיר בראי תקופה: ירושלים החדשה בראשיתה|trans-title=A City Reflected in its Times: New Jerusalem&nbsp;– The Beginnings |language=Hebrew|publisher=Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Publications |location=Jerusalem |year=1979|page=253}}</ref> In the 1920s and 1930s, the neighborhood also became one of the centers of the Zionist movement with many of its leaders and philosophers living there.<ref>https://archive.today/20120802121958/http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/picture/atarim/Toursite_form_atarEng.asp {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>

Between 1953 and 1963, Rabbi ] was working as Dean for Student Affairs at the ], and during this period he became deeply concerned about the impoverished Quarter.<ref name=jpost/> After his appointment as ] in ] he set up a special fund for the Quarter's improvement and this was tied with Prime Minister ]'s urban revitalization program, Project Renewal.<ref name=jpost/> ] was twinned with the Bukharan Quarter, and Johannesburg Jewry raised enormous funds for its rehabilitation.<ref name=jpost/> Frustrated by the lack of progress, Casper traveled to Jerusalem in 1981 to resolve the hurdles.<ref name=jpost/> He consulted with community organizer Moshe Kahan and suggested that they present the dormant agencies with concrete evidence of what could be done.<ref name=jpost/> Using a private discretionary fund, he initiated development of several pilot projects, among them a free loan fund, a dental clinic and a hearing center whose successes spurred the municipality back on track.<ref name=jpost> ''The Jerusalem Post''. 8 January 2009</ref>

The quarter borders ] on the west, the ] neighborhood on the north, ] on the east, and ] on the south. Today, most of the residents are ].<ref>, ]</ref>

===Under Soviet Union rule===
]’s Bukharan Quarter, in front of their ], 1902]]
] in ], 1959]]
], c. 1970s]]
Following the ] and the creation of the Soviet Social Republics of ] and ], synagogues were destroyed or closed down, and were replaced by Soviet institutions.<ref name="Journal">{{cite journal |last1=Loy |first1=Thomas |title=Cross-border biographies: representations of the "Bukharan" Jewish self in changing cultural and political settings |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |date=2022 |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=4|doi=10.1080/14725886.2022.2090240|s2cid=250232378 }}</ref> Consequently many Bukharan Jews fled to ].

Stalin's decision to end Lenin's ] and initiate the ] in the late 1920s resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews. By the time Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s, many tens of thousands of households from Central Asia had crossed the border into Iran and Afghanistan, amongst them some 4,000 Bukharan Jews who were heading towards ].<ref name="Cross-border biographies: represent">{{cite journal |last1=Loy |first1=Thomas |title=Cross-border biographies: representations of the "Bukharan" Jewish self in changing cultural and political settings |journal=Journal of Modern Jewish Studies |date=2022 |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=5|doi=10.1080/14725886.2022.2090240|s2cid=250232378 }}</ref>

Soviet doctrines, ideology and nationalities policy had a large impact on the everyday life, culture and identity of the Bukharan Jews.<ref name="Journal"/> Bukharan Jews who had put efforts into creating a Bukharan Jewish Soviet culture and national identity were charged during Stalin's ], or, as part of the Soviet Union's nationalities policies and nation building campaigns, were forced to assimilate into the larger Soviet Uzbek or Soviet Tajik national identities, but the community still attempted to preserve their traditions while displaying loyalty to the new government.<ref name="Cross-border biographies: represent"/>

During this time, both Jews and Muslims suffered from the anti-religious policies the Soviets imposed on Central Asia, which aimed to break the power of their religious institutions and eventually replace religious belief with atheism.<ref name="PoU">{{Cite book |author=Arto Luukkanen |title=The Party of Unbelief |date=1994 |publisher=Studia Historica 48 |isbn=951-710-008-6 |location=Helsinki |oclc=832629341 |ol=25433417M |author-link=Arto Luukkanen}}</ref>
In 1950 the "Black Years of Soviet Jewry" began where suppression of the Jewish religion resumed after stopping due to World War II. After ]'s attempt to turn the newly founded state of ] into a socialist country failed, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic campaign launched against Soviet Jews.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gitelman |first1=Zvi |title=A Century of Ambivalence, Second Expanded Edition: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present |date=Apr 22, 2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=144–145 |isbn=9780253013736 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsl5CgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Several religious and prominent Bukharan Jews were arrested and sentenced to 25 years on charges of "Zionist propagation."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gitelman |first1=Zvi |title=A Century of Ambivalence, Second Expanded Edition: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present |date=Apr 22, 2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=144–145 |isbn=9780253013736 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsl5CgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Even those who uttered the traditional phrase said by Jews on the ] holiday, ], were subject to arrests.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gitelman |first1=Zvi |title=A Century of Ambivalence, Second Expanded Edition: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present |date=Apr 22, 2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=144–145 |isbn=9780253013736 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dsl5CgAAQBAJ}}</ref> These arrests were all part of the Soviet ], where antisemitism was often disguised under the banner of ].<ref>{{cite book |first=Walter |last=Laqueur |author-link=Walter Laqueur |title=Dying for Jerusalem: the past, present and future of the Holiest City |location=Naperville |publisher=Sourcebooks, Inc. |date=2006 |isbn=1-4022-0632-1 |page=55}}</ref>

After the creation of the state of ] in 1948, and later the ] of 1967, antisemitism intensified amongst the Muslim majority, with the 1967 war leading to a rise in ]. The Soviet Union forbade Jews to make ] to Israel, though these restrictions loosened in the 1970s and were dropped in the 1980s.<ref name="KB">{{cite book |last1=Blady |first1=Ken |title=Jewish Communities in Exotic Places |date=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=185}}</ref>

===Relationship between other Jewish communities===
After the Russian conquest of Central Asia, a small amount of ] Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe and the European part of the Russian Empire to ]. During ], large migrations of Ashkenazi ] from the European regions of the Soviet Union headed eastward to various countries in Central Asia.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Landé |first1=Peter |title=Jewish Refugees in Tashkent |url=https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/holocaust/0136_uzbek.html}}</ref> The Bukharan Jewish communities helped contribute to the resettlement of these refugees, housing families in their homes and assisted them with finding jobs until they settled in to their new surroundings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ochildiev |first1=David |title=A history of the Bukharan Jews |publisher=MIR |page=154-155}}</ref>

Despite this, Bukharan and Ashkenazi Jews remained separate from one another, and intermarriage between the two was extremely rare.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-features/rift-over-root-differences-remains-unmended-for-uzbek-jews | title=Rift over root differences remains unmended for Uzbek Jews | date=31 December 2006 }}</ref> Bukharan Jews ranged from religious to traditional, and clustered together (particular those who lived in the Jewish Quarters), while most Ashkenazi Jews living in Central Asia were secular, both structurally and culturally, and assimilated into the general populace.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-features/rift-over-root-differences-remains-unmended-for-uzbek-jews | title=Rift over root differences remains unmended for Uzbek Jews | date=31 December 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Krastev |first1=Nikola |title=U.S.: Bukharian Jews Seek To Preserve Identity |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1096232.html |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=9 April 2008 }}</ref> Some Bukharan Jews viewed Ashkenazi Jews as inauthentic Jews, and looked down on them for their lack of Jewish identity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Where Have All the Jews Gone? Mass Migration from Independent Uzbekistan |date=December 2011 |publisher=University Press of Florida |page=199–224}}</ref>

However, Bukharan Jewry had good relations with the ], beginning from the end of the 19th century with the arrival of Rabbi Shlomo Leib Eliezrov, a student of Rabbi ].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zaltzman |first1=Hillel |title=Early Chabad Presence in Bucharia |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2961927/jewish/Early-Chabad-Presence-in-Bucharia.htm |website=Chabad}}</ref> Rabbi Eliezrov accepted a temporary rabbinical position in Uzbekistan and helped organize the provision of kosher meat in surrounding cities where Jews lived. Over the decades, other emissaries from Chabad would come to support the community as well.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zaltzman |first1=Hillel |title=Early Chabad Presence in Bucharia |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2961927/jewish/Early-Chabad-Presence-in-Bucharia.htm |website=Chabad}}</ref>

There were also Jews from other Eastern countries such as ], ], ], and ] who migrated into Central Asia (by way of the ]), and were absorbed into the Bukharan Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/travel/travel-news/wandering-jew-bukhara-the-ancient-silk-way-city|title=Wandering Jew: Bukhara, the ancient silk way city|newspaper=]}}</ref>

===Mass migration after 1991===
In the late 1980s to the late 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and foundation of the independent Republic of ] in 1991, most of the remaining Bukharan Jews left Central Asia for the ], ], ], or ] in the last mass emigration of Bukharan Jews from their resident lands.

Some left due to economic instability, while others left fearing growth of nationalistic policies in the country. The resurgence of ] in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (such as the ] and the ]) prompted an increase in the level of emigration of Jews. According to various Bukharan Jews, the Uzbek and Tajik locals would come to Jewish homes and would often say things in line with "Go back to where you came from. You don't belong here." Because of this, they also found it difficult to sell their homes at a reasonable price.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Manyuk |first1=Grigory |title=Short documentary of the migration of Bukharian Jews, filmed by Russian filmaker in the mid 1990's |url=https://vimeo.com/54323123 |website=Vimeo}}</ref> In 1990, there were riots against the ] population of ] and nearby areas. This led to most Jews in the ] immigrating to Israel or the United States.<ref name="KB" />

==Immigrant populations==
===Tajikistan===
] in 2006]]
In early 2006, the still active ] in ] as well as the city's ] (ritual bath), ] butcher, and Jewish schools were demolished by the government (without compensation to the community) to make room for the new ]. After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan announced a reversal of its decision and publicly claimed that it would permit the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site. However, in mid-2008, the government of Tajikistan destroyed the whole synagogue and started construction of the Palace of Nations. The Dushanbe synagogue was Tajikistan's only synagogue, and the community were therefore left without a center or a place to pray. In 2009, the Tajik government reestablished the synagogue in a different location for the small Jewish community.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/New_Synagogue_Opens_In_Dushanbe/1621721.html|title=New Synagogue Opens In Dushanbe|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=5 May 2009 |access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref>

As of the 2010 census, there are 36 Jews left in Tajikistan. All but two are Ashkenazi Jews, while the others are Bukharan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Tajikistan.html#u |title=Tajikistan: Virtual Jewish History Tour |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |date=2006-03-01 |access-date=2013-04-14}}</ref> On January 15, 2021, Jura Abaev, the last Jew in the city of ], Tajikistan died.<ref>{{cite web |last1=LIPHSHIZ |first1=CNAAN |title=After 3-time aliya, last Jew in Tajikistani city’s centuries-old community dies |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/last-jew-in-tajikistani-city-dies-after-community-thrived-there-for-centuries/ |website=Times of Israel |access-date=22 November 2024}}</ref>

===Afghanistan===
], known as the last Jew of Afghanistan]]
As ] is a landlocked country located between Central Asia and South Asia, ] are sometimes considered to be the same as Bukharan Jews, though some Jews from Afghanistan identify solely as "Afghan Jews."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aharon |first1=Sara |title=From Kabul to Queens : the Jews of Afghanistan and their move to the United States |date=2011 |publisher=New York : American Sephardi Federation : Decalogue Books |page=128}}</ref>

With the ], a significant number of Bukharan Jews crossed the border into the ] as part of the wider famine-related refugee crisis; leaders of the communities petitioned Jewish communities in Europe and the United States for support.<ref name="Koplik 2015 p.85-87">{{cite book | last=Koplik | first=S. | title=A Political and Economic History of the Jews of Afghanistan | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Series in Jewish Studies | year=2015 | isbn=978-90-04-29238-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOh5DwAAQBAJ | access-date=2024-03-03 | page=85-87}}</ref> In total, some 60,000 refugees had fled from the ] and reached Afghanistan.<ref name="Koplik-2003">{{Cite journal|last=Koplik|first=Sara|date=2003|title=The demise of Afghanistan's Jewish community and the soviet refugee crisis (1932–1936)|journal=Iranian Studies|volume=36|issue=3|pages=353–379|doi=10.1080/021086032000139131|s2cid=161841657|issn=0021-0862}}</ref>

In 1935, the ] reported that "ghetto rules" had been imposed on Afghan Jews, requiring them to wear particular clothes, requiring Jewish women to stay outside markets, requiring all Jews to live within certain distances from ] and banning Jews from riding horses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/1935/05/15/archive/ghetto-code-enacted-by-afghanistan |title=Ghetto Code Enacted by Afghanistan &#124; Jewish Telegraphic Agency |publisher=Jta.org |date=15 May 1935 |access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref> In 1935, a delegate to the ] claimed that an estimated 40,000 Bukharan Jews had been killed or starved to death.<ref name="Koplik-2003" />

By the end of 2004, only two known Jews were left in Afghanistan, ] and Isaac Levy (born c. 1920). Levy relied on charity to survive, while Simintov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. They lived on opposite sides of the dilapidated Kabul synagogue. In January 2005, Levy died of natural causes, leaving Simintov as the sole known Jew in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fletcher|first1=Martin|author-link1=Martin Fletcher (TV reporter)|title=The last Jew in Afghanistan|url=http://worldblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2008/06/14/4376492-the-last-jew-in-afghanistan|access-date=12 April 2017|work=]|date=14 June 2008|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413073104/http://worldblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2008/06/14/4376492-the-last-jew-in-afghanistan|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Due to ], ], and ], there are officially no Jews remaining in Afghanistan today.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/last-jew-afghanistan-en-route-us-report |title=Last Jew in Afghanistan en route to US: report |author=<!--Not stated--> |work=The New Arab |date=7 September 2021 |access-date=17 September 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/kabul-with-jewish-population-of-1-still-suffers-from-widespread-anti-semitism/|first=Ezzatullah|last=Mehrdad|access-date=9 September 2021|date=16 July 2019|work=The Times of Israel|title=Kabul, with Jewish population of 1, still suffers from widespread anti-Semitism}}</ref>

===United States===
], a Bukharan synagogue]]
The largest number of Bukharan Jews in the U.S. is in ].<ref name="bjews.com"/> In ], 108th Street, often referred to as "Bukharan Broadway"<ref name="Bukharan Broadway">"Bukharan Broadway":
* Foner, Nancy. ''New immigrants in New York", ''], 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-231-12415-7}}, p. 133. "Since the 1970s, more than 35,000 "Bukharan" émigrés have created a bustling community in Forest Hills, with restaurants, barbershops, food stores and synagogue that together have given 108th street the nickname 'Bukharan Broadway'".
* Morel, Linda. , '']'' ('']''), September 20, 2002. "... 108th Street, recently dubbed 'Bukharan Broadway,'..."
* Victor Wishna, {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821050226/http://www.sdjewishjournal.com/stories/oct03_5.html |date=August 21, 2008 }}, '']'', October 2003. "Leaving the bakery, we walk along what has been dubbed 'Bukharan Broadway,' where an abundance of restaurants and gift shops sit side by side."</ref> or "Bukharian Broadway",<ref name=nyt>Moskin, Julia. '']'', January 18, 2006.</ref> is filled with Bukharan restaurants and gift shops. Furthermore, Forest Hills is nicknamed "Bukharlem" due to the majority of the population being Bukharan.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/buharlem_or_bukharlem_bukhara_harlem
| title = Buharlem or Bukharlem (Bukhara + Harlem)
| last = Popik
| first = Barry
| website = www.barrypopik.com
| access-date = 2017-01-29
}}</ref> They have formed a tight-knit enclave in this area that was once primarily inhabited by ]. ] in ], a synagogue founded in the early 1900s by Ashkenazi Jews, became Bukharan in the 1990s. ], also has a very large population of Bukharan Jews. Although Bukharan Jews in Queens remain insular in some ways (living in close proximity to each other, owning and patronizing clusters of stores, and attending their own synagogue rather than other synagogues in the area), they have connections with non-Bukharans in the area.
In December 1999, the First Congress of the Bukharian Jews of the United States and Canada convened in Queens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bucharianlife.blogspot.com/p/heritage.html|title=Heritage|website=bucharianlife.blogspot.com|access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref> In 2007, Bukharan-American Jews initiated lobbying efforts on behalf of their community.<ref name="thejewishweek.com">Ruby, Walter. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221175639/http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c36_a738/News/New_York.html |date=February 21, 2008 }}, '']'', October 31, 2007.</ref> Zoya Maksumova, president of the Bukharan women's organization "Esther Hamalka" said "This event represents a huge leap forward for our community. Now, for the first time, Americans will know who we are."{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}} Senator ] intoned, "God said to Abraham, 'You'll be an eternal people'… and now we see that the State of Israel lives, and this historic 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."<ref name="thejewishweek.com" />


==Culture== ==Culture==
===Dress codes===
Bukharian Jews had their own ], 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 ] (Jomah-джома-ג'ומא in Bukhori and Tajik) and the richly-embroidered fur-lined hats and dance.
]
Bukharan Jews had their own ], similar to but also different from other cultures (mainly ]) living in Central Asia, which they were wore as their daily attire until the country was "]" by the ]. Today, the traditional ] (Jomah-ҷома-ג'אמה in Bukhori and Tajik) is worn during weddings and ]s.<ref>For examples see men and women coats as well as children's clothing from Bukhara, exhibition, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, March 11, 2014 – October 18, 2014</ref>

Bukharan Jews also have a unique ], a full head-sized covering with rich patterns and lively colors embroidered. In present times, this kippah can sometimes be seen being worn by liberal-leaning and ].<ref name="FOR">, ], Angela Himsel, September 29, 2006.</ref>


===Music=== ===Music===
], 1987]]
The Bukharians have a distinct music called ''Shashmaqam'', which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with Central Asian rhythms, much ], Muslim melodies, and even a few ] ]s.
The Bukharan Jews have a distinct musical tradition called ], which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with ] rhythms, and a considerable ] influence as well as Muslim melodies, and even ] ]. The main instrument is the ]. Shashmaqam music "reflect the mix of Hassidic vocals, Indian and Islamic instrumentals and Sufi-inspired texts and lyrical melodies." They were heavily responsible for sustaining and transmitting the music during the Soviet era, and later when immigrating to the United States. Ensemble Shashmaqam was one of the first New York-based ensembles created to showcase the music and dance of Bukharan Jews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewanderingmuse.net/musicians/shashmaqam |title=Shashmaqam |publisher=The Wandering Muse |access-date=2012-01-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008132400/http://www.thewanderingmuse.net/musicians/shashmaqam |archive-date=2011-10-08 }}</ref>


An account from explorer ] in 1885, upon visiting ] and hearing the music of the Bukharan Jews:
==Cuisine==
<blockquote>We went then to the synagogue, allowed to the Jews of Samarkand only since the Russians came, where the best chorister in the region was that evening to sing. The crowd was dense, and in a short time two singers appeared; the “primo,” a delicate, modest-looking man, who blushed at the eagerness with which his arrival was awaited, whilst the “secondo” was a brazen-faced fellow, who carried his head on one side, as if courting attention, and with the assurance that he should have it. They were introduced to us, and began at once, that we might hear. The singing, so called, was the most remarkable that up to that time I had ever heard. The first voice led off in a key so high, that he had to strain for some seconds before he could utter a sound at all. After this he proceeded very slowly as to the number of words he sang, but prolonged his notes into numerous flourishes, screaming as loud as he could in falsetto. The second voice was an accompaniment for the first; but as both bawled as loudly as possible, I soon voted it anything but good music, and intimated that it was time for us to go. The congregation, moreover, were crowding round, without the smallest semblance of their being engaged in divine worship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lansdell |first1=Henry |title=Russian Central Asia, including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva and Merv |date=1885 |publisher=Hansebooks}}</ref></blockquote>
Bukharian cuisine consists mainly of ]s of ], ] or ]. 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 ], and both are traditionally served in a meat broth. Samsa, pastry filled with spiced meat or vegetables, are baked in a ] oven, and bear a resemblance to Indian ].


===Weddings and marriage traditions===
] is a very popular slow cooked ] dish that contains ]s and is often topped with beef or lamb. Bukharans have two main types of bread. One is called ''Non'', which is a circular bread topped with black ]s, and the other is called Noni Toki, which is sometimes compared to ].
], 1999]]
Bukharan Jews celebrated their weddings in several stages leading up to the wedding ceremony. When a match between a couple was accepted, an engagement (''Shirini-Khori'') took place in the house of the bride. Following this, the Rabbi congratulated the father of the bride on the engagement and distributed sugar to those present. Other sweets were distributed towards relatives, notifying them that the engagement had taken place.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ochildiev |first1=David |title=A history of the Bukharan Jews |date=2005 |publisher=MIR |page=191}}</ref> After engagement, the meeting between parents of the groom and bride was carried out in the house of the bride, where refreshments and gifts from the groom were sent. Further celebrations lasted a week in the house of the groom, where relatives of the groom brought gifts to the bride.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ochildiev |first1=David |title=A history of the Bukharan Jews |date=2005 |publisher=MIR |page=191}}</ref>


Before the wedding, a unique practice that was done was a ''Kosh-Chinon'' ceremony, a local custom practiced by both Jews and Muslims in Central Asia, which involved all the female guests of the wedding to pluck the bride's eyebrows and the strands of hair above her lip, as well as the sides of the bride's face being cleaned of their dark wisps.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=153}}</ref> Girls in Central Asia were taught that they shouldn't manicure their facial hair until they got married. The smooth, clean face served as a mark of womanhood.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=153}}</ref> This ceremony was done a few days before the wedding, and after the bride had immersed herself in the ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=153}}</ref>
==Notable Bukharian Jews==

*] (1927-1997) - Monegasque businessman, inventor, past president of the Monaco Jewish Community
The wedding itself followed the same traditions as a standard Jewish wedding, including the signing of the ], the ], and the ]. A few small differences were the ''Chuppah'' being a prayer shawl that was held by members of the family, unlike it being hung on four poles as is widely practiced today in Jewish weddings. Furthermore, as the bride and groom would take their positions in the prayer shawl, the mothers of the bride and groom would stitch their needles through the fabric of their children's clothing.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Alanna |title=Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism |date=December 7, 2012 |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=153}}</ref>
*] - Businesswoman and Vice President of Marketing for the Africa Israel Investments.

*] - Proprietor of Jacob & Co.
===Cuisine===
*] - Soviet actress, "People's Artist of Tajikistan"
{{See also|Uzbek cuisine}}
*] - Journalist murdered in Tajikistan in 1998
] soup called ''shurboi dushpera'' or ''tushpera'' (left) along with traditional ] called '']'' in Bukharan, Tajik, and Uzbek (right)|alt=]]
*]- Actor from the movie ]

*] - Billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist, president of the Bukharian Jewish Congress
The cooking of Bukharan Jews forms a distinct cuisine within Uzbekistan, other parts of Central and even Southeast Asia, subject to the restrictions of ].<ref name=Roden>Claudia Roden, ''The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York'', Alfred Knopf, New York (1996).</ref>
*] - President of the Bukharian Jewish Congress of the USA and Canada

*] - Famous Dancer, "People's Artist of Soviet Union"
<blockquote>The Bukharians' Jewish identity was always preserved in the kitchen. "Even though we were in exile from Jerusalem, we observed kashruth," said Isak Masturov, another owner of Cheburechnaya. "We could not go to restaurants, so we had to learn to cook for our own community."<ref>NYT,1-18-2006 </ref></blockquote>
*] - Soviet singer

*] - First Lady of Iceland
Authentic Bukharan Jewish dishes include:<ref>{{cite web |author=BJews.com |url=http://www.bukharianjews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=123&page=1&POSTNUKESID=f877022a45d0d113ba2b9e33bd74a40c |title=Bukharian Jewish Global Portal: Cuisine |publisher=Bukharianjews.com |access-date=2012-01-05 |archive-date=2013-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729061740/http://bukharianjews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=123&page=1&POSTNUKESID=56011e9b9beff0041159fe54dd419c64 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*] - Author

*] - Israeli millionaire businessman
* ''Osh palov'' – a Bukharan Jewish version of ] for weekdays, includes both beef and ].
*] - Co-founder of the Bukharian Quarter in Jerusalem
* ''Bakhsh'' – "green palov", rice with meat or chicken and green herbs (], ], ]), exists in two varieties; bakhshi ''khaltagi'' cooked Jewish-style in a small bag immersed in a pot with boiling water or soup and bakhshi ''degi'' cooked like regular palov in a cauldron;<ref name=atlas> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007180449/http://www.library.cjes.ru/files/pdf/ethno-atlas-uzb.pdf |date=2009-10-07 }}, p. 93 {{in lang|ru}}</ref> bakhshi ''khaltagi'' is precooked and therefore can be served on ].
*] - Famous Bukharian Shashmakom singer, "People's Artist of Tajikistan"
*''Oshi sabo'' (also ''osh savo'' or ''osovoh''), a "meal in a pot" slowly cooked overnight and eaten hot for ] lunch. Oshi sabo is made with meat, rice, vegetables, and fruit added for a unique sweet and sour taste.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311092151/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3040677,00.html |date=2008-03-11 }} {{in lang|he}}; recipe in '''English''' from {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929063752/http://www.jwmag.org/site/c.fhLOK0PGLsF/b.2440999/k.5B09/Apples_and_Honey_and_More.htm |date=2008-09-29 }}, Fall 2005.</ref> By virtue of its culinary function (a hot Shabbat meal in Jewish homes) and ingredients (rice, meat, vegetables cooked together overnight), oshi sabo is a Bukharan version of ] or ].
*] – Shashmakom artist, "People's Artist of Uzbekistan"
* ''Khalta savo'' – food cooked in a bag (usually rice and meat, possibly with the addition of dried fruit).<ref name=Roden/><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202230119/http://www.bjews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=printpage&artid=58 |date=2023-02-02 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
*] - British Businessman, Jewish community leader
* ''Yakhni'' – a dish consisting of two kinds of boiled meat (beef and chicken), brought whole to the table and sliced before serving with a little broth and a garnish of boiled vegetables; a main course for ].<ref name=Roden/>
*Rabbi ]- ] of the Bukharian Jews in the USA
* ''Kov roghan'' – fried pieces of chicken with fried potatoes piled on top.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014130141/http://en.wikibooks.org/Cookbook:Kov_roghan |date=2012-10-14 }} in Wiki Cookbook</ref>
* ''Serkaniz'' (''Sirkoniz'') – garlic rice dish, another variation of ].<ref>{{cite web |author=BJews.com |url=http://www.bukharianjews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=123&page=1&POSTNUKESID=f877022a45d0d113ba2b9e33bd74a40c |title=Bukharian Jewish Global Portal: Cuisine |publisher=Bukharianjews.com |access-date=2012-01-05 |archive-date=2013-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729061740/http://bukharianjews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=123&page=1&POSTNUKESID=56011e9b9beff0041159fe54dd419c64 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Oshi piyozi'' – stuffed onion.<ref name=atlas/>
* ''Shulah'' – a Bukharan-style ].
* ''Boyjon'' – eggplant puree mixed only with salt and garlic, the traditional starter for the Friday-night meal in Bukharan Jewish homes.<ref name=Roden/>
* ''Slotah Bukhori'' – a salad made with tomato, cucumber, green onion, cilantro, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Some also put in lettuce and chili pepper.
* '']'' - stuffed baked or fried pastry, traditional for ] and ].
*''Samsa'' - pastries filled with spiced meat or vegetables, are baked in a unique, hollowed out ] oven, and greatly resemble the preparation and shape of Indian ]s.
* ''Noni Toki'' – a crispy flat bread that is baked on the back of a wok. This method creates a bowl-shaped bread.
* Fried fish with garlic sauce (for ]):<ref name=atlas/> "Every Bukharian Sabbath ... is greeted with a dish of fried fish covered with a pounded sauce of garlic and cilantro".<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202230108/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/dining/the-silk-road-leads-to-queens.html |date=2023-02-02 }}, Brief culinary history of Central Asia from ], 18 January 2006, accessed 13 September 2008.</ref> In the Bukharan dialect, the dish is called {{transl|bhh|mai birion}} or in full {{transl|bhh|mai birion ovi sir}}, where {{transl|bhh|mai birion}} is fried fish and {{transl|bhh|ovi sir}} is garlic sauce (literally "garlic water").<ref name=Roden/> Bread is sometimes fried and then dipped in the remaining garlic water and is called {{transl|bhh|noni-sir}}.
*''],'' a popular sweet made from unleavened dough cut and rolled into hazelnut-sized balls, which are then deep-fried in oil. Optionally, hazelnuts or dried fruit (e.g. apricots and raisins) are added to the mixture. The fried balls are stacked in a mound in a special mold and drenched with hot honey.

== Genetics ==
In autosomal analyses, Bukharan Jews form a close genetic cluster with ], ], ], ], and ], and do not cluster with their local neighbors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Behar |first1=Doron |last2=Metspalu |first2=Mait |last3=Baran |first3=Yael |last4=Kopelman |first4=Naama |last5=Yunusbayev |first5=Bayazit |last6=Gladstein |first6=Ariella |last7=Tzur |first7=Shay |last8=Sahakyan |first8=Havhannes |last9=Bahmanimehr |first9=Ardeshir |last10=Yepiskoposyan |first10=Levon |last11=Tambets |first11=Kristiina |date=2013-12-01 |title=No Evidence from Genome-Wide Data of a Khazar Origin for the Ashkenazi Jews |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol_preprints/41 |journal=Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints |volume=85 |issue=6}}</ref> This cluster plots between Levantine and Northern West Asian populations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lazaridis |first1=Iosif |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Mittnik |first3=Alissa |last4=Renaud |first4=Gabriel |last5=Mallick |first5=Swapan |last6=Kirsanow |first6=Karola |last7=Sudmant |first7=Peter H. |last8=Schraiber |first8=Joshua G. |last9=Castellano |first9=Sergi |last10=Lipson |first10=Mark |last11=Berger |first11=Bonnie |last12=Economou |first12=Christos |last13=Bollongino |first13=Ruth |last14=Fu |first14=Qiaomei |last15=Bos |first15=Kirsten I. |date=2014 |title=Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=513 |issue=7518 |pages=409–413 |doi=10.1038/nature13673 |issn=0028-0836 |pmc=4170574 |pmid=25230663|arxiv=1312.6639 |bibcode=2014Natur.513..409L }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martiniano |first1=Rui |last2=Haber |first2=Marc |last3=Almarri |first3=Mohamed A. |last4=Mattiangeli |first4=Valeria |last5=Kuijpers |first5=Mirte C.M. |last6=Chamel |first6=Berenice |last7=Breslin |first7=Emily M. |last8=Littleton |first8=Judith |last9=Almahari |first9=Salman |last10=Aloraifi |first10=Fatima |last11=Bradley |first11=Daniel G. |last12=Lombard |first12=Pierre |last13=Durbin |first13=Richard |date=2024 |title=Ancient genomes illuminate Eastern Arabian population history and adaptation against malaria |journal=Cell Genomics |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=100507 |doi=10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100507 |pmc=10943591 |pmid=38417441}}</ref>

Among non-Jewish populations, Bukharan Jews also form a cluster with other West Asian people including ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Behar |first1=Doron |last2=Metspalu |first2=Mait |last3=Baran |first3=Yael |last4=Kopelman |first4=Naama |last5=Yunusbayev |first5=Bayazit |last6=Gladstein |first6=Ariella |last7=Tzur |first7=Shay |last8=Sahakyan |first8=Havhannes |last9=Bahmanimehr |first9=Ardeshir |last10=Yepiskoposyan |first10=Levon |last11=Tambets |first11=Kristiina |date=2013-12-01 |title=No Evidence from Genome-Wide Data of a Khazar Origin for the Ashkenazi Jews |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol_preprints/41 |journal=Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints |volume=85 |issue=6}}</ref>

== Notable Bukharan Jews ==
===Israel===
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* ], television host and screenwriter
* ], celebrity chef and restaurateur
* ], poet and radio broadcaster
* ], singer and songwriter
* ], journalist and General Director of ]
* ], politician and member of the ] for ]
* ], professional ] player
* ], Bukharan-Israeli rabbi, writer, one of the founders of the Bukharan Quarter
* ], politician and member of the Knesset for ]
* ], journalist and creator of the series '']''
* ], billionaire businessman, investor, philanthropist, president of the World Congress of Bukharian Jews
* ], songwriter and music producer
* ], actress
* ], professional football player
* ], co-founder of the Bukharan Quarter in Jerusalem
* ], businessman
* ], former ]
* ], politician and member of the Knesset for Shas
* ], researcher; Rector of ]
* ], politician who served as a member of Knesset for ]
* ], politician who served as a member of the Knesset for ]
* ], singer, "2007 Israeli Artist of the Year"
* ], ] composer, conductor and pianist

===United States===
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* ], proprietor of Jacob & Co.
* ], actor and playwright, Tony Award winner
* ], president of the Bukharian Jewish Congress of the US and Canada
* ], author
* ], Bukharan-American rabbi from ] (member of the Bukharian Rabbinical Counsel)
* ], Jeweler
* ], Internet entrepreneur; co-founder of ]
* ], designer

===United Kingdom ===
* ] (née Mammon), poet and translator<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.haaretz.com/life/books/silk-road-in-a-london-taxi-1.5364802 | title=A Silk Road Bride Rides a London Taxi| newspaper=Haaretz| date=2015-01-27}}</ref>
* ], diplomat and ambassador for Israel
* ], businessman, Jewish community leader

===Other===
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
* ], Jeweler known for his diverse and rare collection of precious gemstones
* ], musician from ]
* ], singer and ]
* ], Soviet actress, "People's Artist of Tajikistan" (an awarded title, alluding to national prominence)
* ], journalist murdered in Tajikistan in 1998
* ], vocalist, famous for her rendition of traditional ] songs in Tajik and Uzbek
* ], dancer, "People's Artist of Soviet Union" (Queen of Eastern Dance)
* ], Soviet singer, "Merited Artist of the Soviet Union"
* ], musician and poet from Uzbekistan, "Honoured Artist of Uzbekistan"
* ], Shashmakon singer, "People's Artist of Tajikistan" (Queen of ] music)
* ], popular Shashmakom artist, "People's Artist of Uzbekistan"
* ], ] composer and musician, "People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR"
* ], widely regarded as the last remaining Jew in Afghanistan, evacuated to Israel in 2021


==See also== ==See also==
*] * ]
*] * ]
* ]
*]
* ]
*]
*] * ]
*] * ]
* ]
*]
*] * ]
* ]
*]
*] * ]
*] * ]
*]
*]
*]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
<!--<nowiki>
See http://en.wikipedia.org/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags.
</nowiki>-->
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
<references />
</div>


==External links== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
*
*
*
*
* Brief culinary history and restaurant review from ].


==Bibliography==
]
* Ricardo Garcia-Carcel: ''La Inquisición'', Biblioteca El Sol. Biblioteca Básica de Historia. Grupo Anaya, Madrid, Spain 1990. {{ISBN|84-7969-011-9}}.
]

]
==External links==
]
* {{Commons category-inline}}
]
*
]
*
]
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040328160151/http://mammon.net/ |date=2004-03-28 }}
*
* , Bukharian Jewish Global Portal
* Cooper, Alanna E. . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012.
* , kikayon.com
* Elena Neva, {{usurped|1=}}, Kunstpedia, March 19, 2009.
* , '']'' (]), October 21, 2009.
* {{youTube|BIobIgJh6Ro|LAZGI Firuza Jumaniyazova shimon polatov israel 2011}}
* {{youTube|RLTNc-SuFV4|AVRAM TOLMAS, RUSTAM, YASHA BARAEV}}
* {{youTube|j2IJ6SMXAv4|Malika Kalantarova - Lazgi.avi}}
* {{youTube|lSZ_wZ1UJXc|Lazgi Malika Kalontarova Dushanbe Малика Калонтарова Лазги Душанбе}}
* by Bukharian Rabbis
{{Asia topic|History of the Jews in}}
{{Ethnic groups in Uzbekistan}}
{{Mizrahi Jews topics}}
{{Jews and Judaism}}


] ]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 07:41, 30 December 2024

Jewish subgroup of Central Asia Ethnic group
Bukharan Jews
יהודים בוכרים‎
Jewish family in Bukhara, 1880
Total population
300,000–350,000 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
 Israel160,000
 United States
120,000
80,000
 United Kingdom15,000
 Austria3,000–3,500
 Germany2,000
 Uzbekistan
1,500
150
 Canada1,500
 Russia1,000
 Australia 130+
130+
 Tajikistan34
 Afghanistan0
Languages
Traditionally Bukharian Russian, Hebrew (Israel), English (United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia) and German (Austria and Germany), Uzbek (Uzbekistan)
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Afghan Jews, Mashhadi Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Soviet Jews
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Bukharan Jews, in modern times called Bukharian Jews, are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that traditionally spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Persian language most similar to the Tajik dialect of Farsi. Their name comes from the former Muslim-Uzbek polity Emirate of Bukhara which once had a sizable Jewish population. The vast majority lived in modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, with small groups in Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.

Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups, dating back to the Babylonian exile, and are a branch of Persian-Jewry. They are also one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States, with others immigrating to Europe or Australia.

Name

The term Bukharan 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 Khanate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself is Bnei Israel.

Language

Bukharan Jews spoke in a Judeo-Persian language dubbed "Bukharian" or Bukhori, most similar to the Tajik and Dari dialect of Farsi, with linguistic elements of Hebrew and Aramaic to communicate among themselves. This language was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until Central Asia was "Russified" by the Soviet Union and the dissemination of religious information was halted, as the Soviet Union wanted Russian as the dominant language in the region.

During the Soviet era, the two main languages spoken by Bukharan Jews were Bukharian and Russian. The younger generation today either born outside Central Asia or who left as children generally use Russian as their secondary language, but sometimes do understand or speak Bukhori.

History

Further information: History of the Jews in Central Asia, History of the Jews under Muslim rule, and Soviet Jews

According to one legend, Bukharan Jews are exiles from the tribes of Naphtali and Issachar during the Assyrian captivity, basing this assumption on a reading of "Habor" at II Kings 17:6 as a reference to Bukhara. However, modern day scholarship associate this telling with European myths, where stories about the "Ten Lost Tribes" had been propagated in Europe.

Historians associate their establishment in the region following the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus the Great, which became part of the Persian Empire. Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship and allowed them to return to Israel, but a significant portion of the population chose to remain in Mesopotamia, later spreading to all parts of the Persian Empire. In the opinion of some scholars, Jews settled in Central Asia in the sixth century, but it is certain that during the eighth to ninth centuries they lived in Central Asian cities such as Balkh, Khwarezm, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Merv. At that time, and until approximately the sixteenth century, Bukharan Jews formed a homogeneous group with the Jews of Iran and Afghanistan.

The first primary written account of Jews in Central Asia dates to the beginning of the 4th century CE. It is recalled in the Talmud by Rabbi Shmuel bar Bisna, a member of the Talmudic academy in Pumbeditha, who traveled to Margiana (present-day Merv in Turkmenistan). The presence of Jewish communities in Merv is also proven by Jewish writings on ossuaries from the 5th and 6th centuries, uncovered between 1954 and 1956.

Under the Kara-Khanid Khanate

In 1170, Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveler from Spain, wrote of the populous Jewish community in Samarkand and claimed that there were about 50,000 "Israelites" in that city, among them "very wise and rich men."

Under the rule of Tamerlane

In the 14th century under the rule of Timur in the Timurid Empire, Jewish weavers and dyers contributed greatly to his effort to rebuild Central Asia following Genghis Khan and the Mongol invasions. In the centuries following Timur's demise, Jews came to dominate the region’s textile and dye industry.

Splintering of the Judeo-Persian communities

Map of travel routes in the Silk Road that connected Persian-Jewry
Jews from Mashad, Iran and Jews from Uzbekistan meeting in Bukhara, c 1930s

Until the start of the 16th century, the Jews of Iran and Central Asia constituted one community. However, during the Safavid dynasty, Iran adopted the Shia branch of Islam, while Central Asia retained their allegiance to the Sunni branch of Islam. Due to the hostile relationship between the neighboring states because of this, the links between the Jews of the area were severed, and the Jewish community was divided into two similar but separate communities. From here, a distinct point of origin of the ethnonym and cultural identity of "Bukharan Jews" began to take formation.

A similar event happened in the middle of the 18th century with the Jews of Afghanistan, which saw the creation of the Afghani kingdom, ruled by the Durrani dynasty, while the Emirate of Bukhara was ruled by the Manghud dynasty. Due to the hostile relationship between the two dynasties, the ties between the Jews of Afghanistan and Bukharan Jews were split into two similar but separate communities.

Over the centuries, whether it was to escape political turmoil, persecution, or to purse economic opportunities, Jews from Iran and Central Asia would frequently migrate to each other's communities. Notable instances that spurred such migrations include Jews from Iran fleeing persecution under the Safavid dynasty in the mid 17th century, and Jews from the cities of Kabul and Herat fleeing forced conversion to Islam in the mid 19th century. Other Jews from Iran and Afghanistan came during the Russian conquest of Central Asia, where the Russians had extended greater freedoms and economic opportunities for Jews. When Joseph Stalin and Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s (which resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews) a significant number went to Iran or Afghanistan.

Under Sunni Muslim rule

Bukharan Jewish girl, c. 1860s

In the Khanate of Bukhara, Bukharan Jews lived under the status of Dhimmi, and experienced a series of discriminatory practices from the Muslim majority. They were forced to wear clothing that identified them as Jews, such as a yellow patch, a hat called a Tilpak, and had their belts made of rope, while the leather belts were reserved for Muslims. Jewish homes also had to be marked as "Jewish" with a dirty cloth nailed to their front doors, and their stores and homes had to be lower than Muslim ones. In court cases, any evidence from a Jew was inadmissible involving a Muslim. They were also forbidden to ride horses and donkeys and had to transport themselves by foot. Lastly, when paying their annual Jizya tax, the Jewish men would be ritually slapped in the face by Muslim authorities. Despite these prohibitions and humiliations, the Jews were able to achieve financial success primarily as merchants and established lucrative trade businesses.

Towards the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the Jewish quarter, Mahalla, was established in the town of Bukhara. The Jews were forbidden to reside outside its boundaries.

During the 18th century, Bukharan Jews continued to face considerable discrimination and persecution. Jewish centers were closed down, and the Muslims of the region forced conversion on a significant number of Bukharan Jews (over one-third, according to one estimate), under a threat of torture and agonizing execution. These Jews who forcibly converted were known as Chala's, a term meaning "neither this nor that."

By the middle of the 18th century, practically all Bukharan Jews lived in the Bukharan Emirate. In the early 1860s, Arminius Vambery, a Hungarian-Jewish traveler, visited the emirate disguised as a Sunni dervish, writing in his journals that the Jews of Bukhara "live in utmost oppression, being despised by everyone."

Rabbi Yosef Maimon

Rabbi Shimon Hakham, the great-grandson of Rabbi Yosef Maimon

In 1793, a missionary kabbalist named Rabbi Yosef Maimon, who was a Sephardic Jew originally from Tetuan, Morocco, travelled to Bukhara to collect/solicit money from Jewish patrons. It was during his search for funds that he chose to stay, in order to strengthen Judaism within the local Jewish population, who were said to be in a state of disarray.

Prior to Maimon's arrival, the native Jews of Bukhara followed the Persian religious tradition. Maimon staunchly demanded that the native Jews of Bukhara adopt Sephardic traditions. Many of the native Jews were opposed to this and the community split into two factions. The followers of the Maimon clan eventually won the struggle for religious authority over the native Bukharans, and Bukharan Jewry forcefully switched to Sephardi customs. The supporters of the Maimon clan, in the conflict, credit Maimon with causing a revival of Jewish practice among Bukharan Jews which they claim was in danger of dying out. However, there is evidence that there were Torah scholars present upon his arrival to Bukhara, but because they followed the Persian rite their practices were aggressively rejected as incorrect by Maimon.

Maimon's great-grandson Shimon Hakham continued his great-grandfather's work as a Rabbi, and in 1870 opened the Talmid Hakham yeshiva in Bukhara, where religious law was promoted. At that time Bukharan Jews were getting only a general education, which mostly consisted of religious laws, reading, writing and some math. Even though they studied Torah, many Bukharan Jews did not speak fluent Hebrew. Only a few books were written in Persian and many of them were old and incomplete. Hakham decided to change this situation by translating religious books into Bukhori. But since there was no printing in Bukhara at that time, he went to Jerusalem to print his books.

Under Imperial Russia rule

The borders of the Russian imperial territories of Khiva, Bukhara, and neighboring provinces in 1902–1903

In 1865, Russian colonial troops took over Tashkent and established the Russian Turkestan region, as part of their expanding empire. Unlike the Jews of Eastern Europe, Tsarist Russia was largely favorable towards the Jews living there, due to years of trade relations with the Bukharan Jews, and they were viewed as potential allies in the region to act as interpreters with the local authorities. As a Russian official explained in 1866:

"Whatever we know of the interior of Bukhara we are chiefly indebted for its Jewish inhabitants..... Upon the whole the Jews of Bukhara are much shrewder than their oppressive masters, and able to converse on subjects of which a genuine Bokharan has no idea."

In spring of 1868, Russian authorities relied on Jewish support when their armies attacked the Emirate of Bukhara, as young Jewish men acted as scouts for the Russians and brought food and drinks to the Russian troops.

An 1884 report by Vasily Radlov described how the Bukharan Jews viewed Tsarist Russia rule:

"The Jew, who in Europe has lived for centuries in enmity with the Christian, welcomes him here with a shining gaze (…) and is delighted to be able to wave a greeting to him. He proudly regards him as his new friend, his protector. In his proximity, he looks down on the Mohammedan with contempt."

Dubbed the "Golden Age" for Bukharan Jews, from 1876 to 1916 they were no longer restricted in their autonomy and had the same rights as their Muslim neighbors. Dozens of Bukharan Jews held prestigious jobs in medicine, law, and government, and many of them prospered. Many Bukharan Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, singers, film producers, and sportsmen. Several Bukharan entertainers became artists of merit and gained the title "People's Artist of Uzbekistan", "People's Artist of Tajikistan", and even (in the Soviet era) "People's Artist of the Soviet Union". Many succeeded in the world of sport, with several Bukharan Jews in Uzbekistan becoming renowned boxers and winning many medals for the country.

Hibbat Zion and immigrating into Ottoman Palestine

Bukharan Jewish women in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, 1906
Bukharan Jewish men in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, 1927
Bukharan Jewish women in the Bukharan Quarter of Jerusalem, 1927

Beginning from 1872, Bukharan Jews began to move into the region of Ottoman Palestine, motivated by religious convictions and the desire to return to their ancestral homeland. The land on which they settled in Jerusalem was named the Bukharan Quarter (Sh'hunat HaBucharim) and still exists today. In 1890, seven members of the Bukharan Jewish community formed the Hovevei Zion Association of the Jewish communities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent. In 1891, the association bought land and drew up a charter stating that the new quarter would be built in the style of Europe's major cities. Architect Conrad Schick was employed to design the neighborhood. The streets were three times wider than even major thoroughfares in Jerusalem at the time, and spacious mansions were built with large courtyards. The homes were designed with neo-Gothic windows, European tiled roofs, neo-Moorish arches and Italian marble. Facades were decorated with Jewish motifs such as the Star of David and Hebrew inscriptions.

Rabbi Shimon Hakham and Rabbi Shlomo Moussaieff were some of the organizers of the quarter where Bukharan homes, synagogues, schools, libraries, and a bath house were established.

The Bukharan Quarter was one of the most affluent sections of the city, populated by Bukharan Jewish merchants and religious scholars supported primarily by various trading activities such as cotton, gemstones, and tea from Central Asia. After World War I and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, however, the quarter fell into decline as overseas sources of income were cut off and residents were left with just their homes in Jerusalem, forcing them to subdivide and rent out rooms to bring in income. From being lauded as one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Bukharian Quarter earned the opposite sobriquet, of being one of the poorest neighborhoods of Jerusalem. In the 1920s and 1930s, the neighborhood also became one of the centers of the Zionist movement with many of its leaders and philosophers living there.

Between 1953 and 1963, Rabbi Bernard M. Casper was working as Dean for Student Affairs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and during this period he became deeply concerned about the impoverished Quarter. After his appointment as Chief Rabbi in South Africa he set up a special fund for the Quarter's improvement and this was tied with Prime Minister Menachem Begin's urban revitalization program, Project Renewal. Johannesburg was twinned with the Bukharan Quarter, and Johannesburg Jewry raised enormous funds for its rehabilitation. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Casper traveled to Jerusalem in 1981 to resolve the hurdles. He consulted with community organizer Moshe Kahan and suggested that they present the dormant agencies with concrete evidence of what could be done. Using a private discretionary fund, he initiated development of several pilot projects, among them a free loan fund, a dental clinic and a hearing center whose successes spurred the municipality back on track.

The quarter borders Tel Arza on the west, the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood on the north, Arzei HaBira on the east, and Geula on the south. Today, most of the residents are Haredi Jews.

Under Soviet Union rule

Family of David Kalontarov, head of Samarkand’s Bukharan Quarter, in front of their Sukkah, 1902
Bukharan Jewish family celebrate Hanukkah in Tel Aviv, 1959
Bukharan Jewish family celebrate Passover in Jerusalem, c. 1970s

Following the Soviet capture of Bukhara and the creation of the Soviet Social Republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, synagogues were destroyed or closed down, and were replaced by Soviet institutions. Consequently many Bukharan Jews fled to the West.

Stalin's decision to end Lenin's New Economic Policy and initiate the First five-year plan in the late 1920s resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews. By the time Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s, many tens of thousands of households from Central Asia had crossed the border into Iran and Afghanistan, amongst them some 4,000 Bukharan Jews who were heading towards Mandatory Palestine.

Soviet doctrines, ideology and nationalities policy had a large impact on the everyday life, culture and identity of the Bukharan Jews. Bukharan Jews who had put efforts into creating a Bukharan Jewish Soviet culture and national identity were charged during Stalin's Great Purge, or, as part of the Soviet Union's nationalities policies and nation building campaigns, were forced to assimilate into the larger Soviet Uzbek or Soviet Tajik national identities, but the community still attempted to preserve their traditions while displaying loyalty to the new government.

During this time, both Jews and Muslims suffered from the anti-religious policies the Soviets imposed on Central Asia, which aimed to break the power of their religious institutions and eventually replace religious belief with atheism.

In 1950 the "Black Years of Soviet Jewry" began where suppression of the Jewish religion resumed after stopping due to World War II. After Joseph Stalin's attempt to turn the newly founded state of Israel into a socialist country failed, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic campaign launched against Soviet Jews. Several religious and prominent Bukharan Jews were arrested and sentenced to 25 years on charges of "Zionist propagation." Even those who uttered the traditional phrase said by Jews on the Passover holiday, "Next Year in Jerusalem", were subject to arrests. These arrests were all part of the Soviet anti-cosmopolitan campaign, where antisemitism was often disguised under the banner of anti-Zionism.

After the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and later the Six-Day Arab–Israeli War of 1967, antisemitism intensified amongst the Muslim majority, with the 1967 war leading to a rise in Jewish patriotism. The Soviet Union forbade Jews to make aliyah to Israel, though these restrictions loosened in the 1970s and were dropped in the 1980s.

Relationship between other Jewish communities

After the Russian conquest of Central Asia, a small amount of Ashkenazi Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe and the European part of the Russian Empire to Russian Turkestan. During World War II, large migrations of Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from the European regions of the Soviet Union headed eastward to various countries in Central Asia. The Bukharan Jewish communities helped contribute to the resettlement of these refugees, housing families in their homes and assisted them with finding jobs until they settled in to their new surroundings.

Despite this, Bukharan and Ashkenazi Jews remained separate from one another, and intermarriage between the two was extremely rare. Bukharan Jews ranged from religious to traditional, and clustered together (particular those who lived in the Jewish Quarters), while most Ashkenazi Jews living in Central Asia were secular, both structurally and culturally, and assimilated into the general populace. Some Bukharan Jews viewed Ashkenazi Jews as inauthentic Jews, and looked down on them for their lack of Jewish identity.

However, Bukharan Jewry had good relations with the Chabad-Lubavitch, beginning from the end of the 19th century with the arrival of Rabbi Shlomo Leib Eliezrov, a student of Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn. Rabbi Eliezrov accepted a temporary rabbinical position in Uzbekistan and helped organize the provision of kosher meat in surrounding cities where Jews lived. Over the decades, other emissaries from Chabad would come to support the community as well.

There were also Jews from other Eastern countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Morocco who migrated into Central Asia (by way of the Silk Road), and were absorbed into the Bukharan Jewish community.

Mass migration after 1991

In the late 1980s to the late 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and foundation of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, most of the remaining Bukharan Jews left Central Asia for the United States, Israel, Europe, or Australia in the last mass emigration of Bukharan Jews from their resident lands.

Some left due to economic instability, while others left fearing growth of nationalistic policies in the country. The resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (such as the Fergana massacre and the 1990 Dushanbe riots) prompted an increase in the level of emigration of Jews. According to various Bukharan Jews, the Uzbek and Tajik locals would come to Jewish homes and would often say things in line with "Go back to where you came from. You don't belong here." Because of this, they also found it difficult to sell their homes at a reasonable price. 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.

Immigrant populations

Tajikistan

Entrance to the now demolished Dushanbe Synagogue in 2006

In early 2006, the still active Dushanbe Synagogue in Tajikistan as well as the city's mikveh (ritual bath), kosher butcher, and Jewish schools were demolished by the government (without compensation to the community) to make room for the new Palace of Nations. After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan announced a reversal of its decision and publicly claimed that it would permit the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site. However, in mid-2008, the government of Tajikistan destroyed the whole synagogue and started construction of the Palace of Nations. The Dushanbe synagogue was Tajikistan's only synagogue, and the community were therefore left without a center or a place to pray. In 2009, the Tajik government reestablished the synagogue in a different location for the small Jewish community.

As of the 2010 census, there are 36 Jews left in Tajikistan. All but two are Ashkenazi Jews, while the others are Bukharan. On January 15, 2021, Jura Abaev, the last Jew in the city of Khujand, Tajikistan died.

Afghanistan

Zablon Simintov, known as the last Jew of Afghanistan

As Afghanistan is a landlocked country located between Central Asia and South Asia, the Jews who lived in Afghanistan are sometimes considered to be the same as Bukharan Jews, though some Jews from Afghanistan identify solely as "Afghan Jews."

With the Kazakh famine of 1930–1933, a significant number of Bukharan Jews crossed the border into the Kingdom of Afghanistan as part of the wider famine-related refugee crisis; leaders of the communities petitioned Jewish communities in Europe and the United States for support. In total, some 60,000 refugees had fled from the Soviet Union and reached Afghanistan.

In 1935, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that "ghetto rules" had been imposed on Afghan Jews, requiring them to wear particular clothes, requiring Jewish women to stay outside markets, requiring all Jews to live within certain distances from mosques and banning Jews from riding horses. In 1935, a delegate to the World Zionist Congress claimed that an estimated 40,000 Bukharan Jews had been killed or starved to death.

By the end of 2004, only two known Jews were left in Afghanistan, Zablon Simintov and Isaac Levy (born c. 1920). Levy relied on charity to survive, while Simintov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. They lived on opposite sides of the dilapidated Kabul synagogue. In January 2005, Levy died of natural causes, leaving Simintov as the sole known Jew in Afghanistan.

Due to decades of warfare, antisemitism, and religious persecution, there are officially no Jews remaining in Afghanistan today.

United States

Congregation Beth-El in Fresh Meadows, Queens, a Bukharan synagogue

The largest number of Bukharan Jews in the U.S. is in New York City. In Forest Hills, Queens, 108th Street, often referred to as "Bukharan Broadway" or "Bukharian Broadway", is filled with Bukharan restaurants and gift shops. Furthermore, Forest Hills is nicknamed "Bukharlem" due to the majority of the population being Bukharan. They have formed a tight-knit enclave in this area that was once primarily inhabited by Ashkenazi Jews. Congregation Tifereth Israel in Corona, Queens, a synagogue founded in the early 1900s by Ashkenazi Jews, became Bukharan in the 1990s. Kew Gardens, Queens, also has a very large population of Bukharan Jews. Although Bukharan Jews in Queens remain insular in some ways (living in close proximity to each other, owning and patronizing clusters of stores, and attending their own synagogue rather than other synagogues in the area), they have connections with non-Bukharans in the area. In December 1999, the First Congress of the Bukharian Jews of the United States and Canada convened in Queens. In 2007, Bukharan-American Jews initiated lobbying efforts on behalf of their community. Zoya Maksumova, president of the Bukharan women's organization "Esther Hamalka" said "This event represents a huge leap forward for our community. 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 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."

Culture

Dress codes

Bukharan kippah

Bukharan Jews had their own dress code, similar to but also different from other cultures (mainly Turco-Mongol) living in Central Asia, which they were wore as their daily attire until the country was "Russified" by the Soviet Union. Today, the traditional kaftan (Jomah-ҷома-ג'אמה in Bukhori and Tajik) is worn during weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.

Bukharan Jews also have a unique kippah, a full head-sized covering with rich patterns and lively colors embroidered. In present times, this kippah can sometimes be seen being worn by liberal-leaning and Reform Jews.

Music

Jewish ensemble in Bukhara, 1987

The Bukharan Jews have a distinct musical tradition called shashmaqam, which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with Central Asian rhythms, and a considerable klezmer influence as well as Muslim melodies, and even Spanish chords. The main instrument is the dayereh. Shashmaqam music "reflect the mix of Hassidic vocals, Indian and Islamic instrumentals and Sufi-inspired texts and lyrical melodies." They were heavily responsible for sustaining and transmitting the music during the Soviet era, and later when immigrating to the United States. Ensemble Shashmaqam was one of the first New York-based ensembles created to showcase the music and dance of Bukharan Jews.

An account from explorer Henry Lansdell in 1885, upon visiting Samarkand and hearing the music of the Bukharan Jews:

We went then to the synagogue, allowed to the Jews of Samarkand only since the Russians came, where the best chorister in the region was that evening to sing. The crowd was dense, and in a short time two singers appeared; the “primo,” a delicate, modest-looking man, who blushed at the eagerness with which his arrival was awaited, whilst the “secondo” was a brazen-faced fellow, who carried his head on one side, as if courting attention, and with the assurance that he should have it. They were introduced to us, and began at once, that we might hear. The singing, so called, was the most remarkable that up to that time I had ever heard. The first voice led off in a key so high, that he had to strain for some seconds before he could utter a sound at all. After this he proceeded very slowly as to the number of words he sang, but prolonged his notes into numerous flourishes, screaming as loud as he could in falsetto. The second voice was an accompaniment for the first; but as both bawled as loudly as possible, I soon voted it anything but good music, and intimated that it was time for us to go. The congregation, moreover, were crowding round, without the smallest semblance of their being engaged in divine worship.

Weddings and marriage traditions

Jewish bride at a Kosh-Chinon ceremony in Bukhara, 1999

Bukharan Jews celebrated their weddings in several stages leading up to the wedding ceremony. When a match between a couple was accepted, an engagement (Shirini-Khori) took place in the house of the bride. Following this, the Rabbi congratulated the father of the bride on the engagement and distributed sugar to those present. Other sweets were distributed towards relatives, notifying them that the engagement had taken place. After engagement, the meeting between parents of the groom and bride was carried out in the house of the bride, where refreshments and gifts from the groom were sent. Further celebrations lasted a week in the house of the groom, where relatives of the groom brought gifts to the bride.

Before the wedding, a unique practice that was done was a Kosh-Chinon ceremony, a local custom practiced by both Jews and Muslims in Central Asia, which involved all the female guests of the wedding to pluck the bride's eyebrows and the strands of hair above her lip, as well as the sides of the bride's face being cleaned of their dark wisps. Girls in Central Asia were taught that they shouldn't manicure their facial hair until they got married. The smooth, clean face served as a mark of womanhood. This ceremony was done a few days before the wedding, and after the bride had immersed herself in the Mikveh.

The wedding itself followed the same traditions as a standard Jewish wedding, including the signing of the Ketubah, the Chuppah, and the Kiddish. A few small differences were the Chuppah being a prayer shawl that was held by members of the family, unlike it being hung on four poles as is widely practiced today in Jewish weddings. Furthermore, as the bride and groom would take their positions in the prayer shawl, the mothers of the bride and groom would stitch their needles through the fabric of their children's clothing.

Cuisine

See also: Uzbek cuisine
Central Asian style dumpling soup called shurboi dushpera or tushpera (left) along with traditional tandoor style bread called non in Bukharan, Tajik, and Uzbek (right)

The cooking of Bukharan Jews forms a distinct cuisine within Uzbekistan, other parts of Central and even Southeast Asia, subject to the restrictions of Jewish dietary laws.

The Bukharians' Jewish identity was always preserved in the kitchen. "Even though we were in exile from Jerusalem, we observed kashruth," said Isak Masturov, another owner of Cheburechnaya. "We could not go to restaurants, so we had to learn to cook for our own community."

Authentic Bukharan Jewish dishes include:

  • Osh palov – a Bukharan Jewish version of palov for weekdays, includes both beef and chicken.
  • Bakhsh – "green palov", rice with meat or chicken and green herbs (coriander, parsley, dill), exists in two varieties; bakhshi khaltagi cooked Jewish-style in a small bag immersed in a pot with boiling water or soup and bakhshi degi cooked like regular palov in a cauldron; bakhshi khaltagi is precooked and therefore can be served on Shabbat.
  • Oshi sabo (also osh savo or osovoh), a "meal in a pot" slowly cooked overnight and eaten hot for Shabbat lunch. Oshi sabo is made with meat, rice, vegetables, and fruit added for a unique sweet and sour taste. By virtue of its culinary function (a hot Shabbat meal in Jewish homes) and ingredients (rice, meat, vegetables cooked together overnight), oshi sabo is a Bukharan version of cholent or hamin.
  • Khalta savo – food cooked in a bag (usually rice and meat, possibly with the addition of dried fruit).
  • Yakhni – a dish consisting of two kinds of boiled meat (beef and chicken), brought whole to the table and sliced before serving with a little broth and a garnish of boiled vegetables; a main course for Friday night dinner.
  • Kov roghan – fried pieces of chicken with fried potatoes piled on top.
  • Serkaniz (Sirkoniz) – garlic rice dish, another variation of palov.
  • Oshi piyozi – stuffed onion.
  • Shulah – a Bukharan-style risotto.
  • Boyjon – eggplant puree mixed only with salt and garlic, the traditional starter for the Friday-night meal in Bukharan Jewish homes.
  • Slotah Bukhori – a salad made with tomato, cucumber, green onion, cilantro, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Some also put in lettuce and chili pepper.
  • Bichak - stuffed baked or fried pastry, traditional for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot.
  • Samsa - pastries filled with spiced meat or vegetables, are baked in a unique, hollowed out tandoor oven, and greatly resemble the preparation and shape of Indian samosas.
  • Noni Toki – a crispy flat bread that is baked on the back of a wok. This method creates a bowl-shaped bread.
  • Fried fish with garlic sauce (for Friday night dinner): "Every Bukharian Sabbath ... is greeted with a dish of fried fish covered with a pounded sauce of garlic and cilantro". In the Bukharan dialect, the dish is called mai birion or in full mai birion ovi sir, where mai birion is fried fish and ovi sir is garlic sauce (literally "garlic water"). Bread is sometimes fried and then dipped in the remaining garlic water and is called noni-sir.
  • Chakchak, a popular sweet made from unleavened dough cut and rolled into hazelnut-sized balls, which are then deep-fried in oil. Optionally, hazelnuts or dried fruit (e.g. apricots and raisins) are added to the mixture. The fried balls are stacked in a mound in a special mold and drenched with hot honey.

Genetics

In autosomal analyses, Bukharan Jews form a close genetic cluster with Iranian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, and Kurdish Jews, and do not cluster with their local neighbors. This cluster plots between Levantine and Northern West Asian populations.

Among non-Jewish populations, Bukharan Jews also form a cluster with other West Asian people including Kurds, Iranians, Armenians, Assyrians, and Levantine Arabs.

Notable Bukharan Jews

Israel

United States

United Kingdom

Other

See also

Notes

  1. Tajik: яҳудиёни Бухоро, romanizedyahudiyoni Buxoro, Bukharian dialect: יהודיאני בוכארא, Persian alphabet: یهودیان بخارا, IPA: [jɐɦudiˈjɔnɪ bʊχɔˈɾo]; Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי־בּוּכָרָה, romanizedyehudi Bucharah, IPA: [jehuˈdi buχaˈʁa]; Uzbek: Бухоро яҳудийлари, romanized: Buxoro yahudiylari, IPA: [bʊχɒˈɾɒ jæhuˌdijlæˈɾɪ̆]; Russian: бухарец, romanized: buharec, IPA: [bʊˈxarʲɪts]
  2. Tajik: яҳудиёни Бухорӣ, romanizedyahudiyoni Buxoriy, Bukharian: יהודי בוכרה, Persian alphabet: یهودیان بخارى, IPA: [jɐɦudiˈjɔnɪ bʊχɔˈɾij]; Hebrew: יְהוּדִים־בּוּכָרִים, romanizedyehudim Bucharim, IPA: [jehuˈdim buχaˈʁim]; Uzbek: Бухорий яҳудийлари, romanized: Buxoriy yahudiylari, IPA: [bʊχɒˈɾij jæhuˌdijlæˈɾɪ̆]; Russian: Бухарские евреи, romanized: Buharskije jevrei, IPA: [bʊˈxarskʲɪje jɪˈvrʲeɪ]

References

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  9. Ido, Shinji (2017). "The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift". Journal of Jewish Languages. 5 (1): 85. doi:10.1163/22134638-12340078. The term 'the Jewish dialect of Tajik' is often used interchangeably with such terms as Judeo-Tadzhik, Judeo-Tajik, Bukhori, Bukhari, Bukharic, Bukharan, Bukharian, and Bukharit (Cooper 2012:284) in the literature.
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Bibliography

  • Ricardo Garcia-Carcel: La Inquisición, Biblioteca El Sol. Biblioteca Básica de Historia. Grupo Anaya, Madrid, Spain 1990. ISBN 84-7969-011-9.

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