Bukharan Jews photographs, 1950s-1980s.

Format:

Other

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews.

Jews, Bukharan.

Jews--Social life and customs.

Soviet Union--Social life and customs.

Soviet Union.

Genre:

Photographs.

black-and-white photographs.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Kedem Auction House Ltd. (Lot 128), 2020

Physical Description:

1 box (0.5 linear foot)

Place of Publication:

1950s-1980s.

Biography/History:

For centuries, Bukharan Jews have lived in Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, getting their name from the area which was once the Emirate of Bukhara. They are thought to have settled in Georgia and Central Asian countries as early as the mid-6th century and in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in the 11th century (Burton 45-46). Bukharan Jews speak a variety of languages such as Hebrew, Persian, Judeo-Persian, Russian and Judeo-Tajik, or Bukharian. Although this collection most likely dates to between the 1950s and 1980s, only two photographs have recorded dates of 1959 and 1985. Around the estimated time the photographs in the collection were taken, most Bukharan Jews lived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and numbered around 45,000 in total in the USSR (Zand 15). In larger cities, Jews lived in a concentrated area called the mahalla, or Jewish quarter, which also helped to preserve Jewish identity by maintaining its own synagogue, cemetery and kosher butcher (Ro'i 59). During the Soviet rule, the government censored all religions by closing places of worship and not allowing any religious texts or objects to travel into the USSR. As Alanna E. Cooper comments in her book, Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism, Bukharan Jews went underground and practiced in secrecy throughout the Soviet period, which made their particular form of Judaism unique and different from the practices of the Ashkenazi Jews in the western parts of the USSR (140). She also comments that, "While the Soviets were able to exert control over religious life in the institutional sphere, they had little control over religious expression among friends and kin in the informal sphere of the mahalla" (142). Interestingly, even though the Soviets wished for an empire without religion, both Ashkenazi and Bukharan Jews were classified as "Jews" on their civil documents and not as Uzbeks or citizens of the USSR states (Cooper 165). The harshness of restrictions of religious practice also depended on who ruled at the time. For example, Stalin's government was particularly brutal when it came to religious freedom, while Khrushchev and Brezhnev could be a little more relaxed. Therefore, in the earlier Soviet years, Bukharan Jews formed tight knit, localized communities where they conducted any religious ceremonies in the relative secrecy of the home, while having a public, state ceremony to appease the Soviet authorities. In later years, during the time of this collection, Bukharan Jews were able to practice ceremonies like weddings and circumcisions in the more public sphere of a community center, as well as observing major Jewish holidays, keeping kosher and adhering to the Sabbath (Cooper 141). Bukharan Jewish practices differ from those of the Ashkenazi Jews, with the Soviet-era localized community having partial responsibility for these differences in tradition. One practice that differed slightly between Bukharan and Ashkenazi Jews is how they procured and prepared Kosher meat. During Soviet times, there was no formal training for someone to become a kosher ritual slaughterer, or shohet, and not every community had a shohet. This meant that there were traveling ritual slaughterers, who might come to a person's home to kill their preferred meat, set up shop in a temporary place, or go to specific butchers to slaughter the meat to sell to patrons (Cooper 143-146). Alanna E. Cooper states that all aspects of the slaughter were done in the mahalla, inside the Jewish communities where the Soviet authorities did not have as much power. Therefore, if one was a Bukharan Jew who lived outside of the Jewish quarter and wanted to keep kosher, they would have to travel to the mahalla to procure their meat. In an effort to ensure that no blood resided in the slaughtered meat, Bukharan women would take the extra step to salt and soak their meat before consumption (Cooper 145). Funeral traditions also differ greatly in Bukharan Jewish culture. In traditional Ashkenazi culture, there is the seven-day period of mourning called shiva and then a yahrzeit ceremony of remembrance every year after the death of a relative. For Bukharan Jews, their traditional mourning ceremony, called yushvo, is held "…every evening during the first week after someone died, on the one-year anniversary after the individual's passing, and on that same date each subsequent year. In addition, during the entire first year of mourning, a yushvo, was held each month on the day of the month that the person had passed away" (Cooper 151). For Bukharan Jewish weddings, there are a few practices that are unique to their culture and the region in general. One tradition that is shared with both Jews and Muslims of Central Asia is the practice of qosh-chinon, which happens a few days before the wedding. Cooper describes this tradition as such, "Jewish girls, like their Muslim counterparts, are taught that they must not manicure their facial hair until they become women. Within the local symbol system—which cuts across religious communities—this hair serves as a mark of girlhood, whereas a smooth, clean face serves as a mark of womanhood. The passage from one life stage to the next is understood to occur through marriage. Among Jews, the qosh-chinon ceremony…publicly inscribes this status transition on the body" (163). There are a few practices of the wedding ceremony of Bukharan Jews that differ from the Ashkenazi tradition. Bukharan Jews usually have a large feast, or gathering, of family and friends starting in the afternoon of the wedding day. The wedding ceremony, called that qiddush, is usually a small, private gathering of immediate family and close friends that happens at dusk or late at night. During this ceremony, the couple's clothing remains open in the back or front, the mothers sew an untied thread through the couple's clothing, and the onlookers stretch their arms over the couple with outstretched fingers (Cooper 157). Cooper states that the "…outstretched hands, the unknotted threads, the open clothing—once linked to anxieties about the groom's sexual potency—turned into measures to ward off the ill will of those whose loyalties might be misplaced" (160).

Summary:

This collection of photographs of Bukharan Jews consists of 129 black and white photographs ranging from the 1950s to 1980s, depicting Bukharan Jews living throughout Central Asia, primarily in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Although the time period of these photographs is not clear, two photographs are dated 1959 and 1985. Although there is no sense of where these photographs are located, the seller indicates possibly Uzbekistan, but it also could be Tajikistan. Only two photographs contain captions which are either in Russian or Bukharian (Judeo-Tajik). The photographs in this collection depict religious and life events for Bukharan Jews including circumcision ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. The photographs of circumcision ceremonies include pictures of the actual procedure and of the baby surrounded by family and celebrants. The photographs of funerals include those of funeral processions in the street, community cemeteries, and the burial process. The majority of photographs in this collection are of social and familial gatherings, usually meals. Many of the gatherings are of families in the home during or after a meal, while some take place in a community center where meals and dancing occur. Some of the photographs of gatherings may be religious in nature. There are portraits of families, individuals and couples in the collection. Twenty of the portraits are of two separate women, possibly related, posing in variety of traditional Bukharan or Central Asian clothing and adornments.

OCLC:

1537978183