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Georgian Jews (tr, ) are a community of Jews who are thought to have migrated into Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medieval Historical Chronicle The Conversion of Katli and The Life of St. Nino, Constantine B. Lerner, England: Bennett and Bloom, London, 2004, p. 60 It is one of the oldest communities in the region. As a result of a major emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority of Georgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city of Ashdod, although many also live in the United States.
Georgian Jews should be distinguished from the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia, as well as from the neighboring Mountain Jews (მთის ებრაელები, mtiz ebraelebi), who are considered ethnically and culturally distinct from the kartveli ebraelebi. Prior to Georgia's annexation by Russia in 1801, the 2300-year history of Georgian Jews was marked by few traces of antisemitism and by an assimilation in the Georgian language and culture. Forget Atlanta - this is the Georgia on my mind By Jewish Discoveries and Harry D. Wall Feb. 7, 2015, Haaretz Mountain Jews: customs and daily life in the Caucasus, Leʼah Miḳdash-Shemaʻʼilov, Liya Mikdash-Shamailov, Muzeʼon Yiśraʼel (Jerusalem), UPNE, 2002, page 9
The community, which numbered almost 60,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated to Israel, the United States, the Russia and Belgium (in Antwerp). , only about 1,500 Georgian Jews remained in Georgia. According to the 2002 First General National Census of Georgia, there are 3,541 Jewish believers in the country. Statistics of Georgia For example, the Lezgishvili branch of Georgian Jews have families in Israel, Moscow, Baku, Düsseldorf, and Cleveland, Ohio (US). Several hundred Georgian Jewish families live in the Tri-State Region, particularly in New York City and Long Island.
The post-exile origin view is espoused by the medieval Georgian historian Leonti Mroveli, who wrote in the 11th Century:
According to Mroveli, a further settlement of the Jews in Georgia was during the Ancient Rome period of Emperor Vespasian. He wrote that Jews lived in Georgia long before 1st century CE. According to Mroveli:
The ancient Georgian historic chronicle, The Conversion of Kartli, is the oldest and only Georgian source concerning the history of the Jewish community in Georgia. The chronicle describes a version similar to that offered centuries later by Leonti Mroveli, but the period of Jewish migration into Georgia is ascribed to Alexander the Great:
Georgian sources also refer to the arrival of the first Jews in Western Georgia from the Byzantine Empire during the 6th century CE. Approximately 3,000 of the Jews fled to Eastern Georgia, which by that time was controlled by the Persian Empire, to escape severe persecution by the Byzantines. The existence of the Jews in these regions during this period is supported by the archaeological evidence, which shows that Jews lived in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of the Eastern Georgian state of Iberia-Kartli. "Georgia", World Jewish Congress Jewish Communities Database
According to the Georgian hagiography, Jewish communities existed in Georgia in the 1st century. A Georgian Jew called Elias was said to be in Jerusalem during the Crucifixion and brought Jesus' robe back with him to Georgia. He had acquired it from a Roman soldier at Golgotha.
The Jews spoke Georgian, and later Jewish traders developed a dialect called Kivruli, or Judaeo-Georgian, which included a number of Hebrew words.
In the second half of the 7th century, the Muslim Empire conquered extensive Georgian territory, which became a province of the Arab caliphate. Arab emirs ruled in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and surrounding territory for nearly 500 years, until 1122.
Genetic studies carried out on Georgian Jews as part of a wider survey showed close genetic links with other Jews, and in particular with Iraqi and Persian Jews. This seemed to prove the historical accounts of Jewish migration from Persia into Georgia.Begley, Sharon. (7 August 2012) Genetic study offers clues to history of North Africa's Jews | Reuters . In.reuters.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-16.
Reviewed by:
Prof Golda Akhiezer in Ancient Jew Review
Dr Elvira Martín Contreras in SEFARAD, Vol. 84, No. 1, 2024
Prof Teófilo Correa in Biblical and Early Christian Studies
While most Soviet Jewish emigration was individual, Georgian-Jewish emigration was communal. Due to Georgian-Jewish traditions of strong, extended families and the strict, patriarchal nature of Georgian families, Georgians immigrated as whole communities, with emigration of individuals causing a chain reaction leading to more emigration, and brought their community structures with them. For example, nearly the entire population of at least two Georgian towns made aliyah. At the time the emigration started, Israel had a policy of scattering the population around the country, and was experiencing a housing shortage, with the result that Georgians were assigned housing in different parts of the country. The Georgians began demanding that they be concentrated together, and the crisis reached a fever pitch when several families threatened to return to Georgia, and new immigrants, forewarned by predecessors, began demanding to be placed in specific areas upon arrival. Although Prime Minister Golda Meir criticized the Georgians' desire to "isolate themselves into ghettos", the Israeli Immigrant Absorption Ministry eventually bowed to their demands, and began to create concentrations of around 200 families in twelve areas of the country.
In Israel, Georgian immigrants successfully integrated into society, but faced certain problems. Georgian immigrants were usually able to find jobs with ease, and often worked in light industry jobs, such as dock workers, porters, and construction workers, but faced certain issues. One major issue was religion; the Georgian Jews were often devout and had fiercely clung to their traditions in the Soviet Union, and were stunned to discover that Israeli Jews were mostly secular. As a result, Georgian immigrants demanded their own separate synagogues to continue their unique religious traditions, which the government agreed to, and enrolled their children in religious schools rather than regular schools.Michael Curtis, Mordecai S. Chertoff: Israel: Social Structure and Change.
Many Georgian Jews now live in Israel, estimated at 75,000 people. In Israel, most Georgian Jews settled near the coast in cities such as Lod, Bat Yam, Ashdod, and Holon. There are Georgian Jews in Jerusalem as well, with several prominent synagogues.
Georgia's population almost doubled between 1926 and 1970, then began declining, with dramatic declines in the 1970s and 1990s, when many Georgian Jews left and moved to other countries, especially to Israel.
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