https://www.ashkenazijews.az/ az Materials in English - BAKI AVROPA YƏHUDİLƏRİNİN DİNİ İCMASI[shortrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=49 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=49

In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.

[allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] Materials in English admin Mon, 20 Dec 2021 21:50:17 +0400 [/shortrss] [fullrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=49 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=49 admin Mon, 20 Dec 2021 21:50:17 +0400 In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.]]> [allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-dzen] [/fullrss] [yandexrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=49

In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.

Materials in English Mon, 20 Dec 2021 21:50:17 +0400

Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


[allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]Azerbaijan’s Jewry, a nestled Jewel.
In this two-part essay, part I covered the history of the Jews in Azerbaijan in the early centuries BCE and A.D. Part II, herein, is about Jewish life in Azerbaijan nowadays and foreseeable future plans.
I held an interview with Rabbi Shneor Segal, Azerbaijan’s Ashkenazi Jewish Community Chief Rabbi and the Chabad Emissary. Additional information about present life in the ‘Red Village’ in the Guba District was provided by Igor Shauliv, the Director of the Mountain Jews Museum.
My conversation with Rabbi Segal took place a day after a week full of events, in which the Jewish community celebrated the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah and was honored with several non-Jewish Azerbaijani guests who joined in the festivities.

Rabbi Segal with the writer – TV screen photo during interview
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

During the Chanukah festivities, Mr. George Deek, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan celebrated the 30-years of distinct relations between the two countries. He was honored with the presence of Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, the current Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Members of Young Diplomats Azerbaijan Associations attended the Chanukah 8th candle lighting, on the last day of the holiday.
As the Jewish tradition goes, a group of Jewish rebel warriors of priest-farmers from the city of Modi’in, known as the Maccabees, started a revolt against the Greeks who occupied their land and defiled their Temple. Under Judas Maccabeus’ leadership, the Jewish people fought the Greeks and succeeded in re-taking Jerusalem and expelling the Greeks from the city.
According to the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law, when the Maccabees entered the Temple and wanted to light the seven-branched candelabra – the Menorah, there was no ritual oil fit to light the Menorah. They did however find a small jar of ritually pure oil, expected to last one day. Miracles and tradition do go hand in hand and a miracle occurred. The Menorah burned for eight days on this small amount of oil, which lasted long enough to produce new pure oil.

Israel Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mr. George Deek during Chanukah celebrating 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Ever since, in Israel, during Chanukah the Jewish people say “a big miracle happened here.” Jews in the Diaspora, like the ones living in Azerbaijan say: “a big miracle happened there [In Israel].” But this year, for Rabbi Segal, the saying is: “a big miracle happened here [in Azerbaijan] as well.” And he pointed out many reasons.
Rabbi Segal and his wife arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan, some twelve years ago. The Ashkenazi Jewish community approached the Chabad headquarters in the former Soviet Commonwealth seeking a rabbi for their community. The reason was, they knew that the rabbi Chabad would send would be dynamic; knowing that the community would find it difficult to pay for his services, he needed to be able to manage and settle down no matter what it takes. This is Chabad’s ideological approach and as Rabbi Segal says, “thank God, we managed and we have managed and each day counts for a new improvement and a new goal is achieved.”
Upon arrival in Baku, Rabbi Segal saw that though there was some Jewish community life and some synagogues held activities much more needed to be done. He wanted to see the community flourish and grow.

Jewish Youth Club In Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

As the community rabbi he knew his goal was to build the community, to reach as many Jews as possible and have them partake in Jewish life, attending prayers and Jewish community events. After all, 70 years of Communism rule had a rather upsetting impact on all the Jewish communities in the Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan’s ancient Jewish community, now made of Ashkenazi and Caucasian Jews.
There was a need for a revival. Like an ancient house, tall and big, with sturdy deep-rooted foundations, Azerbaijan’s Jewish community’s uniqueness and goodness needed to be exposed and simply brought up-to-date, to modern, present time. The rabbi wanted to take a completely new approach to Jewish life in Azerbaijan.
Rabbi Segal decided that his target was the young Jews, the future of the community. It was no easy process.
In General, Jews living under the Soviet Union rule, to which Azerbaijan belonged, suffered because they were Jews. The estimated number of Jews living in Baku today is 25,000 and as Rabbi Segal told me, Before COVID-19 there was hardly a week passed that he did not meet a person who told him he was a Jew or members of his family are Jewish. Rabbi Segal saw his job to make the practice of Judaism interesting for the community, much fun and enjoyable. Because Judaism is a happy religion, he asserts.
Rabbi Segal took over operating the local Jewish Kindergarten and a school. With hard work the attendance increased. Today, all together, there are around 170 kids attending the school, at no cost. The school is rated by Azerbaijan Ministry of Education to be among the 20 top best schools in the country. Recently the government stepped in and much of the teachers’ salaries are now paid by the government of Azerbaijan.
Besides the activities at the school, Rabbi Segal started kids, youth and students programs and holiday events.

The writer at the Mountain Jews synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

He opened a Sunday school in the synagogue for kids who do not attend the Jewish school. There are youth and student clubs for three different ages, as well as women’s clubs. All in all, before the Coronavirus shutdown, regularly on Sunday, some 250 Jewish kids, youths and students visited the synagogue, which also serves as a Jewish Community Center, to attend activities.
During Chanukah young Jews went visiting elderly Jewish people’s homes and brought them food parcels as well as helped them light the Chanukah candles. The purpose is to teach Jewish youths the Jewish tradition of giving, of doing something for another fellow Jew. To always be there for someone who needs you.
This revival and approach has caused significant changes in the life of Azerbaijan’s Jewish Community.

Celebrating Chanukah in Baku in 2021
During the Jewish holiday of Chanukah that just ended, due to COVID, prayer attendance in the synagogue was limited, and could not exceed 50 people. In order to have as many Jews partake in the Chanukah festivities, Rabbi Segal organized different events each day, for kids, youth, students, women and the elderly; to light the menorah candles, to have a meal, to have anyone who wanted to attend a Chanukah event partake.
He also brought to Azerbaijan 1,500 Chanukah menorahs (the customary Chanukah candle holder) and handed them to any Jew who asked for it.

Jewish women in Baku, Azerbaijan, celebrating Chanukah 2021
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

This approach, slowly and methodically, is re-creating the Jewish life that was somewhat lost due to the COVID restrictions.
Nowadays, on Shabbat, the weekly Jewish holy day, after the prayer service people stay longer and attend Kiddush, literally, “sanctification,” a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
From my own experience, on one of my visits to Azerbaijan I attended the Saturday morning prayers service at the Ashkenazi Synagogue. I stayed on for the Kiddush after which they served Cholent*. (*Cholent is a traditional Jewish stew dish, usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and is served at lunch on Shabbat [Sabbath]) and I must admit here that among the many Cholent dishes I have had in my lifetime the best Cholent I have ever had was in the Ashkenazi Synagogue in Azerbaijan.

Visiting the elders with a menorah and food parcel
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

Rabbi Segal is satisfied. “Thank God the community is making headways and things are moving forward and developing in a very positive way,” he repeated this statement often. His latest good news is that with the government helping to build the much-needed Mikveh – the bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity in Judaism – in Baku and with local and from abroad much support the project is already well in progress to be completed soon.
Rabbi Segal is enthralled. As an Israeli Jew who grew up in Israel, when he was offered to come to work in Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, he said “no way.” It was not for him; he had a wife and four young children at that time and he did not see Azerbaijan as a place for him to go to work. However, when he arrived he was taken back by the local attitude. It was the real way of coexistence between Jews and Muslims, respecting and even helping each other, not only at the government level but in the street level as well. All these elements play a role in the constant growth of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan.

Rabbi Segal – lighting the menorah

– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

COVID Era
The synagogue was closed for one year and four months. That was a difficult time to say the least. Now, slowly, life returns to normal. It is almost like having to rebuild some of the already much achieved Jewish life. Sadly, people got somewhat accustomed to living without attending synagogues or Jewish activities. The magnate of vibrant Jewish life did not magnetize for a long while.
Rabbi Segal repeats himself, ‘it was no easy period.’ The government of Azerbaijan took extremely cautious measures to prevent the spread of the virus. And again he repeats, “thank God things are getting better.” The number of kids attending activities is slowly but surely growing, hopefully soon to reach the pre COVID number.

Chanukah celebration at the Synagogue in Baku, Azerbaijan
– Photo credit Rabbi Shneor Segal

Future plans
The big foreseeable plan is to build a large Jewish Community Center to house a wide range of activities. A center that will also contribute to the Azerbaijani community at large with activities that are not necessarily involved religion. Simply speaking, the government of Azerbaijan generosity in so many aspects calls for the Jewish community to reciprocate.
In the long run the ambitious role, as Rabbi Segal sees it, is to create an effervescent Jewish community. With no one fretting over him, with the government constantly helping and the Azerbaijani nation hugging the Jews of Azerbaijan, all the elements are there to succeed.
Life often is sunk in darkness. The holiday of Chanukah teaches us that the only way to fight the darkness is to create and bring light. “One should never deal with darkness,” says Rabbi Segal. Rather, connect one more Jew to another Jew and to Judaism. It is not as simple as it sounds though. It requires much work.
Rabbi Segal believes that God created the world in such a way that there is always work, there is always something to do. Each person must see himself or herself as doing the work God expects them to do. The job of a Jew is to touch another Jew. And once you experience this outlook, you become addicted to simply doing good in any way possible; it is elevating spiritually and touches one’s soul. “This is who we are, the Jewish nation,” says the Rabbi.

Rabbi Segal lighting the Chanukah candles
– Photo credit Rabbi Segal

What Is in Store in the Near Future?
Rabbi Segal’s positive attitude is catchy. He received land, adjacent to the synagogue, on which the Mikveh project is well on its way. He is in the midst of a charity campaign to collect the rest of the needed funds for the Mikveh project. Before we know Passover is at the door and he has to start preparing for this upcoming most meaningful Jewish holiday.
There is already a venue being prepared for a Kosher Jewish store, hopefully to be opened soon as well as a plan for a kosher* – *food/ premises in which food is sold, cooked, or eaten satisfying the requirements of Jewish law – restaurant, since the one that was operating before COVID shut down.

Aa street in Mountain Jews-Red Village

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Current ‘Red Village’ Restoration
Currently the ‘Red Village,’ believed to be the world’s only all-Jewish town outside Israel, historical heritage is going through development and restoration.
A first of its kind museum in Azerbaijan, greatly dedicated to the ‘Mountain Jews’ history was built. The Museum is located in the old renovated Karchogi Synagogue, which was shut down during the Soviet era.
The initiative to create the Museum of Mountain Jews is attributed to Mr. Goda, Mr. Nisanov, Mr. Zarakh Iliev and now German Mr. Zakharyaev, all natives of Krasnaya Sloboda – Qirmizi Qasaba, the ‘Red Village,’ located across from the Qudiyalçay (or Kudyal) River and the town of Quba, in the municipality in Quba (Guba) District of Azerbaijan.
The International Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews STMEGI, the largest organization uniting Mountain Jews from all over the world, was engaged in creating the museum’s general concept and the collection of exhibits.

Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Igor Shaulov

A new tourist information center was opened, providing tours of the village, and the ancient Jewish Sloboda, settlement type in the history of the Old Russian regions, derived from the early Slavic word for “freedom” and may be loosely translated as “free settlement” is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The planning is to continue the development of the Jewish ‘Settlement,’ restore many historical buildings, create a modern tourist village with all the necessary infrastructure, from a modern hotel to a new medical facility in place, enhancing the full potential of the village’s unique location and history.
According to recent data, nowadays there are approximately 2000 residents living in the ‘Red Village.’ During the summer months, due to the arrival of those living outside the village, this number increases.

The writer in front of the Mountain Jews-Red Village Jewish museum
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

There is no exact figure of the number of Mountain Jews, estimated to be 150,000 in total. The majority of the ‘Mountain Jews’ now live in Israel, with other communities in Azerbaijan, Russia, United States and Canada.
Azerbaijan’s Mountain Jews have left a remarkable and indelible mark on Jewish history in the Caucasus and beyond, all due to Azerbaijan’s social fabric’s coexistence and tolerance unique culture; the ability of the country’s society to be knitted together, relegating background and special interest in history for a common goal, and thus providing a positive and pleasant place to live.
With Rabbi’s Shneor Segal’s energy, with the ‘Red Village’ restoration efforts, with the government of Azerbaijan’s much-appreciated support, one can only expect a bright and vibrant future for the Jewish community of Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-dzen] [/yandexrss][shortrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=48 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=48

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

[allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] Materials in English admin Sat, 18 Dec 2021 18:32:08 +0400 [/shortrss] [fullrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=48 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=48 admin Sat, 18 Dec 2021 18:32:08 +0400 Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.]]> [allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-dzen] [/fullrss] [yandexrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=48

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

Materials in English Sat, 18 Dec 2021 18:32:08 +0400

Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


[allow-turbo]Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]Azerbaijan’s Jewry is a Jewel.

Growing up in Israel, Arabs, not Muslims, were the enemies of Israel, and thus the Jews. When it became clear to me, perhaps to others as well, that Arabs are of the Islam faith, no matter where they resided they were the enemies of Israel and thus the Jews.

When I first visited Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim country, a new reality turned the tables on me. This Muslim country was not an enemy of Israel nor the Jews, rather, it has been a safe haven for Jews during many centuries. More so, since Azerbaijan parted from the Soviet Union and declared its independence, the country holds a close friendship and relations with the only Jewish state, Israel.

That premise of Jewish life in Azerbaijan and the recent festivities of Chanukah, a Holiday in which Jews celebrate liberty and light over darkness, is the base of this 2-part essay.

I enlisted Mr. Fuad Akhundov, a history buff, Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum, located in the Red Village and Mr. Yevgeny Brenneysen, an Azerbaijani Jew and my friend, to assist me in telling the story of Jewish life in Azerbaijan in ancient times, prior to the Soviet invasion, during and post-Soviet rule.

Screen shot with Fuad Akhundov, Yevgeny Brenneysen during the interview,
December 6, 2021 – Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Igor Shauliv Director of the Mountain Jews Museum
– Photo credit Igor Shauliv

There are two prong histories of the Jews in Azerbaijan.

The first prong is the Guba’s Red Village Mountain Jews.

The second one, in 19th century, is the immigration of Jews to Baku during the oil boom that occurred in Azerbaijan.

First History Prong: The Mountain Jews of Guba (Quba)

The mountain Jews, allegedly moved to the area from what is now Iran. Another version claims that they are the descendants of the Khazar Kingdom, located in what is now the Republic of Dagestan, in the north of Azerbaijan.

After Cyrus II of Persia, whose victorious wars included both what is today modern Azerbaijan and the former Babylonian kingdom territory, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian Empire, in 550 BCE, Jews Settled all over the Achaemenid Empire.

The ancient Persian Empire was based in Western Asia. It had reached its greatest extent under Xerxes I, the Great, the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BCE, the son and successor of Darius the Great and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Xerxes I conquered most of northern and central ancient Greece.

In the year 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia conquered the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and sent many of the inhabitants of Judah into exile in Babylon. As told in the Biblical Book of Esther, in 538 BCE King Cyrus II made a public declaration granting the exiled Jews the right to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Some of the exiled Jews of Babylon returned to their homeland; others, who achieved economic, political and social significant echelon, remained in the Achaemenid Empire.

In the 2nd century BC, the Great Silk Road, the main trade artery connecting China with Europe, Central Asia, the Near and Middle East, a significant part of it passed through the territory of today’s Azerbaijan, was paved.

Since Jews have always been pioneers in the development of new markets, they certainly did not miss the opportunity to operate in trade in the Silk Road hubs to include what is today’s Azerbaijan.

In the 3rd century A.D., Rabbi Safra at-Derbendi mentioned the area in connection with Jerusalem. During the 8th century A.D. historians attest to rich Jewish life in the area.

After Nader Shah Afshar, who ruled Persia, including the Guba district, from 1736 to 1747, was assassinated, Persian influence in the region declined. For half a century dukes, constantly fighting with each other, ruled the vast territory.

‘Red Village’ front partial view photo, Guba town across the Gudiyal-chay river

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

Duke Feth-Ali Khan of Guba, who ruled the area from 1758-1789, decided to invite the Jews, scattered in politically devastated Persia, to his district where the Gudiyal-chay river flows. He divided the district along the river banks; on the river’s right bank Muslims can live and on the river’s left bank Jews can live, what became Mountain Jews Red Village. The village was made of nine neighborhoods, each named after the region location or a village from where the Jews arrived, attesting to their origin. Ali Khan’s calculation was, increased population and thus increased tax revenue and loyalty while offering the least intrusive environment.

Till the late 19th century Guba’s Jewish Village, in 1926 under the Communists renamed ‘Red Village,’ provided a safe haven for the Jews to practice their ancient culture and religion, with 11 synagogues, at least one in each of the nine neighborhoods. Though rather isolated, by the late 19th century Guba was known by the name the ‘Jerusalem of the Caucasus.’

The Six Dome Synagogue in Red Village-Wikipedia

Second History Prong: Baku Oil Boom – 1872-1920 – and The Jews

The Russian Tsarist Empire period in Baku started in 1806-till-1917.

The beginning of the oil boom in Baku started when Russia introduced oil concessions. The population grew fast. In 1872 Baku’s population was 14,000; in 1902, 143,000; in 1913, 214,000, and that fast growth doubled every 8-to-10 years.

Baku was ethnically divided into multiple groups; the four major ones included: Azeris, 34%; Russians, 36%; Armenians, 19%. All together it was almost 90% of the city’s population. Nearly half of the remaining 10% plus was made up of Ashkenazim Jews. Meanwhile, being 4.5% of Baku’s population, the local Jews provided almost 40% of the practicing medical doctors and over 30% of the lawyers.

Baku’s European Jewish community was the largest in the South Caucasus. One may reasonably think that what brought the Jews to Baku was the oil boom economy and Baku’s renaissance. In fact, by 1901, Baku was producing over 50% of the world’s crude demands while local Jewish entrepreneurs controlled up to 11% of Baku’s oil business.

While Baku’s major Oil Company was the Nobel Oil Group, the second largest was the Rothschild Caspian Black Sea Oil Corporation. The Rothschild Corporation’s field manager was David Landau, a Jew, the father of Lev (Leon) Landau, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

Historic parallel, at no surprise: some 100 years ago, with money Jews earned from Baku’s oil industry they bought land in what is today the state of Israel. Today, 40% of Israel’s oil needs is supplied to the Jewish state from Baku’s oil wells.

Nonetheless, there was something beyond the oil and wealth that lured mainly Ashkenazi* Jews from all over the Russian Empire to Baku. With almost 10,000 strong Jewish community by 1913 Baku was totally alien to the very concept of the Jewish ghetto. While the Azeris, Armenians and even Russians resident had kind of ‘ethnic neighborhoods,’ there was never a “Jewish quarter” [Ghetto] in Baku, nor were the Jews restricted or marginalized. The local Jewish community was evenly dispersed all over the city, absorbed into the city’s fabric. However, due to the Pale of Settlement Tsarist rule, at that time Jews did not purchase property, rather, rented it. (*Ashkenazi Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population who coalesced in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium and in the Middle Ages moved into northern Europe beginning with Germany and France.)

Baku was outside the infamous Russian Pale of Settlement* and the Jews presence in Baku could have been legally challenged at the whim of the Imperial Russian bureaucrat. Therefore, when the major Synagogue was built in Baku, around 1910, in order not to expose the Jew living outside the Pale of Settlement the land was provided by Baku’s Municipality at no charge. (*Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.)

Historical Zionist family in Azerbaijan

– photo credit Fuad Akhundov

Despite the Imperial authorities imposing obstacles, by the 1900’s Baku became the largest Zionism center in the eastern part of the Russian Empire. In the early 1910’s, the ‘Palestine Society’ was active in Baku. With the booming economy, the local Jews made remittances to procure land in the Jordan River’s banks of Palestine.

Russian Revolution Period

The Soviet Union period in Baku began in 1920-till-1991.

Since there were no economic grounds for a social revolution, and they were treated as the “society’s elite,” Baku’s Jews never produced problematic revolutionaries. i.e. Leon Trotsky* (*a Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician, ideologically a communist, who developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism) and Yakov Sverdlov* (*Yakov Sverdlov, a Bolshevik Party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union). The Baku Jewish community produced scholars, scientists, musicians, artists and educators.

In between the Russian empire rule and the Soviet rule Azerbaijan enjoyed two years of independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from 1918 to 1920.

During that period, in 1918, Dr. Yevsey Gindes, a Jew from Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “The Babies’ God,” was one of Azerbaijan’s first Healthcare and Social Security Ministers, serving in ADR.

During the Soviet rule period, they imposed a policy of removing Jews from their traditional religious practice. With the Soviets’ aggressiveness, atrocities and anti-religion propaganda, all religions were affected; mosques, churches and synagogues were shut down, some desecrated but not destroyed. Only one synagogue remained open and Jewish religious rituals and practices, such as brit-milah, bar mitzvah, wedding, were practiced clandestinely.

Though the Soviet Union opposed religion, the conditions in Baku the atmosphere was rather favorable. In the 1920s, the USSR Soviet authorities imposed the use of the Cyrillic script, a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia, used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia.

Jews began to receive education in secular schools. Many mountain Jews began to move from the ‘Red Village’ remote settlement to Baku and other major cities in Azerbaijan and the USSR.

The Soviets created education programs that promoted the emancipation of Baku’s women. They established a conservatory, educational institutes and universities in which there was a niche for Jews to fill. More so, with all the surrounding negativity the Soviet rule created an academic period in Baku which gave the Baku Jews an opportunity to prosper intellectually and become professors, actors, musicians, scientists. Additionally, the Guba Jews received education as well.

Yakov Keilikhis, (1872-1950) and Pinkhos Sabsay (1893-1980), both Odessa-born Jews, were among the first sculptors in Soviet Azerbaijan. While the former was behind the first monument in Baku, dedicated to Mirza Alakbar Sabir, a highly revered Azerbaijani satire poet, the latter is considered among the founding fathers of Azerbaijan’s monumental sculpture.

Despite a very tough communist ideology attitude toward religions, the numerous academic and educational institutions established by the Soviets turned the Soviet period into, one might say, academic and artistic renaissance for the Jews in Azerbaijan. This led to my interviewee Fuad Akhundov making a profoundly interesting conclusion: “Azerbaijan’s Jewry is Azerbaijan’s Jewelry.”

During WWII, in the face of enormous human casualties, Stalin released his grip on religion allowing to reopen some mosques and churches. This was exactly the time when two synagogues, in the vicinity of one another, were consecrated in Baku, for the European and the Mountain Jews respectively. Initially, they were operating in modified premises, originally not designed for a synagogue. When Azerbaijan gained its independence the buildings were built anew with the land designated for the Mountain Jews’ Synagogue, once again provided by the Azerbaijani Government.

A view of Baku’s Caspian Sea harbor
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

The Story of One Ukraine Origin Jewish Family

My friend Yevgeny Brenneysen’s mother, from Belarus and father from the Ukraine worked in the Ukraine phosphate Chemical Plant where the chemical engineer deputy manager was from Baku. He lured the Brenneysens to move to Sumgayit, a satellite city of Baku. In 1963, when Yevgeny was seven-year-old, his family arrived to Baku to work at the Sumgayit Petrochemical Company.

Already in the early 19th century Jews began escaping pogroms in the Russian empire, such as the Kishinev Pogrom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishinev_pogrom), now modern Moldova, to safe haven Baku.

For instance, at the end of the 19th century, after the Vitebsk, a city in northeast Belarus, pogrom, Yevgeny’s wife Djamila’s great-grandmother moved to Baku with her family; her grandmother was already born in 1901 in Baku.

Djamila and Yevgeny Brenneysen at the produce Bazar
– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

When attending school, Yevgeny never faced Antisemitism, anti-Jewish sentiments or who is who among the students. There was never a question about nationality among the students. All of them were citizens of Azerbaijan with equal rights and opportunities.

It was an inclusive society and being Jewish did not matter. Many of the schools’ teachers were Jewish and some school principals were Jews.

Due to economic downturn and lack of jobs, while the Soviets were still present in Baku they somewhat relaxed the borders and many Azerbaijani Jews moved to Israel and some to the United States. Nevertheless, their numbers were comparatively low when compared to the Jews’ departure from other Soviet Union satellites.

Post-Soviet Rule

In 1990, then-President Heydar Aliyev, the third President of Azerbaijan, from October 1993 to October 2003, started reviving the life of all Azerbaijan’s ethnic groups. He was once asked about the Jews to reply: my kids are treated by Jewish doctors.

At that time the first Jewish Association was established, Jewish organizations were founded and synagogues were renovated and rededicated.

The writer in Baku, background the Flame Towers

– Photo credit Nurit Greenger

A noticeable number of Jews turned to traditional Judaism practice and a process of revival of Judaism was underway in Azerbaijan. Jewish kids began attending Jewish school and more and more Jews who were forced to abandon Judaism during the Soviet rule no longer feared admitting they were Jews or from a Jewish origin; at last Judaism and Jews were back and strong in Azerbaijan.

Though Jewish pride in Azerbaijan never really went into hiding, the newly reestablished Republic of Azerbaijan made conditions to practice one’s religion much more favorable, which has been allowing the Jewish community to flourish, let alone be proud of their country.

This essay’s part II covers current Jewish life in Azerbaijan.

Original


]]>[/allow-dzen] [/yandexrss][shortrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=41 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=41

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

[allow-turbo]

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




]]>[/allow-turbo] Materials in English admin Tue, 09 Nov 2021 17:54:31 +0400 [/shortrss] [fullrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=41 https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=41 admin Tue, 09 Nov 2021 17:54:31 +0400 The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.]]> [allow-turbo]

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




]]>[/allow-dzen] [/fullrss] [yandexrss] https://www.ashkenazijews.az/index.php?newsid=41

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

Materials in English Tue, 09 Nov 2021 17:54:31 +0400

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




[allow-turbo]

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




]]>[/allow-turbo] [allow-dzen]

The last two years of the unsettling COVID ailment has only done one good thing for the American citizens. It shone a bright light on the political echelon’s corruption, local and national. LA City Council corruption is documented in the news. If the American people were under the honest impression that the politicians they elect to represent them indeed represent them, they were hugely mistaken. It is alarming and an awakening.

The Los Angeles (LA) City Council are a cadre of local politicians involved in corruption, and causing poverty, crime, drug abuse and freelance thievery in the state. All these aspects are on the rise in the city and beyond. Yet, even with all the mounting problems locally, some of the LA City Council members find time to collaborate with a foreign government, Armenia, and commiserate with its atrocious crimes.

Indictments For Bribery and Corruption
In the past several years, LA City Council members have been indicted for bribery and corruption; three indictments in two years for current or former LA City council members.

Mr. O’Farrell [L] with Artak Beglaryan – picture from Mr. Farrell Twitter

Statistics indicate that there are 66,000 homeless people lounging and camping in every city park and corner, a growing depressing phenomenon. Yet, LA City Council members find the time to support Armenia, a bad actor in the Caucasus, a region 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles City Hall, spanning Europe and Asia.

Why Does LA City Council Support Armenia?
A question must be asked: why do Los Angeles City Councilmembers support Armenia?

After all, Armenia’s notoriety is from its ghastly crimes against its neighbor Azerbaijan. It is well-known that many Armenians supported the Nazi regime during World War Two. And still, today, Armenian Nazi collaborators are hailed as national heroes in Armenia with huge statues erected to commemorate them. That is a disrespectful fact to Jews, but the Jewish members of the LA City Council ignore it.

Why would that be? Is it possible that the LA City Council members are compromised to the Armenian lobby? Are lobbyists greasing their campaign bank accounts? There are whispers that this is the reality of LA City Council projects. If that is true, it would mean there is dishonesty going on behind the scenes. Are some council members politically and financially opportunistic?

Investigating Los Angeles City Council Work
Mitch O’Farrell is currently a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district, which covers Silver Lake, Echo Park, and Westlake communities.

Ignoring History
On November 1, 2021, Mr. O’Farrell proudly posted a Tweet: “I was honored to help welcome Artak Beglaryan, Minister of State, Republic of Artsakh, to Los Angeles City Hall on Friday.”

“Artsakh” is the name the Armenians used to address the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, which Armenia illegally occupied for 30 years. This occupation ended in 2020, after the 44-day war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in which the territory was liberated by its rightful owner, Azerbaijan.

“Artsakh” was not recognized by the world community because internationally it is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Mr. O’Farrell ignored the fact that the United States never recognized “Artsakh,” therefore, Artak Beglaryan is a “minister” of a non-existent state, “Republic of Artsakh.”

Council Member Spreads Propaganda and Fake History
But the story does not end here with bogus proclamations and blatant lies. Mr. O’Farrell continued his tweeting: “Together, with some of my Council colleagues, we discussed how Los Angeles can assist and give aid to the Republic of Artsakh, which has been the target of Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, as well as occupation.”

Mr. O’Farrell’s assistance to the non-existent “Republic of Artsakh” goes against U.S. policy: “The United States is among the vast majority of countries that do not recognize Artsakh as a sovereign nation and instead recognizes the region of Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.” His guest, Artak Beglaryan, is a fake “minister” of a non-existent “Artsakh.”

It would be interesting to discover where any support the council members assemble for “Artsakh” will be used.

More Propaganda Tweets
Another piece of propaganda in Mr. O’Farrell’s tweets is that Turkey and Azerbaijan used aggression and occupation against the non-existent “Artsakh.” The aggressor in that area was Armenia in its occupation and the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians during its invasion and war against Azerbaijan between the years 1988 to 1994. Turkey is simply Azerbaijan’s ally, as is Israel, and only gave Azerbaijan political support.

A short time of research and study by Councilman O’Farrell, would show him that the 44-day war in 2020 between Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Armenia’s 30-year illegal occupation of Karabakh. His photo-op with Artak Beglaryan only proves that he is ill-versed on the region’s history. Either that or there is much more here than meets the eye.

O’Farrell’s Tweeting goes on: “As the representative of Little Armenia, I am proud to stand in solidarity with Armenians everywhere, including the people of Artsakh, and pledge to help in every way we can.”

Comparing atrocities

Council Solidarity With Genocidal Military Aggressor
Do Councilman O’Farrell and his council colleagues also stand in solidarity with Armenia’s invasion and illegal occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s sovereign land? Are they in solidarity with the ethnic cleansing the Armenians perpetrated there? The Armenians expelled 800,000 Azerbaijanis, looted and razed their homes to the ground, and committed the well-documented Khojaly Genocide.

Do they stand in solidarity with the Armenians who, during the missile attacks in the 2020 44-day war, destroyed 65 mosques and murdered 100 civilians in the Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Barda and Tartar, located far away from the war zone?

Where is the moral compass of Mr. O’Farrell and his council colleagues? Are they in such desperate need of Armenian donations for their election campaign that they support these horrendous crimes without any compunction or self-integrity?

LA City Council Collaboration With Fake “Artsakh” Goes Further
Joining the very questionable meeting between Councilman O’Farrell and fake “minister” Beglaryan were LA City Councilman, Paul Koretz (@PaulKoretzCD5), representing the 5th Council District, Councilman Kevin de León (@kdeleon), representing the 14 Council District and Councilwoman Nithya Raman (@nithyavraman) representing the 4th Council District. These three LA City Councilmembers must also consider the points made here.

The Link Is Paul Krekorian
Paul Krekorian, currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 2nd Council District, is the first Armenian-American to be elected to office in the City of Los Angeles.

Councilman Krekorian, a huge supporter of the radical Armenian Dashnaks, arranged the LA City Council councilmembers’ meeting with the visiting “Artsakh minister.”

Armenian Nationalist and Socialist Political Party
The Dashnaktsutyun Party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short, is an Armenian nationalist and socialist political party founded in 1890 in Tiflis, Russian Empire, now Tbilisi, Georgia. Today the party operates in Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and in countries where the Armenian diaspora is present, which includes the large Armenia expat community of the vast Los Angeles County.

During World War II, Dashnaks supported Hitler and his murderous agenda – the Holocaust. The active Dashnak leaders even became Nazi collaborators. Today, those Nazi collaborators are celebrated as national heroes, both in Armenia and among Dashnaks in Los Angeles and beyond.

More so, JCAG (Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide) – an Armenian terrorist organization that claimed the lives of 25 innocent civilians, has been acting as a terrorist arm of Dashnaks. Their main lobbying arm is the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who, through their members, fund the election campaigns of many U.S. Senators and Congresspersons, as well as California legislators and Los Angeles City Councilmembers, like Mitch O’Farrell, Paul Koretz, Kevin de León and others could be named.

Do American Politicians Understand Who They Align With?
Among the guests at a reception held for the “Artsakh minister” at the Armenian Consulate in Glendale, California, where a large number of Armenian expats reside, were California Senate delegates, Democrat Party Senators Anthony J. Portantino, representing the 25th Senate District, which encompasses portions of the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and María Elena Durazo, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice-Chair, representing the 24th Senate District, which encompasses Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.

Via his Twitter account, Nasimi Aghayev, Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, addressed this question to the elected officials of California, who met with Artak Beglaryan: “Did you discuss Armenia’s internationally condemned crimes? Or, the continued election campaign support from Armenian special interests in LA was the number one issue of the meeting?”

California citizens who are now informed of the facts of the Nagorno-Karabakh two wars and the Armenian lobby at work in their city and state, should condemn the connection between their elected state and city of Los Angeles officials and the fake “Artsakh minister” and their support for Armenia’s despicable crimes.

Nurit Greenger

ORIGINAL LINK




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