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 Rabbi Moshe Gabai, head of the Jewish community ofZakho, with Israeli PresidentYitzhak Ben-Zvi in 1951 | |
| Total population | |
| 300,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Israel | c. 300,000[2][3][4][5] |
| Languages | |
| Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (mainlyJudeo-Aramaic languages),Israeli Hebrew,Kurdish (mainlyKurmanji),Azerbaijani (in Iran)[6] Mizrahi Hebrew (liturgical use) | |
| Religion | |
 Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherMizrahi Jews, in particularIraqi Jews,Iranian Jews,Assyrian Jews,Bukharian Jews,Turkish Jews, andSyrian Jews | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Kurdish history andKurdish culture |
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Ancient Medieval
Modern
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Kurdistani Jews[a] are theMizrahi Jewish communities from the geographic region ofKurdistan, roughly covering parts of northwesternIran, northernIraq, northeasternSyria and southeasternTurkey. Kurdistani Jews lived as closed ethnic communities until they were expelled from Kurdistan, as part of the widerexpulsion of Jews from Arab and Muslim states in the 1940s–1950s. The native language of Kurdistani Jews wasJudeo-Aramaic rather than Kurdish. As Kurdistani Jews natively adhere toJudaism and originate from theMiddle East,Mizrahi Hebrew is used forliturgy. Many Kurdistani Jews, especially the ones who hail from Iraq, went through aSephardic Jewish blending during the 18th century.[7]
In the present-day, the overwhelming majority of Kurdistani Jews population reside in theState of Israel, with the community's presence coming as a direct result of either the Jewish exodus fromMuslim states or the making ofAliyah by those remaining in the following decades (seeKurdish Jews in Israel).
The group historically preferred to be called "Kurdistani Jews" or the "Jews of Kurdistan" rather than "Kurdish Jews". While they were integrated among the Kurds, they did not identify as ethnic Kurds but as ethnic Mizrahi Jews. They were not tribal like the Kurds and had to rely on the protection of Kurdish tribes. Although they gradually adopted aspects of Kurdish culture, including language, their native language had been a Neo-Aramaic dialect continuum. Although they generally lived in peace with their Kurdish neighbors, they firmly maintained a separate identity and usually segregated themselves from Kurds. The vast majority of Kurdistani Jews immigrated to Israel in the 20th century. In Israel, they were seen as Mizrahi Jews who developed their own identity in Kurdistan that was cultural rather than ethnic.[8][9][10][11]
According to the memoirs ofBenjamin of Tudela andPethahiah of Regensburg, there were about 100 Jewish settlements and substantial Jewish population inKurdistan in the 12th century. Benjamin of Tudela also gives the account ofDavid Alroi, themessianic leader from central Kurdistan, who rebelled against the Abbasid caliphal-Muqtafi and had plans to lead theJews back toJerusalem. These travellers also report of well-established and wealthy Jewish communities inMosul, which was a commercial and spiritual center in close proximity to Kurdistan. Many Jews fearful of approachingcrusaders had fled from Syria andPalestine toBabylonia and Kurdistan. The Jews of Mosul enjoyed some degree ofautonomy in managing their own community.[12]
When the Ottomans captured Kurdistan, the social situation of Jews improved. The Jews generally felt safer under Turkish rule than under the protection of Kurdish tribes.[13][14] Jews and Christians relied on the protection of Kurdish tribes, who would often refer to their Jewish and Christian subjects as "cihûyê min" (my Jew) or "filehê min" (my Christian). During conflicts between Kurdish tribes, the primary targets were the Jewish and Christian subjects of the Kurdish tribe rather than the Kursiaj tribe itself.[15] Tanna'itAsenath Barzani, who lived inMosul from 1590 to 1670, was the daughter of RabbiSamuel Barzani of Kurdistan. She later married Jacob Mizrahi, Rabbi ofAmadiyah (in Iraqi Kurdistan), who lectured at ayeshiva.[16] She was famous for her knowledge of theTorah,Talmud,Kabbalah, andJewish law. After the early death of her husband, she became the head of the yeshiva at Amadiyah and eventually was recognized as the chief instructor of Torah in Kurdistan. She was calledtanna'it (female Talmudic scholar), practiced mysticism, and was reputed to have known the secret names of God.[17] Asenath is also well known for her poetry and excellent command of theHebrew language. She wrote a long poem of lament and petition in the traditional rhymed metrical form. Her poems are among the few examples of the early modern Hebrew texts written by women.[18]
Kurdish Jews had lived in Kashan, Iran, and many Jews migrated to the Ottoman Empire during the 1700s to 1800s. They were active in trade in rural villages in what is now Turkey; regions like Gaziantep and Malatya had a substantial Jewish populations.[citation needed] They were usually quite concealed but did not have any negative interactions with other communities.[citation needed]
Immigration of Kurdish Jews to theLand of Israel initiated during the late 16th century, with a community of rabbinic scholars arriving toSafed,Galilee, and a Kurdish Jewish quarter had been established there as a result. The thriving period ofSafed, however,ended in 1660, withDruze power struggles in the region and an economic decline.
Since the early 20th century some Kurdish Jews had been active in theZionist movement. One of the most famous members ofLehi wasMoshe Barazani, whose family immigrated from Iraqi Kurdistan and settled inJerusalem in the late 1920s.
The vast majority of Kurdish Jews wereforced out of Iraqi Kurdistan andevacuated toIsrael in the early 1950s, together with theIraqi Jewish community. Almost all the Kurdish Jews ofIranian Kurdistan relocated mostly to Israel as well in the same period. It was reported that the Kurds mourned the loss of their Jewish neighbours and even maintained their synagogues.[19]
The Times of Israel reported on September 30, 2013: "Today, there are almost 200,000 Kurdish Jews in Israel, about half of whom live in Jerusalem. There are also over 30 agricultural villages throughout the country that were founded by Kurdish Jews."[20]
On October 17, 2015, theKurdistan Regional Government named Sherzad Omar Mamsani as the representative of the Jewish community at the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, who was later dismissed following a period of absence for health reasons,[21] with members of the Israeli Jewish community claiming that there were no Jews remaining in theKurdistan Region, which they think was the reason for the resignation.[22] In 2021 the sending of Hanukkah kits to Jews in Arab regions, including Kurdistan, indicates there may be remnants of Jewish communities there.[23] There are no accurate statistics on the Jews of Kurdistan[24]
One of the main problems in the history and historiography of the Jews of Kurdistan was the lack of written history and the lack of documents and historical records. During the 1930s, a German-Jewishethnographer,Erich Brauer, began interviewing members of the community. His assistant,Raphael Patai, published the results of his research in Hebrew. The book,Yehude Kurditan: mehqar ethnographi (Jerusalem, 1940), was translated into English in the 1990s. Israeli scholarMordechai Zaken wrote a Ph.D. dissertation and a book, using written,archival andoral sources that traces and reconstructs the relationships between the Jews and their Kurdish masters or (chieftains also known asAghas). He interviewed 56 Kurdish Jews altogether conducting hundreds of interviews, thus saving their memoires from being lost forever. He interviewed Kurdish Jews mainly from six towns (Zahko,Aqrah,Amadiya,Dohuk,Sulaimaniya andShinno/Ushno/Ushnoviyya), as well as from dozens of villages, mostly in the region ofBahdinan.[25][26] His study unveils new sources, reports and vivid tales that form a new set of historical records on the Jews and the tribal Kurdish society. His PhD thesis was commented by members of the PhD judicial committee and along with the book upon which it has been translated into several Middle Eastern languages, includingArabic,[27]Sorani,[28]Kurmanji,[29] as well asFrench.[30]
History of the Jews in Asia | |
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| States with limited recognition | |
| Dependencies and other territories | |
