Mizrahi Jews
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Mizrahi Jews, sometimes also called Oriental Jews or Mizrahim, (מזרחי "Easterner", Standard Hebrew Mizraḥi, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥî; plural מזרחים "Easterners", Standard Hebrew Mizraḥim, Tiberian Hebrew Mizrāḥîm) are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East. In a larger context, it is sometimes used to refer to other Jewish communities living in the Islamic World, although most of these communities predate Islam. Included in the Mizrahi category are non-Sephardic Jews from the Arab world, as well as other communities including the Gruzim, Persian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Mountain Jews, Iraqi Jews (including the Baghdadi Jews of India), Kurdish Jews, and (contestably) the Yemenite Jews among various others.
Though many Mizrahim now follow the liturgical traditions of the Sephardim, and in modern Israel may be colloquially referred to as Sephardi Jews, the Mizrahim 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. Sephardi has in some modern contexts acquired the meaning of "non-Ashkenazi Jew", however, to include Mizrahim with Sephardim may be considered culturally insensitive or ignorant.
Prior to the emergence of the term "Mizrahi", which dates from the time of the establishment of the State of Israel, Arab Jews (יהודים ערבים) was a commonly used designation for those Mizrahim originating in Arab lands, though almost never employed by the Mizrahim themselves. The term is rarely used today, except among a minority of Mizrahim who promote reintroducing the designation Arab Jews instead of Mizrahim; this usage has thus far received little support among the wider Mizrahi community. Many Mizrahim 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," and so forth, retaining particular traditions and practices.
Unlike the terms Ashkenazi and Sephardi, Mizrahi 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. In the context of modern Israeli society the label is commonly used in the sense "non-Ashkenazi and non-Sephardi Jew" and is mostly associated with the Near East and North Africa.
Language
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Many Mizrahi communities existed in Arab countries, and at various times spoke a number of Judeo-Arabic dialects, though these are now mainly used as a second language. Among other languages associated with Mizrahim are Dzhidi, Gruzinic, Bukhori, Kurdish, Judeo-Berber, Juhuri and Judeo-Aramaic dialects.
Most of the many notable philosophical, religious, and grammatical works of the Mizrahim were written in Arabic using a modified Hebrew alphabet.
Post-1948 Dispersal
Most Mizrahi 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 Mizrahi Jews from Egypt following the 1956 Suez Crisis, led to the overwhelming majority of Mizrahim becoming refugees. Most of these refugees fled to Israel.
Today, as many as 40,000 Mizrahim still remain in communities scattered throughout the Muslim world, primarily in Iran, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan.[1] A trickle of emigration continues, mainly to Israel and the United States. Many in Iran feel actively persecuted, and a number have been arrested, mostly for alleged connections with Israel and the United States. Some have even been executed, with religious intolerance often cited as the main contributing factor. [2]
Mizrahim in modern Israel
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Since their arrival in Israel, the Mizrahim 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 Mizrahim still primarily use these languages. Before emigrating, many Mizrahim considered Hebrew a language of prayer.
The Mizrahim 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 many Mizrahim had been 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 Mizrahim as equals and as a result they suffer discrimination such as being denied jobs in academia.
According to a survey by Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 precent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004 (Hebrew PDF - [3]).
Distinguished Mizrahi figures
- Yosi (Saffi) Levy, Israeli singer and entertainer - Iraq.
- Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sephardic Chief rabbi of Israel - Iraq.
- Charles Saatchi, advertising executive and art collector - Iraq.
- Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former Labor Party Chairman- Iraq.
- Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, advertising executive and chairman of the Conservative Party (UK) - Iraq.
- Moshe Levy, writer, survivor of the Israeli battleship "Eilat", wrote the book - "Eilat, the 48th soul"- Iraq.
- Ovadia Yosef, former Sephardic Chief rabbi of Israel - Iraq.
- David Levy, former Minister of Foreign Affairs - Morroco.
- Mordechai Vanunu, former nuclear technician, uncovered Israeli nuclear weapons program - Morocco.
- Amir Peretz, current Chairman of Ha'Ávoda Israel Labour Party - Morocco.
- Silvan Shalom, Minister of Foreign Affairs - Tunisia.
- Ofra Haza, acclaimed Temani vocalist - Yemen.
- Dana International, Israeli pop singer - Yemen.
See also
- History of the Jews in Muslim Lands
- History of the Jews in Algeria
- History of the Jews in Egypt
- Persian Jews
- 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
- Indian Jews
External links
- JIMENA Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa.
- Who is an Arab Jew? - On being Mizrahi (anti-Arab identity) by Albert Memmi.
- Reflections by an Arab Jew - On being Mizrahi (pro-Arab identity) by Ella Habiba.
- Mizrahi Wanderings - Nancy Hawker on Samir Naqqash, one of Israel’s foremost Arab-language Mizrahi novelists.
- The Middle East's Forgotten Refugees A chronicle of Mizrahi refugees by Semha Alwaya.
- Moshe Levy The story of an Iraqi Jew in the Israeli Navy and his survival on the war-ship Eilat.
- 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 Mizrahi Jews in Israel.
- Kurdish Jewery (יהדות כורדיסתאן) An Israeli site on Kurdish Jewry. (in Hebrew)
- The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center Disseminating the rich 3000 year old heritage of Babylonian Jewry. (in English and Hebrew)
- Iraqi Jews (יהודי עיראק - يهود العراق) Iraqi American Jewish Community in New York. Perpetuating the history, heritage, culture and traditions of the Babylonian Jewry.