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.jpg) An Armenian Jew | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 528 (2011 census data) | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherJews (Ashkenazi,Sephardic,Mizrahi),Georgian Jews,Mountain Jews,German Jews,Czech Jews,Polish Jews,Hungarian Jews,Russian Jews,Ukrainian Jews |
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Thehistory of the Jews in Armenia is one of the oldestJewish communities in theCaucasus region. There is evidence of Jewish settlement in theArmenian Highlands dating as early 1st century BC.
There are historical records that attest to the presence of Jews in pagan Armenia, before the spread ofChristianity in the region by St.Gregory the Illuminator in 301 AD. Early medieval Armenian historians, such as 5th century historianMoses Khorenatsi, held that during the conquest ofArmenian KingTigranes the Great (95–55 BC) he brought with him 10,000 Jewish captives to the ancientKingdom of Armenia (which encompassed what is commonly known asGreater Armenia) when he retreated fromJudea, because of the Roman attack onArmenia in 69 BC.Tigranes II invadedSyria, and probably the northern (Roman province of) Judea as well.[1] A large Jewish population was settled in Armenia from the 1st century BC. One city in particular, Vartkesavan, became an important commercial center.[2] Like the rest of Armenia's population, they suffered the consequences of regional powers trying to divide and conquer the country.[3] By 360–370 AD, there was a massive increase in Jewish Hellenistic immigration into Armenia; many Armenian towns became predominately Jewish. After the conquest of Armenia in the 4th century AD by theSassanid KingShapur II, he deported thousands of Jewish families fromPersian Armenia and resettled them atIsfahan in modernIran.[4][unreliable source?]
In 1912 the archaeologistNikolai Marr announced the discovery in 1910 of a tombstone in the village ofYeghegis that carried aHebrew inscription.[5] In 1996 investigations at Yeghegis, in Armenia's province ofVayotz Dzor, discovered the remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery from a previously unknown Jewish community. In 2000, a team from theHebrew University of Jerusalem excavated on the southern side of the Yeghegis river, opposite the village, a Jewish cemetery with 40 gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions dating between 1266 and 1347. One non-Hebrew word in the inscriptions may indicate the origin of the community. Michael Nosonovsky has stated that "The word khawajah is ofPersian origin and it probably indicates that the Jews who settled in Yeghegis came fromPersia and kept Persian as their spoken language. Biblical quotations and Talmudic formulas are evidence of a high learning standard in the community."[6] A group of Armenian andIsraeli archaeologists and historians excavated the site in 2001 and 2002 and found 64 more tombstones. Some are decorated with motifs of the Orbelian kingdom. The archaeological team also found three mills, which the bishop says show that the community had a business because one mill could feed several families. 9 of these tombstones had inscriptions, all in Hebrew except for two, which were inAramaic. The oldest dated stone was from 1266 and the latest date was 1336/7.[7]
 | This sectionis missing information about Armenian Jewish history during theArmenian genocide. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(September 2022) |
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 335 | — |
| 1939 | 512 | +52.8% |
| 1959 | 1,042 | +103.5% |
| 1970 | 1,049 | +0.7% |
| 1979 | 962 | −8.3% |
| 1989 | 747 | −22.3% |
| 2001 | 109 | −85.4% |
| 2011 | 127 | +16.5% |
Source:
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In 1828, theRusso-Persian War came to an end andEastern Armenia (currently the Republic ofArmenia) was annexed to theRussian Empire with theTreaty of Turkmenchai.Polish andIranian Jews began arriving, as well as Sabbatarians (Subbotniks, Russian peasants who were banished to the outskirts ofImperial Russia during the reign of Catherine II. They wereJudaizing Christians and mostly converted to mainstreamJudaism or assimilated). Since 1840 they started creatingAshkenazi andMizrahi communities respectively inYerevan.[4] Up to 1924 the SephardicSheikh Mordechai Synagogue was a leading institution in the Jewish community.
According to the 1897Russian Empire Census there were some 415 people in Alexandropol (Gyumri)[12] and 204 in Erivan (Yerevan)[13] whose native language was "Jewish" and significantly smaller numbers elsewhere 6 inVagharshapat,[14] 15 inNovo-Bayazet.[15] The number of self-reported Jewish-speakers was the following in other Armenian-populated areas of the Russian Empire that now lie outside Armenia: 4 inShusha (Azerbaijan),[16] 93 in Elizavetpol (Ganja,Azerbaijan),[17] 4 inIğdır (nowTurkey),[18] 424 inKars (Turkey),[19] 111 inArdahan (Turkey),[20] 189 inAkhalkalaki (Georgia),[21] 438 inAkhaltsikhe (Georgia),[22] 72 inShulaveri (Georgia).[23]
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As forWestern Armenia (Turkish Armenia), according toofficial Ottoman figures from 1914, 3,822 Jews lived in the "Six vilayets" that had significant Armenian population: 2,085 inDiyarbekir Vilayet, 1,383 inVan Vilayet, 344 inSivas Vilayet, 10 inErzurum Vilayet, and none inBitlis andMamuret-ul-Aziz (Harput). There were further 317 Jews in historicalCilicia: 66 inAdana Vilayet and 251 inMaraş Sanjak.[24]
The Russian Jewish communities moved to Armenia on a larger scale during theSoviet period, looking for an atmosphere of tolerance in the area that was absent in theRussian SSR orUkrainian SSR.
FollowingWorld War II, the Jewish population rose to approximately 5,000. In 1959, the Jewish population peaked inSoviet Armenia at approximately 10,000 people. Another wave of Jewish immigrants arrived in the country between 1965 and 1972, mainly intelligentsia, military, and engineers. These Jews arrived fromRussia andUkraine, attracted to the more liberal society. However, with the dissolution of theSoviet Union many of them left due to theFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War. Between 1992 and 1994, more than 6,000 Jews immigrated toIsrael because of Armenia's political isolation and economic depression. Today the country's Jewish population has shrunk to around 750.[3] In 1995, aChabad House was established in Yerevan.[citation needed]
There are about 500–1000[25] Jews presently living in Armenia, mainly in the capital Yerevan.[25]
There is a tiny community ofSubbotniks (believed to be aJudaizing community that evolved from theMolokanSpiritual Christians) whose ancestorsconverted to Judaism, and who are quickly dwindling.[26]
The Jewish Community in Yerevan is currently headed byChief Rabbi Gershon Burshtein from theChabad Lubavitch, and the sociopolitical matters are run by the Jewish Council of Armenia.
TheRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggeredmass emigration from Russia caused by fear of mobilization and political repression. Over 40,000 Russians moved to Armenia thanks to its geographic proximity, relatively low cost of living and lax immigration rules. At least several hundred of these immigrants identify as Jewish. As a result, Armenia's Jewish population has at least doubled. A Russian Jewish community club called "Yerevan Jewish Home" was established by Nathaniel Trubkin, a Moscow journalist who immigrated to Armenia in March 2022.[27][28]
The President of the Jewish Community in Armenia,Rima Varzhapetyan-Feller, has stated on January 23, 2015, that "The Jewish community feels itself protected in Armenia, and the authorities respect their rights, culture, and traditions. There is noanti-Semitism in Armenia, and we enjoy good relations with theArmenians. Of course, the community has certain problems that originate from the general situation of the country."[29]
In 2005, Armen Avetisian, the openly anti-Semitic leader of the Armenian Aryan Union, a small ultranationalist party, alleged that there are as many as 50,000 "disguised" Jews in Armenia. He promised that he would work to have them expelled from the country. He was arrested in January 2005 on charges of inciting ethnic hatred.[30]
There have been two recorded incidents, in 2007 and in 2010, of vandalism by unknown individuals on the Jewish side of the Joint Tragedies Memorial in Aragast Park,Yerevan that commemorates both theArmenian genocide and theHolocaust. This monument had replaced a smaller monument that had been defaced and toppled several times.[31][32][33]
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