Georgian Jews
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Georgia: 13,000 (est.) Israel: 60,000-75,000 (est.) | |
| Languages | |
| Gruzinic, Georgian, Hebrew, local languages of the countries in which they live | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism
Related by tradition and ancestry: Related by language: |
The Georgian Jews (Georgian: ქართველი ებრაელები Qartveli Ebraeli, Hebrew: יהודי גרוזיה Yehudei Gruziya or יהודי גאורגיה Yehudei Georgia) are from the nation of Georgia, in the Caucasus.
Population
The Georgian Jews have traditionally lived separately, not only from the surrounding Georgian people, but even from the Ashkenazi ("European or Germanic Jews") community in Tbilisi.
The community, which numbered about 100,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated to Israel, the United States, the Russian Federation and Belgium. As of 2004, only about 13,000 Georgian Jews remain in Georgia. According to the 2002 First General National Census of Georgia there are 3,541 Jewish believers in the country.[1] For example, the Lezgishvili branch of Georgian Jews have families in Israel, Moscow, Baku, Duesseldorf, and Cleveland. There are approximately seven hundred Georgian Jewish families living all throughout the New York tri state area. They largely reside in Rego Park, New York.
History
The Georgian Jews are among the most ancient communities of the Jewish diaspora, although the exact dates of their arrival are the subject of some disagreement. The various claims are that they arrived:
- Following the Assyrian destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 770 BCE.
- Fleeing Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies around 586 BCE.
- Following the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman armies in the first century.
Some other sources give other dates, but none later than the second century C.E. It is entirely possible that the community is an amalgam of refugees from all of these historical calamities.
Non-Jewish view
According to the Georgian hagiography, Jewish communities existed in Georgia in the 1st century, because a Georgian Jew called Elias was in Jerusalem during the crucifixion and brought Jesus' robe back with him to Georgia, which he acquired from a Roman soldier at Golgotha.
Georgian Jews in the twentieth century
Language
The traditional language of the Georgian Jews is Gruzinic (also called Judæo-Georgian), a variant of Georgian, characterized by a large number of Hebrew loanwords, and written using either the Georgian alphabet or Hebrew alphabet. Besides speaking Gruzinic, the Georgian Jews speak the languages of the peoples surrounding them. In Georgia, these include Georgian and Russian. In Belgium, Dutch, in the United States, Canada English, and in Israel, Hebrew.
Prominent Georgian Jews
- David Baazov
- Gerzel Baazov
- Anzor Haimson
- Michael Haimson
- Itska Rizhinashvili
- Badri Patarkatsishvili
- Tamir Sapir
External links
- World Congress of Georgian Jews
- Jewish life in Georgia from Canadian Jewish News
- Jewish Community of Tbilisi
