Mountain Jews: history, numbers, culture. The peoples of the Caucasus

Among the numerous descendants of the biblical patriarch Abraham and his sons Isaac and Jacob, a sub-ethnic group of Jews, from ancient times settled in the Caucasus region and called Mountain Jews, is a special category. Preserving their historical name, at present they basically left their former habitat, having settled in Israel, America, Western Europe and Russia.

Replenishment among the peoples of the Caucasus

The earliest appearance of Jewish tribes among the peoples of the Caucasus is attributed to two important periods in the history of the sons of Israel - Assyrian captivity (VIII century BC) and Babylonian, which occurred two centuries later. Fleeing from imminent enslavement, the descendants of the tribes of Simeon - one of the twelve sons of the biblical patriarch Jacob - and his brother Manasseh moved first to the territory of present-day Dagestan and Azerbaijan, and from there dispersed throughout the Caucasus.

Already in a later historical period (approximately in the fifth century AD), the mountain Jews intensively arrived in the Caucasus from Persia. The reason why they left the lands that had been ripe before, there were also unceasing wars of conquest.

With them, the settlers brought to their new homeland a peculiar mountain-Jewish language, which belonged to one of the language groups of the south-western Jewish-Iranian branch. It should not, however, confuse the mountain Jews with the Georgian. With the commonality of religion between them, there are significant differences in language and culture.

Jews of the Khazar Khaganate

It was the mountain Jews who rooted Judaism in the Khazar Khaganate, a powerful medieval state that controlled the territories from the Ciscaucasia to the Dnieper, including the Lower and Middle Volga, part of the Crimea, and the steppe regions of Eastern Europe. Under the influence of the displaced rabbis, the ruling political elite of Khazaria adopted in majority the law of the prophet Moses.

As a result, the state was significantly strengthened by combining the potential of local militant tribes and trade and economic ties, which were very rich in Jews who had joined it. In his dependence, then, was a whole series of East Slavic peoples.

The role of Khazar Jews in the struggle against the Arab conquerors

Mountain Jews provided invaluable assistance to the Khazars in the struggle against Arab expansion in the VIII century. Thanks to them, it was possible to significantly reduce the territories captured by the commanders of Abu-Muslim and Mervan, with fire and sword driving out the Khazars to the Volga, and also forcibly Islamizing the population of the captured areas.

Their combat successes Arabs are only obliged to internal strife that arose among the rulers of the Khaganate. As it often happened in history, they were ruined by an excessive thirst for power and personal ambitions. Handwritten monuments of that time tell, for example, about the armed struggle that erupted between the supporters of the supreme rabbi Yitzhak Kundishkan and the prominent Khazar commander Samsam. In addition to open clashes, which caused considerable damage to both sides, the usual methods were used in such cases: bribery, slander and court intrigues.

The end of the Khazar Khaganate came in 965, when the Russian prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, who managed to win over Georgians, Pechenegs, and Khorezm and Byzantium, defeated Khazaria. Under his blow, the mountain Jews found themselves in Dagestan, as the prince's squad captured the town of Semender.

The period of the Mongol invasion

But the Jewish language for several centuries sounded in the expanses of Dagestan and Chechnya, while in 1223 the Mongols, led by Khan Baty, and in 1396 - Tamerlane, did not destroy in them the entire Jewish diaspora. Those who managed to survive these terrible invasions, were forced to accept Islam and forever abandon the language of their ancestors.

The story of the mountain Jews residing in the territory of northern Azerbaijan is also full of drama. In 1741, they were attacked by Arab forces under the leadership of Nadir Shah. It did not become disastrous for the people as a whole, but, like any invasion of the conquerors, brought untold suffering.

Scroll that became a shield to the Jewish community

These events are reflected in folklore. To this day, the legend of how the Lord Himself stood up for His chosen people has been preserved. It is said that one day Nadir Shah broke into one of the synagogues during the reading of the holy Torah and demanded that the Jews present abandon their faith and accept Islam.

Hearing a categorical refusal, he swung his sword to the rabbi with a swing. He instinctively raised a scroll of Torah above his head - and the battle steel stuck in it, unable to cut the old parchment. Great fear swept the sacrilegious man, who raised his hand to the shrine. He fled in disgrace and ordered the persecution of the Jews to cease henceforth.

Years of conquest of the Caucasus

All the Jews of the Caucasus, including the mountains, incurred innumerable sacrifices during the struggle against Shamil (1834-1859), which carried out the forced Islamization of huge territories. On the example of events unfolding in the Andi Valley, where the overwhelming majority of residents preferred death to the rejection of Judaism, one can make a general idea of the drama that took place then.

It is known that members of the numerous communities of Mountain Jews scattered throughout the Caucasus engaged in healing, trade and various crafts. In perfect knowledge of the language and customs of the peoples around them, as well as imitating them in clothes and cuisine, they nevertheless did not assimilate with them, but, firmly adhering to Judaism, preserved national unity.

With this link connecting them, or, as they say now, a "spiritual clasp", Shamil led an uncompromising struggle. However, from time to time he was forced to make concessions, since his army, constantly in the heat of battles with the detachments of the Russian army, needed the help of skilled Jewish healers. In addition, it was the Jews who supplied the soldiers with food and all the necessary goods.

As is known from the chronicles of that time, the Russian troops, which carried out the seizure of the Caucasus in order to establish state power there, did not oppress Jews, but did not provide them with virtually no assistance. If they turned to the command with such requests, they usually met with an indifferent refusal.

In the service of the Russian Tsar

However, in 1851 Prince AI Boryatinsky, appointed to the commander-in-chief, decided to use the mountain Jews in the struggle against Shamil and created from them a widely ramified agent network, which provided him with detailed information about the locations of dislocation and the movement of enemy detachments. In this role they completely replaced the deceitful and corrupt Dagestani spies.

According to the testimony of Russian staff officers, the main features of the mountain Jews were fearlessness, composure, cunning, caution and the ability to catch the enemy by surprise. Given these properties, since 1853 in the cavalry regiments fighting in the Caucasus, it has been customary to have at least sixty Highlander Jews, and in pedestrians their number reached ninety people.

Paying tribute to the heroism of the mountain Jews and their contribution to the conquest of the Caucasus, at the end of the war they were all exempted from paying taxes for a period of twenty years and were given the right to freely move through the territory of Russia.

The hardships of the civil war

Extremely hard for them were the years of civil war. Hardworking and enterprising, mountain Jews in the majority had prosperity, which, in an atmosphere of general chaos and lawlessness, made them a welcome prey for armed robbers. So, back in 1917, the communities that lived in Khasavyurt and Grozny were subjected to total looting, and a year later the same fate befell the Jews of Nalchik.

Many mountain Jews died in the battles with bandits, where they fought side by side with representatives of other Caucasian peoples. Sadly, for example, the events of 1918, when together with the Dagestanis they had to repel the attack of the detachments of ataman Serebryakov - one of the closest associates of General Kornilov. In the course of prolonged and bitter battles, many of them were killed, and those who happened to survive, together with their families, left the Caucasus forever, having moved to Russia.

Years of the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, the names of mountain Jews were repeatedly mentioned among the heroes awarded the highest state awards. The reason for this was their selfless courage and heroism, manifested in the fight against the enemy. The same of them who found themselves in the occupied territories, in the majority became victims of fascists. In the history of the Holocaust, a tragedy occurred in 1942 in the village of Bogdanovka, Smolensk region, where the Germans massacred Jews, most of whom were from the Caucasus.

General data on the number of people, their culture and language

Currently, the total number of Mountain Jews is about one hundred and fifty thousand people. Of these, according to recent data, one hundred thousand live in Israel, twenty thousand in Russia, as much in the US, and the rest are distributed among Western European countries. A small number of them are also in Azerbaijan.

The original language of the mountain Jews has practically disappeared and has given way to the dialects of those peoples, among whom today they live. The general national culture is largely preserved. It is a rather complex conglomeration of Jewish and Caucasian traditions.

The influence on the Jewish culture of other peoples of the Caucasus

As it was said above, wherever they had to settle, they quickly began to resemble local people, adopting their customs, dress, and even the kitchen, but they always kept their religion holy. It was Judaism that enabled all Jews, including the Highland, to remain a single nation for centuries.

And it was very difficult to do this. Even now, there are about sixty-two ethnic groups on the territory of the Caucasus, including its northern and southern parts. As for the past centuries, according to the researchers, their number was much larger. It is considered that among the other nationalities the greatest influence on the culture (but not religion) of Mountain Jews was rendered by Abkhazians, Avars, Ossetians, Dagestanis and Chechens.

The names of the Mountain Jews

Today, along with all their faith brothers, the Mountain Jews are also making a great contribution to the world culture and economy. The names of many of them are well known not only in the countries where they live, but also beyond. For example, the well-known banker Abramov Rafael Yakovlevich and his son - prominent businessman Jan Rafaelevich, Israeli writer and literary figure Eldar Gurshumov, sculptor, author of the monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Kremlin Wall, Yuno Ruvimovich Rabayev and many others.

As for the very origin of the names of the Mountain Jews, many of them appeared quite late - in the second half or at the very end of the 19th century, when the Caucasus was finally annexed to the Russian Empire. Prior to that, among mountain Jews they were not used, each of them perfectly managed with only his own name.

When they became citizens of Russia, everyone received a document in which the official was required to indicate the name. As a rule, the Russian ending "s" or the female "ova" was added to the father's name. For example: Ashurov is the son of Ashura, or Shaulov is the daughter of Shaul. However, there were exceptions. Likewise, by the way, most Russian names have been formed: Ivanov is Ivan's son, Petrova is Peter's daughter, and so on.

The Metropolitan Life of Mountain Jews

The community of Mountain Jews in Moscow is the largest in Russia and, according to some reports, is about fifteen thousand people. The first settlers from the Caucasus appeared here before the revolution. These were rich merchant families Dadashevs and Hanukaevs, who obtained the right of unimpeded trade. Their descendants live here today.

Mass migration of Mountain Jews to the capital was observed during the collapse of the USSR. Some of them left the country forever, and those who did not want to radically change their way of life, preferred to stay in the capital. Today their community has patrons who support synagogues not only in Moscow, but also in other cities. Suffice it to say that, according to the Forbes magazine, four mountain Jews living in the capital are mentioned among the richest hundred people in Russia.