Our History

Bukharan Jews, in modern times called Bukharian Jews,vare the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that traditionally spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Persian language most similar to the Tajik dialect of Farsi. Their name comes from the former Muslim-Uzbek polity Emirate of Bukhara which once had a sizable Jewish population. The vast majority lived in modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, with small groups in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups, dating back to the Babylonian exile, and are a branch of Persian-Jewry. They are also one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States, with others immigrating to Europe or Australia.

The term Bukharan was coined by European travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Khanate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself is Bnei Israel

Bukharan Jews used Bukharian or Bukhori, a Judeo-Persian language most similar to the Tajik and Dari dialect of Farsi, with linguistic elements of Hebrew, to communicate among themselves. This language was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until Central Asia was "Russified" by the Soviet Union and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted, as the Soviet Union wanted Russian as the dominant language in the region. During the Soviet era, the two main languages spoken by Bukharan Jews were Bukhori and Russian. The younger generation today either born outside Central Asia or who left as children use Russian as their secondary language, but sometimes do understand or speak Bukharian.