JUICE AREA

The Jewish quarter of Bukhara is located in the south of the Liab-i-Khaouz basin. It is a picturesque tangle of alleys where the city's large Jewish community used to gather. Synagogues, Jewish schools and houses of all social classes were there. The history of the Jews of Bukhara goes back to the Persian emperor Cyrus who, during his conquest of Babylon, is said to have freed the Jews of the East and encouraged them to settle in his lands in Central Asia. The Jews of Bukhara (a name that actually refers to a larger community than just the Jews living in Bukhara to include all the Jews of Central Asia) are believed to be descendants of those Babylonian Jews who arrived in the ^fifth century B.C., making it one of the oldest known Jewish communities.

Over time, other Eastern Jewish communities (from Yemen, Morocco or Iran) have grown the original Persian-speaking community. The Jews of Bukhara spoke Bukhariot, a dialect with Persian roots which they wrote in Hebrew letters, especially for poetic texts. Even today, very few of them speak Uzbek, but they do speak Russian and Tajik.

The first synagogue was built in 1620; before that, Jews officiated in mosques. The community grew in trade and specialized in fabric dyeing, but was extremely isolated from the rest of the Eastern Jews and widely persecuted. She is obliged to live in a certain neighbourhood, is not allowed to ride horses, cannot wear silk. Like the Marannes, converted to Catholicism but practising Judaism in secret to escape the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition of the 15th century, some Jews converted to Islam. They are called the Chala here. In 1793, a Sephardic rabbi, Joseph Maimon, arrived in Bukhara and discovered a local cult mixed with Persian influences and Zoroastrianism. He decided to change all this and converted the Jews of Bukhara to the Sephardic liturgy practiced today.

The arrival of the Russians in the 19th century paradoxically appears to be good news for the community. Paradoxically because the Russian Empire and its pogroms are not a priori great supporters of Judaism. However, at the time, the Russians appeared to be less virulent towards the community and the Chalas could return to their original religion without fear of persecution. Unfortunately for them, the Jews of Bukhara are not at the end of their sentence and the arrival of the Bolsheviks sounds the death knell of the community. The 13 synagogues of Bukhara are closed, rich merchants sent to camps, religious practice forbidden. Tired of all these successive persecutions, the Jews of Bukhara migrated en masse to Israel and the United States upon independence. Today, there are about 50,000 in the New York area of Queens alone and 100,000 in Israel. There are less than 300 of them in Bukhara. The few remaining families take care of the two synagogues that have reopened, the school and the cemetery. The beautiful houses in the area have been bought and often transformed into charming guest houses. Today it is very pleasant to stroll through this maze of narrow streets to taste the atmosphere and the beautiful architecture. Most Jewish houses have been converted into guesthouses, so it is often possible to visit the interior.