It had long been the custom among the Jews of Urmia who immigrated to Jerusalem to conduct the prayers in their synagogue in Aramaic—“the language of Onkelos.” It may have been the last remnant of a Jewish community in the world that prayed in Aramaic.
Some time ago the community’s rabbi, Rabbi Yishai, passed away. He also served as the cantor of the synagogue in the Bukharim neighborhood. Since no replacement could be found who knew the wording of the prayers in Aramaic, the community introduced prayers in Hebrew, like the rest of the Jewish communities.
