Y'ave heard of Yiddish.
Y'ave maybe heard of Ladino.
Ya've less likely heard of Judæo-Tat aka Juhuri.
My friend Zita came to this country at the age of 3. Her family is from Azerbaijan. This is where Jews of the eastern Caucasus mountains lived. She grew up speaking Juhuri. Not Russian, as I mistakenly thought.
Neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi: Zita is of Mizrachi descent, from a country that was Arab-ruled. Her family comes from no place of European origin: like Indian, Iranian, Syrian and other locales, she comes from a community of the East.
Having studied in Israel during college, I learned of mizrachim years ago, but it is a sad state of my affairs that I have simply forgotten about them. It has just been too long, and perhaps I have become so America-focused to my detriment. Plus, the presence of mizrachi Jews is overshadowed in the United States greatly by the prevalent Ashkenazi culture. Most Americans know about matza balls. Savvy New Yorkers (who aren't so strict with their kashrut) certainly know of the scrumptious chicken in the pot at 2nd Avenue Deli. But who knows about tchorba?
Remember when Amit Women used to be called Mizrachi Women's Organization of America? I wonder and sortof doubt that any of my new friends at the recent Amit Women Saks' event discoursed about this. Why would they? Belts and bags are a lot more interesting!
For thousands of years we have been dispersed. We have so many various cultures and customs. All this is nice and dandy, but isn't it time we just merge back together so we're just Jewish?
Y'ave maybe heard of Ladino.
Ya've less likely heard of Judæo-Tat aka Juhuri.
My friend Zita came to this country at the age of 3. Her family is from Azerbaijan. This is where Jews of the eastern Caucasus mountains lived. She grew up speaking Juhuri. Not Russian, as I mistakenly thought.
Neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi: Zita is of Mizrachi descent, from a country that was Arab-ruled. Her family comes from no place of European origin: like Indian, Iranian, Syrian and other locales, she comes from a community of the East.
Having studied in Israel during college, I learned of mizrachim years ago, but it is a sad state of my affairs that I have simply forgotten about them. It has just been too long, and perhaps I have become so America-focused to my detriment. Plus, the presence of mizrachi Jews is overshadowed in the United States greatly by the prevalent Ashkenazi culture. Most Americans know about matza balls. Savvy New Yorkers (who aren't so strict with their kashrut) certainly know of the scrumptious chicken in the pot at 2nd Avenue Deli. But who knows about tchorba?
Remember when Amit Women used to be called Mizrachi Women's Organization of America? I wonder and sortof doubt that any of my new friends at the recent Amit Women Saks' event discoursed about this. Why would they? Belts and bags are a lot more interesting!
For thousands of years we have been dispersed. We have so many various cultures and customs. All this is nice and dandy, but isn't it time we just merge back together so we're just Jewish?
