Mizrahi Jews
From Freepedia
- This article deals with those Jewish communities indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. For the organization of the Religious Zionist Movement, please see Mizrachi.
| Mizrahi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | nn | |
| Significant populations in: | United States: nn | |
| Language: | *Liturgical: Mizrahi Hebrew *Traditional: Judæo-Arabic, Judæo-Persian, Gruzinic, Georgian, Tajik, Juhuri, and various other languages *Modern: typically the language of whatever country they now reside in, including Modern Hebrew in Israel | |
| Religion: | Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups: | • Jews • Sephardi Jews | |
Mizraḥi Jews sometimes also called Oriental Jews, (מזרחי "eastern", Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים "easterners", Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm) are Jews of Middle Eastern or North African origin; that is to say, their ancestors never left this largely contiguous region. Included in the Mizraḥi category are non-Sephardic Jews from the Arab world, as well as other communities variously including the Gruzim, Persian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Juhurim, and sometimes the Teimanim.
Though many Mizraḥim now follow the liturgical traditions of the Sephardim and in modern Israel may be colloquially referred to as Sephardic Jews, the Mizraḥim are not Sephardic, as they are not descended from those Jews who were expelled from Sepharad (the Iberian peninsula) during the Spanish Inquisition and the Portuguese Inquisition. Including Mizraḥim with Sephardim may be regarded as culturally insensitive or ignorant.
Prior to the emergence of the term "Mizraḥi", which dates from the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, Arab Jews (יהודים ערבים) was a commonly used designation for those Mizraḥim originating in Arab lands, though almost never employed by the Mizraḥim themselves. The term is rarely used today, except among a minority of Mizraḥim who promote reintroducing the designation Arab Jews instead of Mizraḥim; this usage has thus far received little support among the wider Mizraḥi community. Many Mizraḥim today also identify themselves with and exhibit affinity toward their country of origin, or that of their immediate ancestors, e.g. "Iraqi Jew," "Tunisian Jew," "Persian Jew," etc., retaining particular traditions and practices.
Unlike the terms Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Mizraḥi is simply a convenient way to refer collectively to a wide range of Jewish communities, most of which are as unrelated to each other as they are to either the Sephardi or Ashkenazi communities.
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Language
- Main article: Mizrahi Hebrew language
As the majority of Mizraḥim originated from Arab countries, most are associated with various Judeo-Arabic dialects. However, other languages associated with Mizraḥim include Judeo-Persian, Gruzinic, Georgian, Tajik, Juhuri, Berber dialects, Aramaic dialects, Kurdish, among others.
Of the many notable philosophical, religious, and grammatical works of the Mizraḥim, most are in the Arabic language written in a modified Hebrew alphabet.
Post 1948 Dispersal
Most Mizraḥi Jews fled their countries of birth when, in reaction to the events leading up the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and subsequent establishment of the state of Israel, citizens of Arab countries acted out violently against their local Jewish populations. Further anti-Jewish actions by Arab governments in the 1950s and 1960s, including the expulsion of 25,000 Mizraḥi Jews from Egypt following the 1956 Suez Crisis, led to the overwhelming majority of Mizraḥim becoming refugees. Most of these refugees fled to Israel.
Today, from the fewer than 1000 Mizraḥim still remaining in scatteried communities throughout the Arab world a trickle of emigration continues, mainly to Israel and the United States. An additional 11,000 Mizraḥi Jews still reside in Iran. Many there feel actively persecuted, and a number have been arrested, mostly for alleged connections with Israel and the United States. Some have even been executed, religious intolerance mainly being cited as the contributing factor. [1]
Mizraḥim in modern Israel
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From their initial transition to Israel, the Mizraḥim have distinguished themselves from their Ashkenazi and Sephardi counterparts, in culture, customs, and language. Arabic was the mother tongue of some, Persian for those from Iran, and Gruzinic, Georgian, Tajik, Juhuri, and various other languages for those who emigrated from elsewhere. Some Israeli Mizraḥim still primarily use these various languages. Before emigrating, many Mizraḥim mainly considered Hebrew a language of prayer.
The Mizraḥim were at first moved into rudimentary and hastily erected tent cities, and later sent to development towns. Settlement on Moshavim (communal farms) was largely unsuccessful, because the Mizraḥim had been mainly craftsmen and merchants, with little farming experience.
A book detailing Mzeina Bedouin life in the Sinai, "The Poetics of Military Occupation" by Smadar Lavie,a Mizrahi Jew, alleges that Israeli Jews who are "white" or "fair" in appearance do not regard Mizrahi as equals and as a result they suffer discrimination such as being denied jobs in academia.
Distinguished Mizraḥi personalities
Image:Moshe katsav israeli president.jpg
- Ofra Haza, acclaimed Temani vocalist - Yemen.
- Dana International, Israeli pop singer - Yemen.
- Moshe Katsav, President of the State of Israel - Iran.
- David Levy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs - Morocco.
- Yosi (Saffi) Levy, singer and entertainer - Iraq.
- Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Minister of Defense - Iran.
- Charles Saatchi, advertising executive and art collector - Iraq.
- Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, advertising executive and chairman of the Conservative Party (UK) - Iraq.
- Silvan Shalom, Minister of Foreign Affairs - Tunisia.
- Ovadia Yosef, former Sephardic Chief rabbi of Israel - Iraq.
See also
- History of the Jews in Muslim Lands
- History of the Jews in Algeria
- History of the Jews in Egypt
- History of the Jews in Iran
- History of the Jews in Iraq
- History of the Jews in Morocco
- History of the Jews in Tunisia
- History of the Jews in Yemen
- Israeli Black Panthers
- Iran-Israel relations
External links
- JIMENA Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.
- Who is an Arab Jew? - On being Mizraḥi (anti-Arab identity) by Albert Memmi.
- Reflections by an Arab Jew - On being Mizraḥi (pro-Arab identity) by Ella Habiba.
- Mizraḥi Wanderings - Nancy Hawker on Samir Naqqash, one of Israel’s foremost Arab-language Mizraḥi novelists.
- The Middle East's Forgetten Refugees A chronicle of Mizraḥi refugees by Semha Alwaya.
- My Life in Iraq Yeheskel Kojaman describes his life as a Mizrahi Jew in Iraq in the 50s and 60s.
- Multiculturalism Project - Middle Eastern and North African Jews
- Loolwa Khazzoom - Multiculturalism movement for non-European Jewish history, heritage & social justice.
- Hakeshet Hademocratit Hamizrachit - An organization of Mizraḥi Jews in Israel
- Kurdish Jewery (יהודית כורדיסתאן) An Israeli site on Kurdish Jewry (in Hebrew)
