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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 65,000–80,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Israel | 65,000[1] |
 United States | 10,000 |
 Georgia | 1,405 (not including Abkhazia or South Ossetia) |
 Belgium | 1,200 |
 Austria | 800 |
 Azerbaijan | 500 |
 Russia | 14[2] |
| Languages | |
| Hebrew,Georgian (Judaeo-Georgian),English,Russian | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Georgians,Iraqi Jews,Iranian Jews,Bukharian Jews,Kurdish Jews,Mountain Jews,Soviet Jews | |
TheGeorgian Jews (Georgian:ქართველი ებრაელები,romanized:kartveli ebraelebi,Hebrew:יהודי גאורגיה,romanized: Yehudei Georgia) are a community ofJews who migrated toGeorgia during theBabylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.[3] It is one of the oldest communities in the region. They are also widely distinguished from theAshkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following theRussian annexation of Georgia.[4]
Prior to Georgia's annexation by theRussian Empire in 1801, the 2300-year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence ofantisemitism and a visible assimilation in theGeorgian language and culture.[5] The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboringMountain Jews.[6]
As a result of amajor emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority ofGeorgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city ofAshdod.
The Georgian Jews traditionally lived separately, not only from the surroundingGeorgian people, but also from theAshkenazi Jews inTbilisi, who had different practices and language.
The community, which numbered almost 60,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated toIsrael, theUnited States, theRussian Federation andBelgium (inAntwerp). As of 2014[update], only about 1,500 Georgian Jews remained in Georgia. According to the 2002 First General National Census of Georgia, there are 3,541 Jewish believers in the country.[7] For example, theLezgishvili branch of Georgian Jews have families inIsrael,Moscow,Baku,Düsseldorf, andCleveland,Ohio (US). Several hundred Georgian Jewish families live in theNew York tri-state area, particularly inNew York City andLong Island.
Georgian-speaking Jewry is one of the oldest surviving Jewish communities in the world.[8] The Georgian Jews have an approximately 2,600-year history inColchis.[9] The origin of Georgian Jews, also known asGurjim orkartveli ebraelebi, is debated. The most popular view is that the first Jews made their way to southern Georgia afterNebuchadnezzar'sconquest ofJerusalem in 586 BCE andexile inBabylon. This claim is supported by themedieval Georgian historical account byLeonti Mroveli, who writes:
Then King Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem. The Jews who fled thence come to Kartli and requested from the mamasakhlisi [local ruler] ofMtskheta 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."[3]
Mroveli added that a further settlement of the Jews in Georgia was during theRoman period of EmperorVespasian. He wrote that Jews lived in Georgia long before 1st century CE. According to Mroveli:
During their [Bartom and Kartam's] reign, Vespasian, the emperor of the Romans, captured Jerusalem. From there refugee Jews come to Mtskheta and settled with the old Jews."[3]
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 toAlexander the Great:
...the warlike seed, theHonni [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...[3]
Georgian sources also refer to the arrival of the first Jews in Western Georgia from theByzantine Empire during the 6th century CE. Approximately 3,000 of the Jews fled to Eastern Georgia, which by that time was controlled by thePersians, to escape severe persecution by the Byzantines. The existence of the Jews in these regions during this period is supported by thearchaeological evidence, which shows that Jews lived inMtskheta, the ancient capital of the Eastern Georgian state ofIberia-Kartli.[10]
According to the Georgianhagiography, Jewish communities existed in Georgia in the 1st century. A Georgian Jew called Elias was said to be in Jerusalem during theCrucifixion 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 calledKivruli, or Judaeo-Georgian, which included a number of Hebrew words.
In the second half of the 7th century, theMuslim Empire conquered extensive Georgian territory, which became a province of theArabcaliphate. Arab emirs ruled in the Georgian capitalTbilisi 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.[11]
The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry, Gomelauri, T. with a contribution by Ginsberg, J. Oxford: Taylor Institution Library. 2023.
Reviewed by:
Prof Golda Akhiezer inAncient Jew Review
Dr Elvira Martín Contreras inSEFARAD, Vol. 84, No. 1, 2024
Prof Teófilo Correa inBiblical and Early Christian Studies
There is not much documentation about Georgian Jews under theArab domination. In the late 9th century,Abu-Imran Musa al-Za'farani (later known as Abu-Imran al-Tiflisi) founded a JewishKarai sect called the Tiflis Sect ("Tiflisites"), which lasted for more than 300 years. The sect deviated fromRabbinichalakhah in its marriage andkashrut customs. This sect did not represent the great majority of Georgian Jews, who adhered to traditionalRabbinic Judaism while maintaining strong religious ties withBaghdad and otherJews of Iraq.[12] The nature of Georgian Jew's observance to rabbinic law was also noted byBenjamin of Tudela andAbraham ben David (also known as the RABAD or RAVAD).[12]
The tradition of the relationship between Jews and other Georgians has no signs ofanti-Semitism, excluding the Tsarist government. For many centuries, "the Church in Georgia" (Georgian Orthodox Church) did not incite against the Jews, and the Georgian Jews were visibly assimilated in the country's rural life and culture.[5]
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After theSix-Day War, huge numbers of Soviet Jews began protesting for the right to immigrate toIsrael, and many applied for exit visas.[13][14] Georgian Jews experienced a surge in Jewish pride and wished to makeAliyah toIsrael.[15][16]
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 MinisterGolda 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.[17]
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 thatIsraeli 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.[17]
Many Georgian Jews now live inIsrael, estimated at 75,000 people.[18]In Israel, most Georgian Jews settled near the coast in cities such asLod,Bat Yam,Ashdod, andHolon. There are Georgian Jews inJerusalem as well, with several prominent synagogues.[citation needed]
As a result of the2008 South Ossetia War, some 200 Georgian Jews immigrated toIsrael with assistance from theJewish Agency.[19]
According to the 1897Russian 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) andKutais Governorate (7,006). There were 3,419 Jews inKutaisi city (10.5% of the population), 2,935 inTiflis, 1,064 inBatumi.[20][21]
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 toIsrael.[22]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1897 | 12,747 | — |
| 1897 | 12,194 | −4.3% |
| 1926 | 30,534 | +150.4% |
| 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% |
| 2014 | 1,405 | −94.3% |
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The traditional language of the Georgian Jews isJudaeo-Georgian, a variant ofGeorgian, characterized by a large number ofHebrewloanwords, and written using either theGeorgian alphabet orHebrew alphabet.[8]
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In theUnited States, the principal Georgian Jewish synagogue is theCongregation of Georgian Jews in theForest Hills neighborhood ofQueens,New York City.[28]
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