(Sephardim, Ashkenazim, Mizrahim, etc.)
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v
t
e
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews (Georgian: ქართველი
ებრაელები kartveli ebraelebi) are one of the oldest
communities in Georgia, tracing their migration into the country
during the
Babylonian captivity

Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC.[2] Prior to
Georgia's annexation by Russia, the 2600-year history of the Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews was marked by an almost total absence of antisemitism and a
visible assimilation in the
Georgian language

Georgian language and culture.[3] The
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from
neighboring Mountain Jews.[4] They were also traditionally a highly
separate group to the Ashkenazi
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews 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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews now live in Israel.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Origins
1.2 Middle Ages
1.3 Georgian annexation into the Russian Empire
1.4
Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism under the Tsarist Government
1.5 Revolution and independence
1.6 Contemporary Georgia
1.7 Independence and Georgia today
1.8 Demographics
2 Language
3
Aliyah

Aliyah and Diaspora Outside of Georgia
4 References
5 Resource
6 External links
History[edit]
The Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews have traditionally lived separately, not only from
the surrounding Georgian people, but also from the Ashkenazi
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in
Tbilisi, who had different practices and language.
The community, which numbered about 80,000 as recently as the 1970s,
has largely emigrated to Israel, the United States, the Russian
Federation and
Belgium
.jpg/440px-Belgium-6015_-_Most_Photographed_Dog_in_Burges_(13902076955).jpg)
Belgium (in Antwerp). As of 2004[update], only about
13,000 Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews remained in Georgia. According to the 2002 First
General National Census of Georgia, there are 3,541 Jewish believers
in the country.[5] For example, the Lezgishvili branch of Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews have families in Israel, Moscow, Baku, Düsseldorf, and
Cleveland,
Ohio

Ohio (US). Several hundred Georgian Jewish families live in
the New York tri-state area, particularly in
New York City

New York City and Long
Island.
Origins[edit]
Georgian-speaking Jewry is one of the oldest surviving Jewish
communities in the world. The Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews have an 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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews made their way to southern Georgia after
Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of
Jerusalem

Jerusalem in 586 BCE and exile in
Babylon. This claim is supported by the medieval Georgian historical
account by Leonti Mroveli, who writes:
Then King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem. The
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews who fled thence
come to Kartli and requested from the mamasakhlisi [local ruler] of
Mtskheta
.jpg/560px-Mtskheta_panorama_with_the_Svetitskhoveli_cathedral_(January_2013).jpg)
Mtskheta territory in return for tribute. He gave [a place] and
settled them on the Aragvi, at spring which was called Zanavi, which
was later renamed as Zanavi, the quarter of Jews.".[2]
Another version offered by Mroveli, was the settlement of the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in
Georgia during the Roman period of Emperor Vespasian. He wrote that
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews lived in Georgia long before 1st century AD. According to
Mroveli:
During their [Bartom and Kartam's] reign, Vespasian, the emperor of
the Romans, captured Jerusalem. From there refugee
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews come to
Mtskheta
.jpg/560px-Mtskheta_panorama_with_the_Svetitskhoveli_cathedral_(January_2013).jpg)
Mtskheta and settled with the old Jews."[2]
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:
...the warlike seed, the Honni [Jews], exiled by the Chaldeans, [came
to Kartli] and requested the land for tribute from the Lord of the Bun
T'urks [suburb of Mtskheta]. And they [Jews] settled in Zanavi. And
they possessed it...[2]
The ancient Georgian capital of Mtskheta, where
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews lived for
thousands of years
Georgian sources also refer to the arrival of the first
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in
Western Georgia from the
Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire during the 6th century AD.
Approximately 3,000 of the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in these regions during this
period is supported by the archaeological evidence, which shows that
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews lived in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of the Eastern Georgian
state of Iberia-Kartli.[citation needed]
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

Jerusalem during the
Crucifixion

Crucifixion and brought Jesus' robe back with
him to Georgia. He had acquired it from a Roman soldier at Golgotha.
The
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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 conquered
extensive Georgian territory, which became an
Arab

Arab caliph province.
Arab

Arab emirs ruled in the Georgian capital
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi and surrounding
territory for nearly 500 years, until 1122.
Genetic studies carried out on Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.[6]
Middle Ages[edit]
A Judeo-Aramaic inscription of Abraham, son of Sarah, from Mtskheta
from the 4th to 6th centuries
There is not much documentation about Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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, whom adhered to traditional Rabbinical
Judaism

Judaism while
maintaining strong religious ties with
Baghdad

Baghdad and other
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews of
Iraq.[citation needed]
The Mongols 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. For
500 years, beginning in the end of the 14th century, the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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, Ottoman Empire,
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.[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.[citation
needed]
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were forced to seek the protection of the local
feudal lords. Instead of finding security, many
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.[citation needed]
During this period, large migrations of
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews took place, either
voluntary or forced. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a large number of
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews left for, and many
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in that region are still of Georgian
descent. In the 17th and 18th centuries, tens of thousands of Jewish
and non-Jewish
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
Georgians were forcibly relocated to Persia by the
Islamic Persian invaders.[citation needed]
Georgian annexation into the Russian Empire[edit]
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews of
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi probably around 1900
In 1801, the
Russian Empire

Russian Empire 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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.[citation
needed]
In 1864-71, the Russian authorities abolished serfdom, and Jewish
former serfs moved to towns and villages where free
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were already
settled. Finally the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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, Ashkenazi Russian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were
forced to move to Georgia by the Russian government. The Ashkenazi
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews and the Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews began establishing contact with each other,
but relations were strained. Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews viewed the
Ashkenazim

Ashkenazim as
godless and secular, while the
Ashkenazim

Ashkenazim looked down on the Georgian
Jews.
Zionism

Zionism was a uniting cause for the two groups.
Ashkenazim

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

Rabbi
David Baazov
.jpg/440px-David_Baazov_memory_board_(Tbilisi).jpg)
David Baazov led Georgian
Zionism

Zionism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1903, Baazov
attended the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. In 1918,
the All-Jewish Congress in
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi took place and included
representatives from every Georgian and Russian Jewish community in
the country.
Beginning in 1863, groups of
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews began making aliyah, mostly for
religious reasons. By 1916, 439 Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews lived in Israel, mostly
in
Jerusalem

Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate. Most
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews who made aliyah were
poor and worked as freight-handlers in Jerusalem. Other more prominent
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.[citation needed]
Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism under the Tsarist Government[edit]
The tradition of the relationship between
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews and other
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were visibly assimilated in the country's rural life
and culture.[3]
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.[citation needed]
Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism was supplemented by
the end of serfdom and the urbanization of the Jewish population. As
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews became traders instead of field hands, Georgian workers began to
see them as competitors and economic threats.
Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism had been
active in
Russia

Russia for centuries and, under the annexation, began to
influence non-
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in Georgia.
Six blood libels have been recorded as having taken place in Georgia.
The first blood libel was in
Surami

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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were blamed for his death. The
guberniya doctor examined the dead child and concluded that he was
drowned. The people blamed the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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

Sachkhere in
1878, when nine
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
-cropped.jpg/500px-Downtown_Kutaisi_&_White_Bridge_as_seen_from_Mt_Gora_(August_2011)-cropped.jpg)
Kutaisi Trial. The accused were found not guilty, but the blood libels
continued.
Revolution and independence[edit]
Old Jewish cemetery in Kutaisi
Old
Synagogue

Synagogue (20th century) in Bandza, Martvili Municipality
After the October 1917 Russian Revolution threw out the Tsar's
government and replaced it with the Bolsheviks,
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
Georgians clamored for
independence from their occupiers. On 26 May 1918, the Georgian
Republic declared its independence. With independence came freedom of
speech, press, and organization, which improved the economic situation
of the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews of Georgia. This newfound freedom did not last long. The
Red Army
.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1924–1955).svg.png)
Red Army invaded Georgia in February 1921, prompting a mass exodus
from the region. Approximately 1,500–2,000
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews left Georgia,
1,000–1,200 of whom settled in Israel. The remainder fled mainly to
Istanbul, where a Georgian Jewish community had been in existence
since the 1880s.
Feast of Sukkot, Shalom Koboshvili, 1938
Initially, the Soviets allowed the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews of Georgia. Mass numbers of
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews among
various farms and destroying Jewish communal life.
Meanwhile, blood libels continued in full force, with occurrences in
Sachkhere

Sachkhere in 1921,
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi in 1923, and
Akhaltsikhe

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 hakhams, two
of whom were Ashkenazi, were arrested in
Tskhinvali

Tskhinvali (Staliniri at the
time), and sent to prison without trial and murdered.
The only surviving Jewish institution was the History and Ethnography
Museum, but it too was soon closed down. Its director, Aharon Krikheli
was arrested in 1948, and the museum closed in the early 1950s, thus
signifying the annihilation of
Jewish culture

Jewish culture in Georgia, which the
Soviets had built up during the prewar years.
Contemporary Georgia[edit]
Old
Synagogue

Synagogue in Oni
During World War II, thousands of Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews served in the Red
Army. After the war, the authorities arrested
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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

Judaism and, even in the late 1960s and 1970s, most
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews managed to observe their traditions. Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were
able to preserve their identity better than
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in European parts of
the Soviet Union, and assimilated and intermarried less. Throughout
Soviet rule,
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews remained society's scapegoat. They made up the
majority of
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
Georgians convicted for economic crimes, and were punished
more severely than the rest of the population. Blood libels continued
with incidents in
Tskhaltubo

Tskhaltubo in 1963,
Zestafoni

Zestafoni in 1964, and Kutaisi
in 1965.
After the Six Day War, huge numbers of Soviet
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews began protesting
for the right to immigrate to Israel, and many applied for exit visas.
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews made up a large percentage of this number. They were
among the very 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

Human Rights Commission of the United Nations 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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews went on a hunger strike outside a
Moscow

Moscow 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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
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

Israel had a policy of scattering the
population around the country, and was experiencing a housing
shortage, with the result that
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
Georgians were assigned housing in
different parts of the country. The
Georgians
.jpg/600px-Georgian_flag_(812).jpg)
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.[7]
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews were often
devout and had fiercely clung to their traditions in the Soviet Union,
and were stunned to discover that Israeli
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.[7]
Independence and Georgia today[edit]
Israel's 60th independence day celebration in Tbilisi, Georgia
attended by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews of
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
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

Rabbi of Georgia from Chabad Lubavitsch is
Rabbi

Rabbi Avraham
Michaelshvili, who has been there since the early 1990s hosting the
Georgian community and many guests with fervor and devotion. There is
a further Chief
Rabbi

Rabbi Ariel Levin. There is no umbrella organization
for all
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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.
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi Synagogue, Hanukkah prayer
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
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews have moved to Israel.
Once numbering as many as 100,000, today the Georgian Jewish
population is approximately 13,000.
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
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

Abkhazia and South
Ossetia are virtually devoid of
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews due to the military conflicts in
these areas. Many Abkhazian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews emigrated to
Israel

Israel 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

South Ossetia (see articles History of the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in
Abkhazia

Abkhazia and
History of the
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in South Ossetia).
In January 2001, in a first step toward establishing relations, the
Georgian Orthodox Church

Georgian Orthodox Church and the Jewish community of Georgia signed a
cooperation agreement of mutual respect and support. In 2002, Georgian
Orthodox Christianity was established as the state religion, and since
then there has been concern for all religious minorities in the
country. Relations between Georgia and
Israel

Israel are warm, however. The
Israeli embassy is located in
Tbilisi
.svg/400px-Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg.png)
Tbilisi and also serves Armenia; the
Georgian embassy is in Tel Aviv.
Israel

Israel has supplied humanitarian aid
to Georgia a number of times, including drought assistance and aid for
earthquake victims.
The Jewish Agency for
Israel

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

South Ossetia War, some 200 Georgian Jews
immigrated to
Israel

Israel with assistance from the Jewish Agency.[8] During
that war, the Jewish Quarter of
Tskhinvali

Tskhinvali was destroyed during the
Battle of Tskhinvali.[9]
Demographics[edit]
Georgia's population almost doubled between 1926 and 1970, then began
declining, with dramatic declines in the 1970s and 1990s, when many
Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews left and moved to other countries, especially to
Israel.[10]
Historical Georgian Jewish population
Year
Pop.
±%
1926
30,534
—
1939
42,300
+38.5%
1959
51,589
+22.0%
1970
55,398
+7.4%
1979
28,315
−48.9%
1989
24,834
−12.3%
2002
5,000
−79.9%
2010
3,200
−36.0%
Source:
[11]
[12]
[13]
The Jewish population data includes Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews,
Bukharan
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews (or Central Asian Jews),
Krymchaks

Krymchaks (all per the 1959
Soviet census), and Tats.[14]
Language[edit]
The traditional language of the Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews is Judaeo-Georgian, a
variant of Georgian, characterized by a large number of Hebrew
loanwords, and written using either the
Georgian alphabet

Georgian alphabet or Hebrew
alphabet. Besides speaking Judaeo-Georgian, the Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
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; and in Israel, Hebrew.
Aliyah

Aliyah and Diaspora Outside of Georgia[edit]
Main article: Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in Israel
Many Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews now live in Israel. In the United States, the
principal Georgian Jewish synagogue is the Congregation of Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in the Forest Hills section of
Queens, New York

Queens, New York City. In Belgium,
most Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews are member of the
Antwerp

Antwerp Jewish community. The
main Georgian synagogue in
Belgium
.jpg/440px-Belgium-6015_-_Most_Photographed_Dog_in_Burges_(13902076955).jpg)
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, 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.[15] Dr. Busi developed a successful career as a
Cardiologist serving mostly the emigrant Soviet community in Los
Angeles.
In Israel, most Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews settled near the coast in cities such as
Lod, Bat Yam, Ashdod, and Holon. There are Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in Jerusalem
as well, with several prominent synagogues. This trend of concentrated
communities of Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews in
Israel

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.
References[edit]
^ Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity Archived 24 April 2012
at the Wayback Machine. (in Russian)
^ a b c d The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early
Medieval

Medieval Historical Chronicle The Conversion of Katli and The Life of
St. Nino, Constantine B. Lerner, England: Bennett and Bloom, London,
2004, p. 60
^ a b Forget Atlanta - this is the Georgia on my mind By Jewish
Discoveries and Harry D. Wall Feb. 7, 2015, Haaretz
^ Mountain Jews: customs and daily life in the Caucasus, Leʼah
Miḳdash-Shemaʻʼilov, Liya Mikdash-Shamailov, Muzeʼon Yiśraʼel
(Jerusalem), UPNE, 2002, page 9
^ Statistics of Georgia Archived 31 August 2006 at the Wayback
Machine.
^ Begley, Sharon. (7 August 2012) Genetic study offers clues to
history of North Africa's
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews Reuters. In.reuters.com. Retrieved on
2013-04-16.
^ a b Michael Curtis, Mordecai S. Chertoff: Israel: Social Structure
and Change.
^ 100 Georgian
Jews
.jpg/440px-A_map_of_Canaan_(8343807206).jpg)
Jews Make
Aliyah

Aliyah to
Israel

Israel since outbreak of
crisis[permanent dead link]. Jewishinstlouis.org. Retrieved on 16
April 2013.
^ Jewish Quarter targeted in Georgian offensive.
Russia

Russia Today
^ "tab30.XLS" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014.
Retrieved 14 April 2013.
^ "Приложение Демоскопа Weekly". Demoscope.ru. 15
January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved
14 April 2013.
^ http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/2002_13_WJP.pdf
^ "Powered by Google Docs". Docs.google.com. Retrieved 14 April
2013.
^ YIVO Population and Migration: Population since World War I.
Yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved on 14 April 2013.
^ "All the World Loved Lucille Ball". people.com. Retrieved 3 April
2018.
Resource[edit]
Caucasus article in the Jewish Encyclopedia
Georgia (country)

Georgia (country) portal
Judaism

Judaism portal
External links[edit]
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
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