Georgian Jews ( ka, ქართველი ებრაელები, tr) are a community of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
who migrated to
Georgia during the
Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.
[The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medieval Historical Chronicle The Conversion of Katli and The Life of St. Nino, Constantine B. Lerner, England: Bennett and Bloom, London, 2004, p. 60] It is one of the oldest communities in that land.
Prior to Georgia's annexation by the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
in 1801, the 2,600-year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence of
antisemitism and a visible assimilation in the
Georgian language and culture.
[Forget Atlanta - this is the Georgia on my mind](_blank)
By Jewish Discoveries and Harry D. Wall Feb. 7, 2015, Haaretz The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring
Mountain Jews. They were also traditionally a highly separate group from the
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
in Georgia, who arrived following the
Russian annexation of Georgia.
As a result of a
major emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority of
Georgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city of
Ashdod.
History
The Georgian Jews traditionally lived separately, not only from the surrounding
Georgian people, but also from the
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
in
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
, who had different practices and language.
The community, which numbered about 80,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the
Russian Federation and
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
(in
Antwerp). , only about 13,000 Georgian Jews remained in Georgia. According to the 2002 First General National Census of Georgia, there are 3,541 Jewish believers in the country. For example, the
Lezgishvili branch of Georgian Jews have families in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Baku,
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
, and
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
(US). Several hundred Georgian Jewish families live in the
New York tri-state area, particularly in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Long Island.
Origins
Georgian-speaking Jewry is one of the oldest surviving Jewish communities in the world. The Georgian Jews have an approximately 2,600-year history in
Colchis. The origin of Georgian Jews, also known as ''
Gurjim'' or ''kartveli ebraelebi'', is debated. The most popular view is that the first Jews made their way to southern Georgia after
Nebuchadnezzar's conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in 586 BCE and
exile in
Babylon. This claim is supported by the
medieval Georgian historical account by
Leonti Mroveli
Leonti Mroveli ( ka, ლეონტი მროველი) was the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, presumably an ecclesiastic. ''Mroveli'' is not his last name, but the adjective for the diocese of Ruisi, whose bishop he probably was.Rayfie ...
, who writes:
Mroveli added that a further settlement of the Jews in Georgia was during the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
period of Emperor
Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Emp ...
. He wrote that Jews lived in Georgia long before 1st century CE. According to Mroveli:
The ancient Georgian historic chronicle, ''The Conversion of Kartli'', is the oldest and only Georgian source concerning the history of the Jewish community in Georgia. The chronicle describes a version similar to that offered centuries later by Leonti Mroveli, but the period of Jewish migration into Georgia is ascribed to
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
:
Georgian sources also refer to the arrival of the first Jews in Western Georgia from the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
during the 6th century CE. Approximately 3,000 of the Jews fled to Eastern Georgia, which by that time was controlled by the
Persians, to escape severe persecution by the Byzantines. The existence of the Jews in these regions during this period is supported by the
archaeological evidence, which shows that Jews lived in
Mtskheta, the ancient capital of the Eastern Georgian state of
Iberia-Kartli.
According to the Georgian
hagiography, Jewish communities existed in Georgia in the 1st century. A Georgian Jew called Elias was said to be in Jerusalem during the
Crucifixion and brought Jesus' robe back with him to Georgia. He had acquired it from a Roman soldier at Golgotha.
The Jews spoke Georgian, and later Jewish traders developed a dialect called ''Kivruli'', or Judaeo-Georgian, which included a number of Hebrew words.
In the second half of the 7th century, the
Muslim Empire
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and contin ...
conquered extensive Georgian territory, which became a province of the
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
. Arab emirs ruled in the Georgian capital
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...
and surrounding territory for nearly 500 years, until 1122.
Genetic studies carried out on Georgian Jews as part of a wider survey showed close genetic links with other Jews, and in particular with Iraqi and Persian Jews. This seemed to prove the historical accounts of Jewish migration from Persia into Georgia.
Middle Ages
There is not much documentation about Georgian Jews under the
Arab domination. In the late 9th century,
Abu-Imran Musa al-Za'farani (later known as Abu-Imran al-Tiflisi) founded a Jewish
Karai sect called the Tiflis Sect ("Tiflisites"), which lasted for more than 300 years. The sect deviated from
Rabbinic ''
halakhah'' in its marriage and ''
kashrut'' customs. This sect did not represent the great majority of Georgian Jews, who adhered to traditional
Rabbinic Judaism while maintaining strong religious ties with
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and other
Jews of Iraq.
The nature of Georgian Jew's observance to rabbinic law was also noted by
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela ( he, בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, ; ar, بنيامين التطيلي ''Binyamin al-Tutayli''; Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, an ...
and
Abraham ben David (also known as the RABAD or RAVAD).
The
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
swept through Georgia in 1236, prompting many of the Jews of Eastern and Southern Georgia to move to the western region, which remained independent. There they formed small communities along the
Black Sea, and eventually their poverty forced them into
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
. For 500 years, beginning in the end of the 14th century, the Jews of Georgia belonged to the ''kamani'', or serf class, under the Georgian elite.
Their situation worsened in the 15th and 16th centuries due to constant military conflicts and invasions by
Timur,
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
, and Muslim
Persia. By the end of the 15th century, Georgia had fragmented into three separate kingdoms and five feudal territories. Jewish serfs were sold from master to master as a family or individuals as debt payments or gifts. The Jewish communities were torn apart and Jewish communal life was nearly impossible to maintain. Isolation and lack of a religious and spiritual center led to a decline of Jewish knowledge.
An endless string of wars and rebellions characterized the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a result of Russian interference to the region, leaving the region decimated. Jewish property was often confiscated and Jews were forced to seek the protection of the local feudal lords. Instead of finding security, many Jews became enslaved by these lords. The serfs, including Jewish ones, were divided into three categories according to Georgian law: the King's serfs, Feudal serfs, and the Church's serfs.
During this period, large migrations of Jews took place, either voluntary or forced. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a large number of Jews left for
issing word; maybe Persia? and many Jews in that region are still of Georgian descent. In the 17th and 18th centuries, tens of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish Georgians were forcibly relocated to Persia by the Islamic Persian invaders.
Georgian annexation into the Russian Empire
In 1801, the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
annexed Eastern Georgia. The King's serfs became the Treasury's serfs, and were obliged to pay taxes to the
Tsar. In 1835 there were 1,363 Jews with 113 Karaites living in the town of
Kutais (Kutaisi) and its surroundings, 1,040 in Gori, 623 in Akhaltsikhe, and 61 in Tiflis (Tbilisi). The total Jewish population of Georgia and the region beyond the Caucasus was 12,234.
In 1863–71, the Russian authorities abolished
serfdom
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
, and Jewish former serfs moved to towns and villages where free Jews were already settled. Finally the Jews of Georgia began to develop Jewish communities. Each group moved together to the same towns and established their own respective
synagogues. They were usually made up of a number of extended family groups spanning three or four generations. Each community had a
gabbai who served as a
rabbi,
shohet,
mohel, and
Cheder, and oversaw religious and communal affairs. These small communities developed into the Jewish quarter of their particular towns.
In the beginning of the 19th century, certain
Ashkenazi Russian Jews moved to Georgia. The Ashkenazi Jews and the Georgian Jews began establishing contact with each other, but relations were strained. Georgian Jews viewed the Ashkenazim as godless and
secular, while the Ashkenazim looked down on the Georgian Jews.
Zionism was a uniting cause for the two groups. Ashkenazim joined Zionist organizations and began to spread their ideas to the Georgian Jewish communities. In 1897, the first Zionist organization was established in Tbilisi. On 20 August 1901, the
First Congress of Caucasus Zionists was held in Tbilisi. Rabbi
David Baazov led Georgian Zionism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1903, Baazov attended the Sixth Zionist Congress in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. In 1918, the
All-Jewish Congress in Tbilisi took place and included representatives from every Georgian and Russian Jewish community in the country.
Beginning in 1863, groups of Jews began making
aliyah, mostly for religious reasons. By 1916, 439 Georgian Jews lived in Ottoman
Palestine, mostly in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
near the
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from t ...
. Most Jews who made aliyah were poor and worked as freight-handlers in Jerusalem. Other more prominent Georgian Jews served as financiers and carpet merchants. Prominent Georgian Jewish families in the holy land before 1948 were the Dabra (
Davarashvili) and Kokia (
Kakiashvili) families.
Anti-Semitism under the Tsarist government
The tradition of the relationship between Jews and other Georgians has no signs of
anti-Semitism, excluding the Tsarist government. For many centuries, the Church in Georgia did not incite against the Jews, and the Georgian Jews were visibly assimilated in the country's rural life and culture.
In the second half of the 19th century, there were some outbreaks of anti-Semitic acts, perhaps stemming from the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. Anti-Semitism was supplemented by the end of serfdom and the urbanization of the Jewish population. As Jews became traders instead of field hands, Georgian workers began to see them as competitors and economic threats. Anti-Semitism had been active in Russia for centuries and, under the annexation, began to influence non-Jews in Georgia.
Six
blood libels have been recorded as having taken place in Georgia. The first blood libel was in
Surami in 1850. A little boy from Gori disappeared while on a visit with his parents. The child was found dead after four days, and the Jews were blamed for his death. The
guberniya doctor examined the dead child and concluded that he was drowned. The people blamed the Jews and started riots against the Jews. Only the intervention of the head of the
Viceroyalty avoided more problems.
The worst and most infamous case was in the village of
Sachkhere in 1878, when nine Jews were accused of partaking in the ritual killing of a Christian child to use the blood to make
matzah for
Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
. The highly publicized trial occurred in
Kutaisi, and was called the Kutaisi Trial. The accused were found not guilty, but the blood libels continued.
Revolution and independence
After the October 1917
Russian Revolution threw out the Tsar's government and replaced it with the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
, Georgians clamored for independence from their occupiers. On 26 May 1918, the
Georgian Republic
Georgia (, ; ) is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwe ...
declared its independence. With independence came freedom of speech, press, and organization, which improved the economic situation of the Jews of Georgia. This newfound freedom did not last long. The
Red Army invaded Georgia in February 1921, prompting a mass exodus from the region. Approximately 1,500–2,000 Jews left Georgia: 1,000–1,200 settled in the Land of Israel, the remainder fled mainly to
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, where a Georgian Jewish community had been in existence since the 1880s.
Initially, the Soviets allowed the Jews to maintain their religious customs, but after a
Georgian rebellion in 1924, the Bolshevik government terminated all Zionist activity, imposed economic restrictions, and generally discriminated against the Jewish community. As a result, many Jewish businesses were bankrupted and 200 families applied for exit visas. Only 18 were allowed to emigrate.
In the mid-1920s, the Soviets focused on industrializing and secularizing the Jews of Georgia. Mass numbers of Jews were forced to work in factories or to join craft cooperatives and collective farm projects. In 1927–1928, OZET, the organization for settling Jewish workers on farms, established a number of Jewish
collective farms. These small homogeneous communities became isolated Jewish communities where Jewish learning was continued. Recognizing this, the Communists disbanded the communities in the 1930s, scattering the Jews among various farms and destroying Jewish communal life.
Meanwhile, blood libels continued in full force, with occurrences in Sachkhere in 1921, Tbilisi in 1923, and
Akhaltsikhe in 1926.
Due to Soviet persecution and the declining economic situation, Zionist leaders focused on increasing aliyah efforts. The Soviets firmly opposed Jewish emigration and, during the 1930s, cracked down on Zionist organizations, arresting or murdering many members. In 1937–38, the authorities stifled participation in Jewish religious services or cultural activities. In September 1937, nine
hakham
''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "H ...
s, two of whom were Ashkenazi, were arrested in
Tskhinvali (Staliniri at the time), and sent to prison without trial and murdered.
The only surviving Jewish institution was the
History and Ethnography Museum
The History and Ethnography Museum ( ms, Muzium Sejarah dan Ethnografi) is a museum in Malacca City, Malacca, Malaysia. It is located inside the Stadthuys building, built during the Dutch Malacca administration period in 1886. The histori ...
, but it too was soon closed down. Its director,
Aharon Krikheli
Aharon אַהֲרֹן is masculine given name alternate spelling, commonly in Israel, of ''Aaron'', prominent biblical figure in the Old Testament, "Of the Mountains", or "Mountaineer". There are other variants including "Ahron" and "Aron". Ahar ...
was arrested in 1948, and the museum closed in the early 1950s, thus signifying the annihilation of Jewish culture in Georgia, which the Soviets had built up during the prewar years.
Contemporary Georgia
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, thousands of Georgian Jews served in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
. After the war, the authorities arrested Jews and closed or destroyed synagogues, and anti-Semitic acts of violence erupted. But despite their attempts, the Soviets could not completely annihilate the practice of Judaism and, even in the late 1960s and 1970s, most Georgian Jews managed to observe their traditions. Georgian Jews were able to preserve their identity better than Jews in European parts of the Soviet Union, and assimilated and intermarried less. Throughout Soviet rule, Jews remained society's scapegoat. They made up the majority of Georgians convicted for economic crimes, and were punished more severely than the rest of the population. Blood libels continued with incidents in
Tskhaltubo in 1963,
Zestafoni in 1964, and Kutaisi in 1965.
After the
Six-Day War, huge numbers of Soviet Jews began protesting for the right to immigrate to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and many applied for exit visas. Georgian Jews made up a large percentage of this number. They were among the first to begin protesting, and were among the most militant of campaigners. In August 1969, eighteen families wrote to the
Human Rights Commission of the United Nations
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...
demanding permission to make aliyah. This was the first public insistence by Soviet Jews for immigration to Israel. The Israeli government and the Jewish world campaigned heavily on behalf of the plight of the Soviet Jewry. In July 1971, a group of Georgian Jews went on a hunger strike outside a
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
post office. The determination of Soviet Jewish activists and international pressure led the Soviets to lessen their harsh anti-Jewish policies. During the 1970s, the Soviets permitted limited Jewish emigration to Israel, and about 30,000 Georgian Jews made aliyah, with thousands of others leaving for other countries. Approximately 17% of the Soviet Jewish population emigrated at this time. In 1979, the Jewish population in Georgia was 28,300 and, by 1989, it had decreased to 24,800.
While most Soviet Jewish emigration was individual, Georgian-Jewish emigration was communal. Due to Georgian-Jewish traditions of strong, extended families and the strict, patriarchal nature of Georgian families, Georgians immigrated as whole communities, with emigration of individuals causing a chain reaction leading to more emigration, and brought their community structures with them. For example, nearly the entire population of at least two Georgian towns made aliyah. At the time the emigration started, Israel had a policy of scattering the population around the country, and was experiencing a housing shortage, with the result that Georgians were assigned housing in different parts of the country. The Georgians began demanding that they be concentrated together, and the crisis reached a fever pitch when several families threatened to return to Georgia, and new immigrants, forewarned by predecessors, began demanding to be placed in specific areas upon arrival. Although Prime Minister
Golda Meir criticized the Georgians' desire to "isolate themselves into ghettos", the Israeli Immigrant Absorption Ministry eventually bowed to their demands, and began to create concentrations of around 200 families in twelve areas of the country.
In Israel, Georgian immigrants successfully integrated into society, but faced certain problems. Georgian immigrants were usually able to find jobs with ease, and often worked in light industry jobs, such as dock workers, porters, and construction workers, but faced certain issues. One major issue was religion; the Georgian Jews were often devout and had fiercely clung to their traditions in the Soviet Union, and were stunned to discover that Israeli Jews were mostly secular. As a result, Georgian immigrants demanded their own separate synagogues to continue their unique religious traditions, which the government agreed to, and enrolled their children in religious schools rather than regular schools.
[Michael Curtis, Mordecai S. Chertoff: ''Israel: Social Structure and Change''.]
Independence and Georgia today
After the
fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia declared her independence in 1991. Since independence, the country faced continuous military conflict, leaving the region in political and economic turmoil.
The situation of the Jewish community of Georgia improved dramatically due to the end of the Soviet occupation. In 1994, President
Shevardnadze issued a decree to protect Jewish religious, cultural and historic monuments. In addition, the Jews of Georgia have successfully maintained their Jewish identity and traditions despite the oppression they faced under the Soviets. Intermarriage has always been low and levels of Jewish knowledge are significantly higher than those of other CIS republics.
In 1990, the
Rachamim Society was established, which supplies financial and medical support to the Jews of Tbilisi and maintains Jewish cemeteries and synagogues. It functions as an umbrella organization for Ashkenazi Jews. The Association of Georgian Jews (Derekh Yehudi) focuses on regaining Jewish property confiscated during the Soviet era. The Jewish community still faces acts of violence and obstacles in the return of property rights to a 19th-century Ashkenazi synagogue stolen by the Soviets. The Chief Rabbi of Georgia from Chabad Lubavitsch is Rabbi Avraham Michaelshvili, who has been there since the early 1990s hosting the Georgian community and many guests. There was a further Chief Rabbi
Ariel Levin. Levine returned to Israel. His role was taken over by the Vaad l’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel affiliated Rabbi Avimelech Rosenblath. There is no umbrella organization for all Jews in Georgia, but more than 30 Jewish institutions are in existence, in addition to one Jewish day school and four supplementary schools. Three Jewish newspapers are published - ''Menora'', ''Shalom'', and ''26 Century'', and there is also a Jewish radio and television station.
The Jewish population of Georgia has steadily decreased over the years due to aliyah in response to the political and economic issues since independence. Overall, since 1989, 21,134 Jews have moved to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Once numbering as many as 100,000, today the Georgian Jewish population is approximately 13,000. Tbilisi has the largest Jewish population at 11,000 out of 1.5 million. Jewish communities are located in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi,
Oni,
Akhaltsikhe,
Akhalkalaki,
Surami,
Kareli, and Stalin's hometown of
Gori, and synagogues are located in most of these cities. The provinces of
Abkhazia and
South Ossetia are virtually devoid of Jews due to the military conflicts in these areas. Many Abkhazian Jews emigrated to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
from Abkhazia during the war in the 1990s there, while the few who stayed are mostly elderly. A synagogue is still active in Sukhumi. There is one Jew left in South Ossetia (see articles
History of the Jews in Abkhazia and
History of the Jews in South Ossetia).
In January 2001, in a first step toward establishing relations, the
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...
and the Jewish community of Georgia signed a cooperation agreement of mutual respect and support. Relations between Georgia and Israel are warm, however. The Israeli embassy is located in Tbilisi and also serves Armenia; the Georgian embassy is in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
. Israel has supplied humanitarian aid to Georgia a number of times, including drought assistance and aid for earthquake victims.
The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) both have permanent representatives in Georgia. JDC and Hesed Eliyahu distribute food and medical aid to the Jewish elderly, who make up more than 50% of the Georgian Jewish community.
As a result of the
2008 South Ossetia War, some 200 Georgian Jews immigrated to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
with assistance from the
Jewish Agency. During that war, the Jewish Quarter of
Tskhinvali was destroyed during the
Battle of Tskhinvali.
Demographics
According to the 1897
Russian Empire Census, there were 12,194 people whose native language was "Jewish" in the two provinces that largely covered today's Georgia:
Tiflis Governorate (5,188) and
Kutais Governorate (7,006). There were 3,419 Jews in
Kutaisi city (10.5% of the population), 2,935 in
Tiflis, 1,064 in
Batumi
Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's ...
.
Georgia's population almost doubled between 1926 and 1970, then began declining, with dramatic declines in the 1970s and 1990s, when many Georgian Jews left and moved to other countries, especially to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
Language
The traditional language of the Georgian Jews is
Judaeo-Georgian
Judaeo-Georgian ( ka, ყივრული ენა) (also known as Kivruli and Gruzinic) is the traditional Georgian dialect spoken by the Georgian Jews, the ancient Jewish community of the Caucasus nation of Georgia.
Relationship to other ...
, a variant of
Georgian, characterized by a large number of
Hebrew loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...
s, and written using either the
Georgian alphabet or
Hebrew alphabet. Besides speaking Judaeo-Georgian, 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 and Canada
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
; and in Israel,
Hebrew.
''Aliyah'' and Diaspora Outside of Georgia
Many Georgian Jews now live in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, the principal Georgian Jewish synagogue is the
Congregation of Georgian Jews
The Congregation of Georgian Jews is an Orthodox synagogue at 6304 Yellowstone Boulevard, in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. The members are late twentieth century immigrants from the Republic of Georgia.
History
The synag ...
in the
Forest Hills section of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
, most Georgian Jews are member of the
Antwerp Jewish community.
The main Georgian synagogue in Belgium is on Isabellalei in Antwerpen, and is led by rabbi Avishalom Kalazan of Yemenite origin. Most of the community is engaged in jewelry trade, with the new generation going into more diverse directions. A second Georgian Jewish synagogue became active around year 2012 under leadership of rabbi Yitzhak Pichkhadze.
One notable Georgian Jew in USA is
Tamir Sapir
Tamir Sapir (born Temur Sepiashvili, ka, თემურ სეფიაშვილი; 1946/1947 – September 26, 2014) was a Georgian-born, Georgian-American businessman, real estate developer and investor. He was the founder of the Sapir ...
, born Temur Sepiashvili, an immigrant taxi driver turned businessman from New York. Another notable Georgian Jew is Dr. Yuri Busi (born Yuri Busiashvili), who was known for being the physician for the actress
Lucille Ball.
Dr. Busi developed a successful career as a Cardiologist serving mostly the emigrant Soviet community in Los Angeles.
In Israel, most Georgian Jews settled near the coast in cities such as
Lod,
Bat Yam,
Ashdod, and
Holon. There are Georgian Jews in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
as well, with several prominent synagogues. This trend of concentrated communities of Georgian Jews in Israel has changed and the population is much more integrated now, is more homogeneously dispersed in the country, and is now successfully integrated in every sphere of the society.
See also
*
Georgia–Israel relations
References
Resource
Caucasus article in the Jewish Encyclopedia
External links
World Congress of Georgian Jews''Way of life and customs''by Rachel Arbel and Lili Magal from World Congress of Georgian Jews
WATCH: Forget Atlanta - this is the Georgia on my mind ''
Haaretz''
{{Portal bar, Georgia (country), Judaism
Jewish ethnic groups