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Draft:Nash Didan Jews

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The Nash Didan Jews are a Jewish diaspora group that inhabited the lands of Urmiah, Salmas, Bashkale, and Gavur in northern Persia and the eastern Ottoman Empire.[1] Considered a branch of Persian Jewry (itself a branch of the broader Mizrahi Jewish tree), the Nash Didan Jews have had a presence in the area corresponding to modern day Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan for over 2,000 years. The name "Nash Didan" comes from the Judeo-Aramaic dialect spoken by the Nash Didan known as Lishan Didan, meaning "our people".[2]

Though they are situated in geographically similar locations, the Nash Didan Jews are considered to be distinct from their Georgian, Kurdish, and Persian Jewish counterparts - speaking different languages and participating in different customs, though all share similarities as a result of engaging in the Jewish belief system. The number of Nash Didan Jews remaining both in the Urmian heartland and worldwide is a matter of scholarly debate. Estimates vary due to limited record-keeping and assimilation. The lower bound is said to be around 2,000, and the upper bound 20,000.


Location of Lake Urmia in Modern Day Iran
Location of Lake Urmia in Modern Day Iran



History

Antiquity

The history of the Nash Didan Jews is not well documented. However, their presence in the region surrounding Lake Urmia is believed to date back to the 8th century BCE,[3] predating the Babylonian exile, and making it one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups. Local Assyrian peoples barred the Nash Didan Jews from owning land or participating in agriculture, thus they primarily engaged in commerce, becoming jewelers, cloth traders, or goldsmiths, and lived in more urban environments than their counterparts.

Unlike other Jewish communities who were scattered as a result of the Babylonian exile and the destruction of the First Temple, the Nash Didan did not return to the land of Israel following Cyrus the Great's conquests of Babylon. They did, however, remain Persian subjects under the Achaemenid Empire.[4]

Modern History

In 1895, with the rise of the Zionist movement, immigration to the land of Israel from the Ottoman empire corresponding to the Nash Didan heartlands began to rise. By the turn of the century, several dozen Nash Didan Jewish families lived in the Ottoman province of Palestine.[5]

In the 1930s, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Soviet influence in the region, much of the remaining Nash Didan community fled to the British Mandate of Palestine (present day Israel). As of 2005, about 14,000 Nash Didan Jews live in Israel, primarily in Holon, Jerusalem, and Givatayim.[6] Other cities with notable Nash Didan populations include Los Angeles, California, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tehran, Iran.[7]


Religion

Little is known about the religious practices that are specific to the Nash Didan. What is certain is that because the Nash Didan's presence in Persia predates the destruction of the Second Temple, and because the Nash Didan did not return from exile after the conquests of Cyrus the Great, Nash Didan Jewry did not submit to the authority of the Rabbinate, and kept many of the customs of the First Temple Period, such as ritual animal sacrifice. This practice died out, but it is unclear when. It can likely be assumed that many other such customs that persist to today are also maintained, such as counting of the Jewish calendar, as well as observation of the Sabbath.


The Nash Didan have maintained a version of Torah recitation called meturgeman, or targumic (translated) recitation. In this practice, the Torah is recited publicly in its original biblical Hebrew, then translated into vernacular Aramaic.[8]

Synagogue Located in the Urmia Region
Synagogue Located in the Urmia Region






Evidence suggests that there was a girls' Yeshiva in the Urmian region, marking an extremely rare occurrence of women being able to be granted the title of Rabbi.[9] It is possible that it was the only female Yeshiva in the Middle East at the time.


Culture

Language

Main Article: Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Urmia

The Nash Didan speak a Jewish dialect of Neo-Aramaic known as Lishan Didan (lit: "our tongue"), also referred to by scholars as Jewish-Azerbaijani Neo-Aramaic. A Semitic language, Lishan Didan uses the Hebrew script, and is known to be at least partially mutually intelligible with other Neo-Aramaic languages. Lishan Didan is a primarily oral tradition, and as a result, few written documents have survived.

Though the region was heavily influenced by Persian, Arabic, and later Turkish speaking peoples, the Nash Didan resisted these changes in part due to the mountainous and isolated location, and thus have been able to preserve Lishan Didan to the present day. As of 2023, it is estimated that fewer than 20,000 Lishan Didan speakers with any degree of fluency remain,[10] and the language is considered to be highly endangered.

Poetry

Poetry is an important aspect of the Lishan Didan speaking world. Though primarily recited orally, some written poems have been found. Nash Didan poetry is called Sugita, and follows the traditional Syriac poetry format of an initial stanza, followed by the body of the poem, often in the form of a dialogue between two characters.[11]


Cuisine

Nash Didan cuisine incorporates many of the livestock and crops that are typically found in the region and consists of various meat dishes, stews, and vegetables. Like other Jewish ethnic groups, the Nash Didan follow the rules of Kashrut.[12][13][14]


  • Kishmishayne - Nut and raisin cookies, typically served for house guests with tea
  • P'Shala - Kidney bean and vegetable soup, often eaten with rye bread
  • Dolmat Mishcha - Stuffed grape leaves with yogurt sauce
  • Shifte or Chefte - Meatballs or chickpeas, bulgur, and rice in broth
  • Zhargo - Marinated meat and potatoes
  • Stew of Seven Tastes - Stew consisting of beans, beets, squash, eggplant, beef tongue, and sometimes lamb lung. Customarily eaten on Rosh Hashana
  • Chatachtuma - Pasta tossed with yogurt and garlic


Festivals

In addition to traditional Jewish holidays, the Nash Didan have a number of other festive occasions. They include:

Illanot - Similar to Tu B'Shvat, Illanot is akin to an Earth Day celebration, where trees are planted and the fruit of those trees are eaten.

Lel Resh Shata - (Lishan Didan: Night of the New Year). Marks the end of Passover. Traditions include recitation of Lishan Didan poetry, gift giving, and the consumption of foods that contain Hametz.


Music

Nash Didan music features string instrument melodies and lively drums, consistent with the musical style of other nearby communities. The Israeli band Nash Didan produces world music with influences from their Nash Didan roots.


See Also


References

  1. ^ Demirel, Michael. "Nash Didan". Nash Didan.
  2. ^ Zaken, Mordechai (2007). Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan. The Netherlands: Hotei Publishing. ISBN 978 90 04 16190 0.
  3. ^ Reichman, Shanie. "Listen to the Story of the Nash Didan Jews". heyalma.
  4. ^ Demirel, Michael. "Nash Didan". Nash Didan.
  5. ^ Demirel, Michael. "The Nash Deidan".
  6. ^ Cohen, Rebecca. "The Nashdidan Tribe: Preserving an Ancient Heritage in a Modern World". Woke Waves.
  7. ^ Jacobi, Ora. "The History". orajacobi.com.
  8. ^ Rees, M (2008). Lishan Didan, Targum Didan: Translation Language in a Neo-Aramaic Targum Tradition. Piscataway, NJ: Giorgas Press.
  9. ^ Garbell, Irene (1965). The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Persian Azerbaijan. Jerusalem: Linguistic Analysis and Folkloric Texts. p. 13. ISBN 978-3-11-087799-1.
  10. ^ Sabar, Yona. "Jewish Neo-Aramaic". Jewish Languages.
  11. ^ Yaure, L (1957). Journal of Near Eastern Studies. p. 16.
  12. ^ Cohen, Rebecca. "Tasting Tradition: Nash Didan's Finest Foods and Flavors". Woke Waves.
  13. ^ Colen, Danielle Rehfeld. "Chefte, Chatachtuma, and More From the Nash Didan Jewish Community". jewishfoodsociety.org.
  14. ^ Guttman, Vered. "The Stew of Seven Tastes". Talk of the Table.


The Jews of Van-Urmia: Remembering Borderland Migrations (1914-1918)

https://nashdidan.co.il - website maintained by Nash Didan Jew, chronicling his family history

The Nash Didan Jews, With Sam Miller - podcast with linguist Sam Miller, discussing customs and history of Nash Didan Jews, as well as linguistic characteristics of Lishan Didan


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