“And the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” (2 Kings 17:5–6)
Jewish traditions passed from generation to generation identify the origins of the Jewish communities of Iranian Kurdistan with the Tribes of Israel exiled by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, from their homeland even before the destruction of the First Temple. Kurdistan extends across three countries: Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. For centuries the mountains of Kurdistan were a source of dispute between Turkey and Iran. After World War I, a large part of Turkish Kurdistan passed to Iraq, a smaller part remained under Iranian rule, and another part remained under Turkish rule.
The Israelite exiles in these regions preserved Aramaic as their everyday spoken language. This fact supports the claim concerning the antiquity of these communities and their identification with the exile of the Ten Tribes. The Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, who traveled about 800 years ago and visited Kurdistan, also mentions the Jews and their Aramaic language. This article focuses on the communities of Iranian Kurdistan and also on the Jews of Persian Azerbaijan, known in Israel as members of the “Targum” community (Nash-Didan).
One Community and Seventy Languages?
In northwestern Iran, around Lake Urmia (Rezaiyeh), and near Lake Van in eastern Anatolia, several Jewish communities existed. Some were fairly large, numbering about a thousand people, while others were tiny and consisted of only a few families. Living conditions for Jews in the mountains of Kurdistan were difficult, and they were subject to the local feudal ruler, the Agha. In some communities Jews were farmers who owned fields and vineyards, plowing, sowing, cultivating vineyards and orchards. These families also kept livestock, including cattle and sheep.
Because the land was extremely mountainous and the winters harsh, the communities were isolated from one another and from the larger Jewish centers. This isolation contributed, among other things, to the development of different dialects, some similar to one another and others markedly different. The dialects spoken by Jews in Iranian Kurdistan differed from those spoken by Jews in Iraqi Kurdistan. At times the difference was so great that two speakers from these regions would have difficulty understanding one another. The Jews of Persian Azerbaijan also had their own dialects.
As noted, Jewish Aramaic-speaking communities existed around Lake Urmia. They included Salmas in the north, Urmia in the center, and Naghadeh in the south. South of the lake were communities in Sablagh (Mahabad), Saqqez, Baneh, Takab, and Sanandaj; east of the lake were communities in Maragheh and Miandoab. Near Lake Van in Turkey a small community lived in the village of Gawar, and other communities existed in additional regions.
The size of the Jewish population in Iranian Kurdistan can be learned from two principal sources. Abraham Ben-Yaakov, in Jewish Communities of Kurdistan, recorded: Urmia, 1918, 600 people; Baneh, 1901, 400; Miandoab, 1901, 1,000; Maragheh, 1888, 40; Naghadeh, 1881, 800; Saqqez, 1902, 1,000; Shino, 1901, 1,900; Takab, 800; and Bukan, 1901, 60 families. Shalom Hamani, an emissary of the Jewish Agency’s immigration department, recorded in a 1962 memorandum: Urmia, 800, all of whom immigrated; Baneh, 350, all of whom immigrated; Naghadeh, 150, all of whom immigrated; Saqqez, 1,350, most of whom were in Israel; Shino, 100, all in Israel; Takab, 800, all in Israel; and Bukan, 400, of whom 240 immigrated.
As can be seen, from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the Jewish population in these areas did not experience substantial natural growth. The principal reason was that immigration to the Land of Israel from these settlements continued throughout the period.
Despite their isolation from urban centers and from Jewish communities in the West, ideas of the return to Zion reached them as well. Even before the First Aliyah, immigrants from Kurdish communities were present in the Land of Israel. Most settled in Jerusalem and earned their living through work such as carrying, quarrying, stonecutting, and construction. Some settled in Jaffa, Tiberias, and Safed.
Alongside immigration to the Land of Israel, Kurdish Jews also migrated elsewhere because of difficult living conditions and persecution. At the end of World War I the Russians conquered the entire area and devastated the Jewish community. In 1918 pogroms took place against the Jews of Urmia, and many fled to Baghdad. Others made their way to the United States and elsewhere.
From Urmia to Jerusalem
In Urmia, where the community was relatively large and numbered about 600 people, most men did not know how to read or write. Only about one-third of the men studied Bible, Talmud, and the Shulchan Aruch. It is interesting to note that before the pogroms of 1918 there was a woman in Urmia named “Rabbi Hava,” who taught women the Hebrew alphabet and reading. Urmia had four synagogues, and scholars in the city made their living writing amulets and charms, serving as cantors, and teaching young children. Most others worked in trade and goldsmithing.
After migration from Urmia and Naghadeh, members of these communities also reached Jerusalem and established workshops and goldsmith shops. Those from Urmia and Naghadeh concentrated in the Mahaneh Yehuda and Sanhedria neighborhoods, with smaller numbers in the Bukharim neighborhood and the new Beit Yisrael neighborhood.
Immigrants from Urmia and Naghadeh joined together and established Yavne Synagogue in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood. Later, because of internal disputes, worshippers from Naghadeh left and eventually established the nearby Shmuel HaNavi Synagogue, today known as “Shmuel HaNavi Synagogue for the Targum Community.”
In the afternoon a sermon was delivered in the synagogue, and most members of the community came to hear it. The sermon dealt with the weekly Torah portion, aggadah, and Jewish law, and was delivered by the community’s sages. One of the sages at Yavne Synagogue was Hakham Yishai, who had served as a teacher of children in Urmia and in Jerusalem served as cantor and Torah reader. Every Sabbath afternoon he preached in the synagogue, and listeners drank in his words eagerly.
Hakham Yishai was also invited to translate the Bible into Aramaic, and the unique translation is preserved to this day in the National Library. Another sage who served at Yavne Synagogue was Hakham Emmanuel. In the years before the establishment of the State, he used to publish his dreams and visions on wall newspapers posted in the neighborhood streets. Another renowned sage was Hakham Haim Yeshurun, who immigrated after the establishment of the State, was active in the community of Urmia immigrants in Holon, and published a translation of the Torah into Aramaic in the Jewish Urmia dialect, a translation of the Book of Psalms into Aramaic, translations of the haftarot, and The Window to the East, in which he recounted, among other things, his life story, the community’s customs, and many other subjects.
The Egg of the Plagues and Baskets of Fruit: Family and Social Events in the Community
The community life of the members of the community was highly developed. Everyone participated in family celebrations, and on a “Shabbat Chatan” a canopy was spread in the synagogue and the groom sat beneath it. Throughout the seven days of celebration, a canopy was also spread at home, where the bride and groom sat beneath it.
Special meals were also held when a baby’s first tooth appeared, accompanied by a special dish called Danui, made from sprouted wheat.
On Passover night the Haggadah was read in Hebrew, and each passage was immediately translated into Aramaic. The reading was accompanied by “dramas” involving adults and children and centered on three main subjects: the afikoman, the Ten Plagues, and the story of the Exodus.
The afikoman was entrusted to one of the participants for safekeeping until the end of the Seder. Beforehand, negotiations were held and the candidate’s ability to guard it was tested, while children and adults tried to embarrass the guard and steal the afikoman. The stolen afikoman was returned only after the “thief” was promised a suitable reward.
When the Haggadah reached the Ten Plagues, an egg whose contents had been partly emptied was brought to the Seder leader. With each mention of a plague, a drop of wine was poured into the egg. A pinch of ash was then added, and one participant carried the egg and stood behind the door. The Seder leader called out the plagues one by one, while the person holding the egg repeated them after each plague. After the reading of “Rabbi Judah used to give them signs,” the Seder leader blessed the messenger and wished him success in his mission. The bearer of the egg, containing the plagues and ash symbolizing destruction and affliction, went outside and threw it toward the enemies—the non-Jews. Upon returning, before entering the house, he changed his clothes, carried a pack on his back, and, accompanied by children, entered the house like one of the Israelites leaving Egypt.
Simchat Torah was celebrated with great splendor. The hakafot were held in the synagogue several times: on the festival night, after the Musaf prayer, after Mincha, and after Maariv at the end of the festival. Before each round of hakafot, Hakham Emmanuel assigned each worshipper one portion of the Pentateuch to read, so that the entire Torah was completed each time.
On Tu BiShvat, as was customary, a fruit feast was held. In the Diaspora, houses had ventilation openings in their roofs, through which celebrants lowered a basket while shouting “Biladi, Biladi.” Those eating in the house filled the basket with fruit, wished them a successful journey, and the basket was pulled upward and then carried to another house. In the Land of Israel, the basket was lowered through the entrance door and received fruit.
In the Struggle to Preserve Tradition
Before the establishment of the State, there were about 10,330 Jews in Iranian Kurdistan. By Kislev 1953, about 6,200 had immigrated to Israel, leaving approximately 4,130. Those who remained eventually made their way to Israel after Khomeini came to power in Iran.
Over the years the various Aramaic-speaking communities became integrated into Israeli society, acquired education, and entered a wide range of professions. The two first synagogues of the community in Jerusalem, Yavne and Shmuel HaNavi, have dwindled in recent years, and their worshippers have dispersed to other neighborhoods and outside Jerusalem. Only a few immigrants from Urmia and Naghadeh continue to preserve the original tradition in the synagogues.
In the early 1950s several additional community groups established themselves in the city. For example, immigrants from Saqqez who came to Israel in those years lived in several areas, including Mamilla, the city center, and Katamon. They later initiated the establishment of four synagogues that remain active today: Heichal Yosef Synagogue on Hess Street; Ohavei Jerusalem Synagogue on Ben Shetach Street; a synagogue on Rashbag Street in Katamon; and the Shalom Hamani Synagogue in Givat HaMivtar.
Recently, the association “World Association of Aramaic Speakers” was established with the goal of preserving the language, customs, and distinctive traditions of the community. Each year the association holds the traditional Seyran celebrations. Some immigrants from the Urmia community founded another organization called the “Association of Urmia Jews.”
Aramaic is still spoken by older members. The first generation born in Israel hears and understands some Aramaic, but the third generation does not, and there is no doubt that the language as a spoken tongue will disappear.
Yet, at least with regard to this community, one may say that the prophecy has been fulfilled: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 27:13)
For Further Reading
- A. Ben-Yaakov, Jewish Communities of Kurdistan, Jerusalem, 1981.
- Y. Ben-Zvi, The Exiles of Israel, Jerusalem, 1967.
- Y. Ben-Rahamin, One Language and One Matter: Texts in Modern Eastern Aramaic, Jerusalem, 2006.
- A. Yaakobi, Nash-Didan: The History of the Jews of Urmia (Persian Azerbaijan), Tel Aviv, 2009.