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Jewish shtetl in Azerbaijan survives amid Muslim majority By Cnaan Liphshiz Jewish Telegraphic Agency KRASNAIYA SLOBODA, Azerbaijan (JTA) – Even at 70, Yedidia Yehuda can negotiate a narrow mountain path in northern Azerbaijan with a confidence easily mistaken for carelessness. “You take care not to fall yourself and don’t worry about me,” he tells a visitor following him toward a small town on the northern bank of the Kudyal river, where 2,000 Jews have lived for nearly three centuries in their own shtetl, one of the world’s few remaining all-Jewish towns outside Israel. A few twists down the slope, Yehuda proudly points to the red roof of a new and spacious structure decorated with sculpted beige limestone panels that rises from the jagged rocks and dusty flowerbeds on the mountainside. It is the tomb of Rabbi Gershon ben Reuven, leader of this littleknown community until his death 122 years ago. The building was erected last year as part of a massive renovation and construction effort, courtesy of Krasnaiya natives who left this rural town to pursue lucrative careers elsewhere. The building projects are to honor the town’s rich past. Over the years, the community known as Mountain Jews has
National Briefs Calif. bars state banks from funding Iran, terror groups WASHINGTON (JTA) – California enacted a measure making it illegal for state-chartered financial institutions to be used, directly or indirectly, to funnel money to terrorist groups or the government of Iran. The law signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown provides oversight mechanisms to ensure that the state-licensed banks and credit unions have policies to prevent the maintenance and opening of accounts with foreign financial institutions that legally assist Iran. Violators would be fined and reported to the U.S. Treasury Department for prosecution. Jewish institutions awarded $9 million in federal security grants WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jewish institutions received nearly all of the funding from the Department of Homeland Security for nonprofit groups to
endured pogroms by Persian warlords, repression under communism and the rise of post-Soviet nationalism. But the need for external funding highlights pressing questions about the future of this Jewish island that continues over time to lose its young to the rapidly growing cities depopulating the Azeri countryside. “Many have left, young and old, myself included,” says Yehuda, who divides his time between Krasnaiya and Or Akiva, Israel. “It’s good because out there we can earn enough to support the community. But it’s bad because it means the current population is a fraction of our past numbers.” According to Yehuda, the town had 8,500 Jews only two decades ago, but has lost 75 percent of its population to Israel, Moscow and the Azeri capital, Baku. The community’s former chief rabbi, Adam Davidov, left recently for Jerusalem. The silver lining in the exodus has been hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from well-todo natives who in the past two years have financed the construction of buildings, modernized burial facilities and transformed the town’s mikvah into an impressive glass-domed tower. Krasnaiya Sloboda also is seeing the construction of the world’s first museum of Mountain Jews. The project is being paid for by
STMEGI, a foundation promoting the heritage of Mountain Jews and
headed by the Krasnaiya-born businessman German Zacharayev, who lives in Moscow. In Azerbaijan, Mountain Jews, or Juhuro, are the largest of three Jewish communities, followed by Ashkenazim and Georgians. With lineage dating to the Jews of ancient Persia, Juhuro are believed to have settled in the region 1,000 years ago. They speak Juhuri, a mix of Farsi and ancient Hebrew. “Here, communists were less successful than elsewhere in
sive tradition,” Yehuda says. The best time to witness the special attachment between Krasnaiya Sloboda and its residents, past and present, is around Tisha b’Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of both ancient Temples. Just ahead of the fast, the town’s population doubles overnight as Krasnaiya natives from all over the world return to visit the graves of their ancestors. Some, like Yehuda, stay for several months. Upon arriving, the returnees
help protect themselves from terrorism. The department announced $10 million in federal security grants last week, and $9 million went to Jewish institutions, according to a statement by Jewish Federations of North America. Homeland Security and the FBI over the past decade have alerted local officials and the Jewish community to specific terror threats, JFNA said.
civil rights movement.
California campuses in Berkeley and Santa Cruz of failing to curb hostile environments for Jewish students were dismissed. The Office of Civil Rights investigation, which included interviews with students and observations of the demonstrations, concluded this week that events described in the complaint did not constitute harassment but rather “expression on matters of public concern directed to the university community.” “In the university environment, exposure to such robust and discordant expressions, even when personally offensive and hurtful, is a circumstance that a reasonable student in higher education may experience,” the probe concluded. In a complaint against UC Santa Cruz, the Office of Civil Rights in a letter said it determined that the events described in the complaint “do not constitute actionable harassment.”
Obama has pre-Rosh Hashanah conference call with rabbis (JTA) – President Obama reflected on the High Holidays and offered New Year’s greetings in a conference call with nearly 1,000 rabbis. Obama during the call last Friday afternoon extended the greetings on behalf of himself and the first lady for a sweet, happy and healthy New Year. He noted that the Jewish High Holidays provide an opportunity for Jews to reflect on the past year and recommit themselves to core values. With the United States marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Obama also noted the important role played by American Jews in the
encouraging Jews to assimilate because of our ancient and cohe-
Courtesy of Cnaan Liphshiz
Yedidia Yehuda, right, and a childhood friend walking down the stairs that overlook Krasnaiya Sloboda, August 2013.
Ginsburg officiates at samesex wedding, first for Supreme Court justice (JTA) – Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first Supreme Court justice to preside over a same-sex marriage. Ginsburg performed the wedding ceremony of Michael Kaiser to John Roberts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday night. U.S. asks Iran’s Rohani to free Jewish American (JTA) – The United States asked Iran’s new president to free a Jewish American who has been detained there for six years. In a statement issued Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asked Hasan Rohani “to work cooperatively with us” to free Robert Levinson, as well as dual citizens Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini, “to return to their families after lengthy detentions.” Anti-Semitism complaints against two Calif. universities are dismissed (JTA) – Federal complaints accusing the University of
Hamptons group going to federal court in eruv bid NEW YORK (JTA) – A group trying to have an eruv built in Long Island’s Hamptons filed a federal lawsuit after having its bid quashed by a zoning board. The East End Eruv
blend right back in to a community that despite not being very observant seems immune to the rapid modernization gripping their country. The nearby town of Quba boasts 24-hour supermarkets, Internet cafes and even a luxury spa hotel. But in Krasnaiya, toddlers accompany Jewish women wearing tichel head coverings and aprons to buy groceries from the kosher shops and convenience stores as they prepare for the High Holidays feasts. In the evening, after the older children finish studying in the local yeshiva, dozens of men accompany them down potholed alleyways to Kulkati Synagogue, a massive wood-paneled building with 30 windows and even more Persian carpets covering every inch of its floor. The town, spread out across 120 acres, has another 12 synagogues, most of them inactive. Among Russian Jews, the town once was known as “little Jerusalem.” In a custom reminiscent of the mosques in this predominantly Shi’ite country, visitors to Kulkati take off their shoes before entering. Other customs borrowed from neighbors are common among older Jews, who bury toenail clippings and hair and believe in evil spirits, part of an elaborate system of superstitions. JEWISH on page 21 Association filed its suit Tuesday in Brooklyn District Court against the Township of Southampton and the Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals. Last month, the zoning board denied the construction of the eruv, an all-but-invisible enclosure that allows Sabbathobservant Jews to carry items or push strollers outdoors. The zoning board had ruled that the eruv – PVC poles on 15 of Southampton Township’s telephone poles – would “alter the essential character of the neighborhood.” ‘Breaking Bad’ star Aaron Paul to play biblical Joshua in upcoming film (JNS) “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul is set to play the biblical hero Joshua in the upcoming film “Exodus,” directed by Ridley Scott and based on the epic story from the Hebrew Bible, Variety Magazine reported. Paul will be joined by the star of the “Batman” trilogy, Christian Bale, who will play Moses, as well as stars Sigourney Weaver and John Turturro, who will portray the parents of the pharaoh Ramses. Australian actor Joel Edgerton will play Ramses.