Najah Choheili
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Najah Choheili
Ganzibra Najah Choheili ( fa, نجاح چحیلی) is an Iranian Mandaean priest who currently serves as the head of the Mandaean community in Iran. Biography Najah Choheili was born in Ahvaz, Iran into the Kuhailia (Persian pronunciation: ''Choheili'') family. His father was Ganzibra Jabbar Choheili, while his brother is Salah Choheili, who is currently the Rishama of the Mandaean community in Australia. He currently serves as the head of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz and is the head of the Mandaean community in Iran. See also * Jabbar Choheili *Salah Choheili *Salem Choheili * Taleb Doraji * Mandaean Council of Ahvaz References External links Buta drabša(drabsha The drabshaDrower, Ethel Stefana (1937). ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. ( myz, ࡃࡓࡀࡁࡔࡀ) or darfash ( ar, درفش) is the symbol of the Mandaean faith. It is typically translated as 'banner'. Etymo ... prayer from the Qulasta, CP 337-339 = Oxford Collecti ...
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Ganzibra
A ganzibra (singular form in myz, ࡂࡀࡍࡆࡉࡁࡓࡀ, plural form in myz, ࡂࡀࡍࡆࡉࡁࡓࡉࡀ , literally 'treasurer' in Mandaic; fa, گنزورا) is a high priest in Mandaeism. Tarmidas, or junior priests, rank below the ganzibras.Drower, E. S. 1960. ''The Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Symbolically, ganzibras are considered to be uthras on earth (Tibil). Their responsibilities include performing masbuta, masiqta, wedding ceremonies, and other rituals, all of which can only be performed by priests. They must prepare their own food to maintain ritual purity. Ganzibra priests are also prohibited from consuming stimulants such as wine, tobacco, and coffee. Ordination The ganzibras go through an elaborate set of initiation rituals that are separate from those performed for the tarmidas. According Drower (1937), a ganzibra can only be initiated immediately before the death of a pious member of the Mandaean community. Two ganzibra ...
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Salem Choheili
Šganda Salem Choheili ( fa, سالم چحیلی; born 1935 in Ahvaz, Iran} is an Iranian Mandaean scribe, teacher, and author. He is also a shganda and ''yalufa'' (learned Mandaean layman) and is one of the leaders of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz. Salem Choheili is one of the last remaining fully fluent speakers of Neo-Mandaic. Biography Salem Choheili was born in Ahvaz, Iran in 1935 into the Kuhailia (Persian pronunciation: ''Choheili'') family. His Mandaean baptismal name is Bayan bar Šarat ( myz, ࡁࡀࡉࡀࡍ ࡁࡓ ࡔࡀࡓࡀࡕ, translit=Baian br Šarat, lit=Bayan, son of Šarat). As a child, he learned to speak colloquial Mandaic from his parents. Salem Choheili later served as Slovak linguist Rudolf Macúch's primary Neo-Mandaic linguistic informant in 1989, as well as a guide for Norwegian-American scholar Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley during her 1996 field trip to Iran. After serving in the Iranian military, Salem Choheili focused on transcribing Mandaic ma ...
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Iranian Mandaeans
Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. They may have been among the earliest religious groups to practice baptism, as well as among the earliest adherents of Gnosticism, a belief system of which they are the last surviving representatives today. The Mandaeans were originally native speakers of Mandaic, an Eastern Aramaic language, before they nearly all switched to Iraqi Arabic or Persian as their main language. After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies in 2003, the Mandaean community of Iraq, which before the war numbered 60,000-70,000 persons, collapsed due to the rise of Islamic extremism and the absence of protection against it; with most of the community relocating to Iran, Syria and Jordan, or forming diaspora communities beyond the Middle East. Mandea ...
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Religious Leaders From Ahvaz
Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred things, faith,Tillich, P. (1957) ''Dynamics of faith''. Harper Perennial; (p. 1). a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life". Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religions have ...
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Mandaean Priests
A Mandaean priest or ''Rabbi'' refers to an ordained religious leader in Mandaeism. Overview All priests must undergo lengthy ordination ceremonies, beginning with tarmida initiation. Mandaean religious leaders and copyists of religious texts hold the title ''Rabbi'' or in Arabic 'Sheikh'. All Mandaean communities traditionally require the presence of a priest, since priests are required to officiate over all important religious rituals, including masbuta, masiqta, birth and wedding ceremonies. Priests also serve as teachers, scribes, and community leaders. Unfortunately, many Mandaean diaspora communities do not have easy access to priests. Names In Mandaean scriptures, priests are referred to as ''Naṣuraiia'' ( myz, ࡍࡀࡑࡅࡓࡀࡉࡉࡀ, lit= Naṣoraeans) or occasionally as ''Tarmiduta''. On the other hand, laypeople are referred to as ''Mandaiia'' ( myz, ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ, lit=Gnostics, Knowers, Enlightened Ones). ''Naṣuraiia'' are considered to have ''naṣ ...
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Living People
Related categories * :Year of birth missing (living people) / :Year of birth unknown * :Date of birth missing (living people) / :Date of birth unknown * :Place of birth missing (living people) / :Place of birth unknown * :Year of death missing / :Year of death unknown * :Date of death missing / :Date of death unknown * :Place of death missing / :Place of death unknown * :Missing middle or first names See also * :Dead people * :Template:L, which generates this category or death years, and birth year and sort keys. : {{DEFAULTSORT:Living people 21st-century people People by status ...
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Qulasta
The Qulasta, also spelled Qolastā in older sources ( myz, ࡒࡅࡋࡀࡎࡕࡀ, translit=Qulasta; mid, Qōlutā, script=Latn), is a compilation of Mandaean prayers. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection". The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms ('' masbuta'') and other sacred rituals involved in the ascension of the soul ('' masiqta''). In Mandaic, individual prayers are generally called ''buta'' (plural form: ''bawata''), although some prayers also known as ''qaiamta'', ''šrita'' (loosing or deconsecration prayers), and other Mandaic designations. There is no standardized version of the Qulasta; different versions can contain varying numbers of prayers, and ordering of the prayers can also vary. The most commonly Qulasta versions are those of E. S. Drower (1959 English translation) and Mark Lidzbarski (1905 German translation). Eric Segelberg (1958) contains a detailed study of many of the first 90 Qulasta prayers (many of which are ...
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Drabsha
The drabshaDrower, Ethel Stefana (1937). ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. ( myz, ࡃࡓࡀࡁࡔࡀ) or darfash ( ar, درفش) is the symbol of the Mandaean faith. It is typically translated as 'banner'. Etymology The Mandaic term ''drabša'' is derived from the Persian word ''dirafsh'' (), which means 'banner or standard; a flash of light; sunrise'. In Mandaic, ''drabša'' can also mean 'a ray or beam of light'. Description and symbolism The drabsha (''drabša'') is a banner in the shape of a cross made of two branches of olive wood fastened together and half covered with a piece of white cloth traditionally made of pure silk, and seven branches of myrtle. The drabsha white silk banner is not identified with the Christian cross. Instead, the four arms of the drabsha symbolize the four corners of the universe, while the pure silk cloth represents the Light of God (Hayyi Rabbi). The seven branches of myrtle represent the seven days of creation ...
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Taleb Doraji
Sheikh (''Rabbi'') Ganzibra Taleb Doraji (also spelled Taleb Doragi, Taleb Dorragi, or Talib Durašia ( myz, ࡕࡀࡋࡉࡁ ࡃࡅࡓࡀࡔࡉࡀ); born 1937 in Ahvaz, Iran) is an Iranian Mandaean priest and goldsmith from Ahvaz, Khuzestan. He became a tarmida in 1998 and later attained the rank of ganzibra. Biography Taleb Doraji was born in Ahvaz in 1937. He is the cousin of Jabbar Choheili, since they both have the same grandfather, named Salim. Taleb Doraji is a member of the Durašia (also spelled Durakia in the colophons of Mandaean texts; modern Persianized pronunciation: "Doraji") clan. On June 13, 1999, Taleb Doraji (who had just become a tarmida a year earlier), together with Ganzibra Salah Choheili from Ahvaz, performed the first-ever masbuta on a university campus and at an academic conference, the ARAM 13th International Conference at Harvard University. The masbuta was performed in the Charles River, with Salem Choheili and his brother assisting as shganda In ...
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Mandaean Australians
Mandaean Australians are Australians of Mandaean descent or Mandaeans who have Australian citizenship. Australia has the second-highest Mandaean population in the world, after Sweden. Sydney metropolitan area The Sydney metropolitan area in Australia has one of the largest Mandaean diaspora communities in the world. The community is centered in Greater Western Sydney suburbs such as Penrith and Liverpool. In Liverpool, the main mandi (Beth Manda) is the Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi. The Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia has purchased land by the banks of the Nepean River at Wallacia, New South Wales in order to build a new mandi. Another mandi in Sydney is the Yahya Yuhana Mandi. Associations The Sabian Mandaean Association in Australia is the largest Mandaean association in Australia. Religious affairs are managed by the Mandaean Synod of Australia. Notable people * Salah Choheili, the current Rishama and head of the Mandaean community in Australia *Majid Fandi al-Mubaraki, ...
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Zidqa Brikha
In Mandaeism, the zidqa brika (or ''zidqa brikha''; myz, ࡆࡉࡃࡒࡀ ࡁࡓࡉࡊࡀ, lit=blessed oblation) is a type of ritual meal blessed by Mandaean priests.Segelberg, Eric. 1977. "''Zidqa Brika'' and the Mandæan Problem. In ''Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Gnosticism.'' Ed. Geo Widengren and David Hellholm. Stockholm. ''Zidqa'' means oblation and can also mean alms, while ''brika'' means blessed.Drower, Ethel Stefana. 1937. ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford At The Clarendon Press. The zidqa brika is offered and eaten at the end of tarmida (junior priest) initiation ceremonies, after the novice's 60-day seclusion period. It is also offered during the Parwanaya festival. It is distinct from the ''lofani'' and ''dukrana'', which are two other types of ritual meal offered for the dead. Prayers In E. S. Drower's version of the ''Qolasta'', prayers 348-374 are for the zidqa brika. Prayers 375-381 are blessings recited after the zidqa brika. See als ...
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