Bukharan Jews

Bukharan Jews
יהודים בוכרים
Jewish family in Bukhara, 1880
Total population
300,000–350,000 (est.)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Israel160,000
 United States
120,000
80,000
 United Kingdom15,000
 Austria3,000–3,500
 Germany2,000
 Uzbekistan
1,500
150[2][3]
 Canada1,500
 Russia1,000
 Australia 130+
130+[4][5]
 Tajikistan34
 Afghanistan0[6]
Languages
Traditionally Bukharian (Judeo-Tajik),[7] Russian, Hebrew (Israel), and Uzbek (Uzbekistan)
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Afghan Jews, Mountain Jews, Kurdish Jews, Georgian Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Soviet Jews

Bukharan Jews,[a] in modern times spelled Bukharian Jews,[b] are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that lived predominantly in what is today Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan.[8][7][9] Their name comes from the former polity Emirate of Bukhara which once had a sizable Jewish population.

Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups, dating back to the Babylonian exile, and comprise a branch of Persian speaking-Jewry.[10] They are also one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia.[7][11][8]

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States, with others immigrating to Canada, Europe or Australia.

  1. ^ "EAJC Deputy Secretary General Participates In World Congress of Bukharan Jews Meeting". jewseurasia. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  2. ^ "In Bukhara, 10,000 Jewish Graves but Just 150 Jews". The New York Times. 7 April 2018.
  3. ^ Ido, Shinji (June 15, 2017). "The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift". Journal of Jewish Languages. 5 (1): 81–103. doi:10.1163/22134638-12340078.
  4. ^ "Shalom from the Silk Road: The Story of the Bukharians". Radio National. February 13, 2011. And what of Melbourne's Bukharians, with around 65 families?
  5. ^ "Jewish community profile". State Government of Victoria. March 27, 2024. The Jewish community in Victoria is the largest in Australia, with the majority of Jewish people living in Melbourne.
  6. ^ "Woman now thought to be Afghanistan's last Jew flees country". Independent. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  7. ^ a b c Zand, Michael (1989). "BUKHARA vii. Bukharan Jews". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. IV/5: Brick–Burial II. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 530–545. ISBN 978-0-71009-128-4.
  8. ^ a b Ehrlich, M. Avrum, ed. (2009). "Caucasus and Central Asia". Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 1124. Bukharan Jews spoke a dialect of Tajik referred to as Bukhori or Judeo-Tajik, which is still used by Bukharan Jews today.
  9. ^ Ido, Shinji (2017). "The Vowel System of Jewish Bukharan Tajik: With Special Reference to the Tajik Vowel Chain Shift". Journal of Jewish Languages. 5 (1): 85. doi:10.1163/22134638-12340078. The term 'the Jewish dialect of Tajik' is often used interchangeably with such terms as Judeo-Tadzhik, Judeo-Tajik, Bukhori, Bukhari, Bukharic, Bukharan, Bukharian, and Bukharit (Cooper 2012:284) in the literature.
  10. ^ Moreen, Vera (2010). Contracts and Controversies between Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Pre-Modern Iran. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. pp. 397–411.
  11. ^ Goodman, Peter. "Bukharian Jews find homes on Long Island", Newsday, September 2004.


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