What exactly is a Bukharian Jew?

amother

Fri, Sep 25 2020, 5:56 pm

I live OOT. I have lots of family in Queens and they often mention Bukharian Jews - a subset of orthodox Jews who live in the frum neighborhoods but have their own shuls, traditions, and apparently decorating/fashion/gardening styles that don't mesh with the surrounding Ashkenazic ideas of style? Not sure how Sephardim feel.

Apparently there is this underlying rivalry/distaste about the Bukharian community which is so strange because I have never even heard of them!

Where I live, not everyone gets along, but it is more like vaxxers vs anti-vaxxers, maskers vs anti-maskers, mixed seating vs separate seating, lubavitch hechsher vs non-lubavitch hecsher, etc. The division is over political or hashkafic issues, not discrimination against certain cultural groups.

Success10

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 3:04 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Bukharian aren't Sefardim

Bukharians actually do hold of Sefardi halachic rulings, but they are from an area called "Bukhara" in Uzbekistan, and they speak Bukhari, which is is a Jewish sub-language, kind of like Farsi. They have a unique culture of their own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukharan_Jews

Last edited by Success10 on Sat, Sep 26 2020, 3:07 pm; edited 2 times in total

imaima

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 3:05 pm

Success10 wrote:

Bukharians actually do hold of Sefardi halachic rulings, but they are from an area called "Bukhara" near Russia, and they speak Bukhari, which is is a Jewish sub-language, kind of like Farsi. They have a unique culture of their own.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukharan_Jews

It is not "near Russia", they are from Usbekistan. Bukhara is just one of the towns in Usbekistan.

amother

Pumpkin

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 8:22 pm

Bucharians do not only come from Uzbekistan. Bucharian sounds nothing like farsi for whoever posted that. I am a type of sefardi that has very similar minhagim to bucharian Jews. When I was in shidduchim, my friends and I did not want to go out with bucharian guys because of such different cultural mindsets. So although they are sefardi 110%, they are just a different type of sefardi.

Also, what do you mean by "have their own shuls, traditions, and apparently decorating/fashion/gardening styles that don't mesh with the surrounding Ashkenazic ideas of style"-don't ashkenazim have their own shuls, and traditions?? So confused why bucharians can't also?

amother

Seashell

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 8:33 pm

Hello gmar Hatima tova to everyone
I am married to a Bukharian.
Bukharian Jews are mizrahi Jews from a city called bukhara which is currently called Uzbekistan.
They hold sephardic laws and have some of their own minhagim as well like everyone else.
They have a rich culture and traditions and have more jewish roots and history then most that some traces back to shevet yehuda.
Rabbi obadiah yosef ztl said bukhari are the bechur (first borns) of klal yisrael.
Anyways they are very nice people
Have a easy fast everyone

amother

Denim

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 10:05 pm

I'm from Queens as is DH. Bucharians have moved into both my parents community and my in law's community as well. Both of those neighborhoods are full of single non-attached homes of similar size and styles with green lawns in front. The Bucharians come and knock down the houses and put up large homes that don't fit in with the rest of the neighborhood architecture and they pave over all the grass. They also have all their own shuls and restaurants and institutions that don't associate with the organizations that are already present in the neighborhoods. So I don't think that people object to Bucharians as a people but they do object to the feeling that their neighborhoods are being "invaded" and changed.

amother

Emerald

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 10:15 pm

I live in Kew Gardens Hills and have done so my entire life. When I was a kid we prayed for the release of our brethren behind the Iron Curtain. Then they were released! Many Bukharian Jews came to my neighborhood (just like the Persians had done before them). In the beginning there were cultural differences. Then by the next generation the kids are much more American, from what I see.

I have had only good interactions. Had a wonderful frum Bukharian babysitter who raised my kids. She is very frum! Also the single girls babysitters - almost every single one - that I have had over the years are Bukharian. In the beginning some of them were in public school. Local boys the Meirov brothers who are Bukharian founded Chazaq which is a Kiruv organization and by now I think most of the Bukharian kids are in yeshivas. Also they were instrumental in creating Torah Anytime.

The Bukharians seem to be motivated and are building nice houses in the neighborhood. Years ago there were style clashes but by now it’s primarily normal American design.

amother

Blonde

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 10:40 pm

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

This sounds like counting a neighbor’s money IMO. I live in the area. Bucharians are often lumped together with Russians by those that don’t know better.

amother

Red

Sat, Sep 26 2020, 11:01 pm

They are a wonderful sephardic group from bukhara. They have their own culture which American ashkenazim dont necessarily identify with. When I lived in queens we got along wonderfully with all our Bukharian neighbors. They do have their own shuls, customs, and delicious foods. They are very spiritual in general. They all seem related or to know each other in queens. Tension are only because of cultural differences. At this point, the second generation often goes to main stream bais yaakov and yeshivos.

amother

Silver

Sun, Sep 27 2020, 12:12 am

I believe a lot of the tension in queens arose from what posters above wrote. They seemingly invaded the neighborhood and made the house prices extremely expensive and unaffordable. They also sent to the ashkenazi schools and did not set up their own yeshivas and the ashkenazi schools had to accept and support them by paying their tuitions otherwise they would just send to public school. It put a distaste in many peoples mouths.

egam

Sun, Sep 27 2020, 12:34 am

amother [ Seashell ] wrote:

Bukharian Jews are mizrahi Jews from a city called bukhara which is currently called Uzbekistan.

This is incorrect. The Bukhara city is not currently called Uzbekistan, which is a state. Bukharian Jews come from the former Emirate of Buckara, which existed from late 18th to early 20th centuries. Currently, there are two states located in it’s place - Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The city of Bukhara was the capital of the Emirate and still exist today. There were very sizable Jewish communities in Bukhara, Samarkand, Fergana, Tashkent and Dushanbe.

DrMom

Sun, Sep 27 2020, 12:48 am

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

A lot of the above sounds like what secular/non-Jewish people say when frum Jews move in to their neighborhood.

mazal555

Sun, Sep 27 2020, 12:50 am

Bukharians are not Sephardim (From Spain) they are Mizrahim (Easterners literally, or Asian practically) . to say that everyone not Ashkenazi must be Sephardi is like saying that Indian Jews are Ashkenazi because neither are from Spain/Sephardi.

they are very nice people or very not nice people, like every other group. Some people in general are clannish and self centered and arrogant and expect every one to be exactly like them. They conveniently forget the help they got as immigrants when it's time to pay it forward to the next generation (for example, Sephardim were in the USA for about 200 years before the first Ashkenazim came)

This is very sad and unacceptable because we are all am echad