The Georgian Jews (Georgian Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus: ქართველი ებრაელები qartveli ebraelebi, Hebrew Extinct as a regularly spoken language by the 4th century CE, but survived as a liturgical and literary language; revived in the 1880s: יהודים גרוזינים Yehudim Gruzinim) are from the nation of Georgia Georgia (Georgian: საქართველო, IPA: [sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ] ; English pronunciation: /ˈdʒɔrdʒə/ ( listen)) is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia,, in the Caucasus The Caucasus or Caucas (also referred to as Caucasia, Adyghe: Къэфкъас, Armenian: Կովկաս, Azerbaijani: Qafqaz, Georgian: კავკასია , Russian: Кавка́з, Ossetic: Кавказ, Chechen: Кавказ, Turkish: Kafkasya) is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains,. Georgian Jews are one of the oldest communities in Georgia, tracing their migration into the country during the Babylonian captivity Although the term Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, typically refers to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC, in fact the exile started with the first deportation in 597 BC. The captivity and subsequent return to Israel and rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple are in 6th century BC. ^[2]

History

The Georgian Jews have traditionally lived separately, not only from the surrounding Georgian people Mainly Christianity of the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church also some Georgiano-Latin, Greek, and Armenian rites of the Roman Catholic Church (0.8%). Muslim minority (9.9%), chiefly Sunnis of the Hanafi school, but even from the Ashkenazi Jews Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions in Tbilisi Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისი, [tbiˈliːsi] , literally "Warm Spring") is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari (Kura) River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis (ტფილისი) until 1936. The city covers an area of 7.

The community, which numbered about 100,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated to Israel Israel , officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ‎, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the, the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language, the Russian Federation Russia (pronounced /ˈrʌʃə/ ; Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, pronounced [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈraʦəjə] ( listen)), is a state in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, and Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a state in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, as well as those of several other major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it (in Antwerp Antwerp (English: /ˈæntwɜrp/ ; Dutch: Antwerpen, [ˈɑntˌʋɛrpə(n)] ( listen); French: Anvers, [ɑ̃vɛʁ, ɑ̃vɛʁs]) is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 (as of 1 January 2008) and its total area is 204.51 km2 (78.96). As of 2004^[update], 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. ^[3] For example, the Lezgishvili Lezgishvili is the name of one of the biggest branches of Georgian Jews. The family name Lezgishvili can be encountered in the US, Israel, Russia, Azerbaijan and Germany branch of Georgian Jews have families in Israel Israel , officially the State of Israel (Hebrew: מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medīnat Yisrā'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ‎, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a parliamentary republic in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the, Moscow Moscow (English pronunciation: /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́ , tr. Moskva, IPA [mɐˈskva]; see also other names) is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia, Baku Baku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakou, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan and all the Caucasus. Located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, the city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City (21.5 ha). Dating to antiquity, its urban population at the beginning, Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and center of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, and Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became. There are approximately seven hundred Georgian Jewish families living all throughout the New York tri-state area The Tri-State Region is commonly used in the area surrounding New York City to refer to the greater metropolitan area, including satellite cities. Roughly speaking, the New York Tri-State area encompasses the populated areas in the states of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut that are within a typical commuting distance of Manhattan , or. They largely reside in Forest Hills, New York.

Origins

Georgian-speaking Jewry is one of the oldest surviving Jewish communities in the world. The Georgian Jews have approximately 2,600-year history in the region. 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 Nebuchadnezzar II, also called King Nebuchadnezzar the Second Listen (c 630-562 BC), was a ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c. 605 BC-562 BC. He is mentioned in the Book of Daniel, and he constructed the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He was traditionally called & conquest of Jerusalem Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎ (help·info), Yerushaláyim (for the meaning, see below); Arabic: القُدس (audio) (help·info), al-Quds Sharif, lit. "The Holy Sanctuary"; Yiddish: ירושלים Yərusholáyəm)[ii] is the capital[iii] of Israel and, if including the area and population of East Jerusalem, its in 586 B.C.E. and exile in Babylon Babylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers (55 mi) south of Baghdad. All that remains of the original ancient famed city of Babylon today is a mound, or tell, of broken mud-brick buildings and debris in the fertile Mesopotamian plain between. This claim is supported by the medieval Georgian historical account by Leonti Mroveli, who claims:

Another version offered by Mroveli, was the settlement of the Jews in Georgia during the Roman Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world period of Emperor Vespasian Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 to 79. Vespasian was the founder of Flavian dynasty which ruled the empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians which rose into the senatorial rank under the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Although he attained the. However, he cast no doubt that Jews lived in Georgia long before 1 century AD. According to Mroveli:

The ancient Georgian historic chronicle, The Conversion of Kartli is the oldest and only Georgian historiographical source concerning the history of Jewish community in Georgia. The Chronicle also describes similar version which was offered centuries later by Leonti Mroveli, but this time instead of Nebuchadnezzar, the period of Jewish migration into Georgia is ascribed to Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon , popularly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki[›] king (basileus) of Macedon. He is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander received a classical:

Georgian sources also refer to the arrival of the first Jews in Western Georgia from Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople, and ruled by the Byzantine emperors in direct succession to their ancient Roman predecessors. It was called the Roman Empire and also Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía) by its inhabitants and neighbours. As during the 6th century C.E. Approximately 3,000 of these Jews then fled to Eastern Georgia, which by that time was controlled by the Persians The Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BCE), also known as the Persian Empire, was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, which encompassed the combined territories of several earlier, 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 Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia (in Kartli province of Eastern Georgia), is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city (population 19,423 as of January 1, 2008) is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region. Due to its historical, the ancient capital of the Eastern Georgian state of Iberia-Kartli Iberia , also known as Iveria (Georgian: ივერია), was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli (4th century BC - 5th century AD), corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia. The term Caucasian Iberia (or Eastern Iberia) is used to distinguish it from.

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.

The Jews spoke Georgian and later Jewish traders developed a dialect called Qivruli, or Judeo-Georgian, which included a number of Hebrew words.

In the second half of the 7th century, the Muslim Empire conquered extensive Georgian territory, which became an Arab Arab people or Arabs (العرب al-ʿarab) are an ethnic group whose members identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so with it as their sole identity. Most hold multiple identities, with a more localized prioritized national identity — such caliph The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word خليفة Khalīfah (help·info) which means "successor" or "representative". The early leaders of the Muslim nation following Muhammad's ( province. Arab emirs ruled in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and surrounding territory until 1122.

Middle Ages

There in not much evidence 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 Karaite Judaism or Karaism (Hebrew: יהדות קראית , Modern Yahadut Qara'it Tiberian Qārāʾîm ; meaning "Readers of the Hebrew Scriptures" or "followers/seekers of Torah/Tanakh-based Judaism") is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme religious authority. It is distinct sect called the Tiflis Sect which lasted for more than 300 years. The sect deviated from halakhah Halakha — also transliterated Halocho (Ashkenazic Hebrew pronunciation) and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions in its marriage and kashrut Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér (כָּשֵׁר), meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law). Food that is not in accordance with Jewish law is customs. This sect did not represent the great majority of Georgian Jews who adhered to the traditional rabbinical Judaism Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed while maintaining strong religious ties with Baghdad Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated between 7 and 7.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt) and other Jews of Iraq Iraqi Jews are Jews born in Iraq or of Iraqi heritage. The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BCE. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. However, 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.

The Mongols Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism swept through Georgia in 1236 (see Mongol invasions of Georgia and Armenia), prompting many of the Jews of Eastern and Southern Georgia to move to the western region, which remained independent. There they formed small, poverty-stricken communities along the Black Sea, and eventually their destitution forced them into serfdom Serfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe. Serfdom was the enforced labour of serfs on the fields of landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on. 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.^{[citation needed]}

Their situation worsened in the 15th and 16th centuries due to constant military conflicts and invasions by Timur Timur (from the Perso-Arabic form تیمور Tīmūr, ultimately from Chagatai Temür "iron"; 8 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), normally known as Tamerlane (from Tīmūr-e Lang) in English, was a 14th-century conqueror of Western, South and Central Asia, founder of the Timurid Empire and Timurid dynasty (1370–1405) in Central Asia,, Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was a regime that lasted from 1299 to 1923, and Muslim Persia The Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BCE), also known as the Persian Empire, was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, which encompassed the combined territories of several earlier. 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.^{[citation needed]} 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, 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 Crimea, and Jews in the region can still be traced to their Georgian origins to this day. In the 17th and 18th centuries, tens of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish Georgians were forcibly relocated to Persia by their islamic Persian invaders.

Georgian annexation into the Russian Empire

In 1801, the Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union. It was the second largest contiguous empire in world history, surpassed only by the Mongol Empire, and the third largest empire behind the British Empire and the Mongol annexed Eastern Georgia. The King's serfs became the treasury's serfs, and were now obligated to pay taxes to the Tsar Tsar is a title used to designate certain monarchs or supreme rulers. The first ruler to adopt the title tsar was Simeon I of Bulgaria. As a system of government, it is known as Tsarism. In 1864-71, the Russian authorities abolished serfdom Serfdom is the socio-economic status of unfree peasants under feudalism, and specifically relates to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe. Serfdom was the enforced labour of serfs on the fields of landowners, in return for protection and the right to work on, and Jewish former serfs moved to towns and villages where free Jews were already settled. Finally, the Jews of Georgia began to develop a Jewish community. Each group moved together to the same towns and established their own respective synagogues A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. (it might also be of interest that the word when broken down could mean, "learning together" (syn - gr. together and aghoghei gr. learning or training). They were usually made up of a number of extended family groups spanning three or four generations. Each community had a gabbai A Gabbai (or sometimes: Shamash שמש) is a person who assists in the running of a synagogue and ensures that the needs are met, for example the Jewish prayer services run smoothly, or an assistant to a rabbi (particularly the secretary or personal assistant to a Hassidic Rebbe). A gabbai's obligations might also include maintaining a Jewish who served as a rabbi The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. In more recent centuries, the duties of the rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian Minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th century, shohet, mohel, and Chieder, 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, Ashkenazi Russian Jews were forced to move to Georgia by the Russian government. 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 the only uniting cause for the two groups, and 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 August 20, 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. 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 Palestine, mostly in Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate. Most Jews who made aliyah were poverty-stricken 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 Georgian have no signs of anti-Semitism, excluding the Tsarist Government. In the second half of the 19th century, there were few blinks of anti-Semitism, ostensibly 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. Now traders instead of field hands, Jews became a threat to Georgian workers. Anti-Semitism had been an issue in Russia for centuries and, under the annexation, had begun to influence non-Jews in Georgia.

Six blood libels have been recorded as having taken place in Georgia in. The first blood libel was in Surami in 1850. A little child of a couple from Gori that been in Surami as a guest disappeared. The child was found 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. This was the first blood libel in the entire Russian Empire.

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. The highly publicized trial occurred in Kutaisi, and was called the Kutaisi Trial. The accused were found not guilty, but the blood libels continued.

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