Nadene Goldfoot
In our genealogy searches many of us Jews see that "RUSSIA" on the USA census as place of origin meant countries that had been taken over by Russia such as Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Ukraine, etc. I hadn't run any history about Georgia being it was not part of the PALE OF SETTLEMENT, an area Catherine II had come to own and set aside as a place for Jews in order to keep them out of her Russia.
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus Mountains. The origins of the Jewish community are shrouded in legend. "They can trace their migration into the country during the Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC. " That took place in 597 BCE and then in 586 BCE. "This claim is supported by the medieval Georgian historical account by Leonti Mroveli, who writes:
Georgia.
"The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. " Interesting that Israel was ruled by a King David. Tamar in biblical history was the daughter of David and sister of Absalom, a woman who was raped by her stepbrother Amnon. Another Tamar in the bible was the wife of Er, eldest son of Judah, and later Er's brother, Oman. Tamar had to disguised herself as a prostitute and conceived twins by Judah. It's a story explaining the need to marry a deceased brother's wife. If Jews have become a thorn in different religious groups' sides, we certainly are remembered kindly by their use of our historic names, keeping alive our history. From this ruling family, I'd wager a guess that they had Jewish origins.
Prior to Georgia's annexation by Russia, the 2600 year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence of anti-semitism and a visible assimilation in the Georgian language and culture. The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring Mountain Jews. They were also traditionally a highly separate group to the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia."
Before the 12th century, the Jews of Georgia were under the religious authority of the BABYLONIAN EXILARCH. The Exilarch was leader of the Jewish community in Babylon during the era of the Parthians, Sassanids and Abbasids up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermitent gaps akin to political developments. The government of Babylonian Jewry for the first 12 centuries C.E. lay in the hands of the exilarch. Rabbinic traditions incorporated in the *Seder Olam Zuta, trace the origin of the institution to the last years of the exile of Jehoiachin (598-597 BCE of rule) , on the basis of II Kings 25:27. Further data were derived from I Chronicles 3:17ff. Whether such an institution actually existed before Parthian times is not known, and certainty is impossible. Sources on Jewish life in first-century Parthian Babylonia, however, leave little ground to suppose there was an exilarch then. Josephus' account of the Jewish "state" of *Anilaeus and Asinaeus suggests, to the contrary, that no state-sanctioned Jewish government functioned at that time. "The question is if the Jews were able to keep up this leadership from the time of exile to the 12th century CE? It's possible. They had left knowing the groundwork of how to maintain their Jewish culture and religion though they were without the Temple in Jerusalem, which was a main center.
They suffered persecution in the 14th century. " By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian (Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar) domination . This persecution had been intensified in the 15th century when they became dependent on and partly enslaved to the great landlords, a situation which continued until the Russian annexation in the 19th century. Some European Jews now settled in Georgia, so you had a mixture of Jews living there from other periods.
Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century."
Georgian Jews began to emigrate to Palestine in 1863. 1,700 Jews arrived by 1921.
Jews received equal rights when the republic of Georgia was established in 1918 after World War I. By 1926 there were 21,105 Jews in the Soviet Republic maintaining a communal organization. Ontario, Oregon, a small city on the Oregon border, USA, has 11,366 for a population today. I was there when they had 6,000. All of the Jews of Georgia were enough to make up a small town. It's known that Jews even today make up 0.02% of the world population with about 14 million.
A Jewish ethnographic museum was established at Tiflis, now called (Tbilisi) in 1933, just before World War II started. The Jewish population increased considerably since the 2nd World War started during the end of the 30s. Jewish population in Georgia was 55,382 by 1970. After that date many Jews left Georgia and emigrated to Israel. In 1989 there were 24700 Jews in Georgia of whom 14,300 were those who spoke Georgian, showing they may have been born there to parents speaking this native language.
Georgia is a small country. It's population today is: 3,905,010.
"A guest is a gift from God, goes the saying in Georgia." The Christian religion is doing well here. " "While many European nations have seen religious adherence fall in recent decades, the Orthodox Church in Georgia is booming. Attendance, adherence and respect for the Church are all growing. Over 80% of Georgians say they belong to the Church while its head, Patriarch Ilia II, is the most respected public figure by far, with popularity ratings over 90%. Dating back to the 4th Century, the Church helped the country keep its ancient musical traditions during the Soviet era and has been central to Georgians' sense of themselves since independence. This means that ever since Christianity was created by the Roman Empire in the middle 300s, the religion has been strong here.
The numbers of Georgian citizens travelling to Israel and applying for asylum has skyrocketed over the past few years; only four Georgians sought asylum in Israel during the entirety of 2013, compared to 5,505 between January and November 2016. 3,200 Jews were counted in 2010 living in Georgia.
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/exilarch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Georgia
https://www.georgianjournal.ge/discover-georgia/23968-10-things-you-might-not-know-about-georgia--bbc.html
Update: 6/4/19 on relationship with Maronite Christians from Lebanonfile:///C:/Users/Home.DELL.000/Downloads/Are%20the%20Maronites%20of%20Lebanon%20really%20Jews.pdf, possible Maronite origins-being Georgia in early period.
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| Georgian Jews in the Caucasus Mountains |
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus Mountains. The origins of the Jewish community are shrouded in legend. "They can trace their migration into the country during the Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC. " That took place in 597 BCE and then in 586 BCE. "This claim is supported by the medieval Georgian historical account by Leonti Mroveli, who writes:
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| King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon 605-562 BCE, conquered all the lands from Euphrates River to Egypt including Judah |
Georgia.
"The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. " Interesting that Israel was ruled by a King David. Tamar in biblical history was the daughter of David and sister of Absalom, a woman who was raped by her stepbrother Amnon. Another Tamar in the bible was the wife of Er, eldest son of Judah, and later Er's brother, Oman. Tamar had to disguised herself as a prostitute and conceived twins by Judah. It's a story explaining the need to marry a deceased brother's wife. If Jews have become a thorn in different religious groups' sides, we certainly are remembered kindly by their use of our historic names, keeping alive our history. From this ruling family, I'd wager a guess that they had Jewish origins.
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| 1900: Jews of Tbilis, Georgia |
They suffered persecution in the 14th century. " By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian (Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar) domination . This persecution had been intensified in the 15th century when they became dependent on and partly enslaved to the great landlords, a situation which continued until the Russian annexation in the 19th century. Some European Jews now settled in Georgia, so you had a mixture of Jews living there from other periods.
Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century."
Georgian Jews began to emigrate to Palestine in 1863. 1,700 Jews arrived by 1921.
 |
| Jews in Tbilis, Georgia |
A Jewish ethnographic museum was established at Tiflis, now called (Tbilisi) in 1933, just before World War II started. The Jewish population increased considerably since the 2nd World War started during the end of the 30s. Jewish population in Georgia was 55,382 by 1970. After that date many Jews left Georgia and emigrated to Israel. In 1989 there were 24700 Jews in Georgia of whom 14,300 were those who spoke Georgian, showing they may have been born there to parents speaking this native language.
Georgia is a small country. It's population today is: 3,905,010.
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia at the border of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Georgia is bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. In 2019, Georgia's population is estimated at 3.90 million, which ranks 133rd in the world.
Georgia is different from other countries because of its location on our planet. "What's the highest mountain range in Europe? The Alps? Wrong. It is the Caucasus Mountains marking the border between Georgia and Russia. While the highest peak is in Russia, Georgia lays claim to the second highest, Shkara, which at 5,193m (17,040 ft) beats Mont Blanc by nearly 400m (1,312 ft). These dramatic mountains, with their terrifying hairpin roads and hidden villages cut off at winter, are the stuff of legend. In Greek mythology they were one of the pillars holding up the world. And it was here that Zeus tied up Prometheus, to have his liver eaten by eagles. Today they are increasingly becoming a destination for climbers, walkers or skiers looking for adventure. "
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Ilia II of Georgia
Ilia II (Georgian: ილია II), also transliterated as Ilya or Elijah (born January 4, 1933), is the current Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church
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The numbers of Georgian citizens travelling to Israel and applying for asylum has skyrocketed over the past few years; only four Georgians sought asylum in Israel during the entirety of 2013, compared to 5,505 between January and November 2016. 3,200 Jews were counted in 2010 living in Georgia.
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/exilarch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Georgia
https://www.georgianjournal.ge/discover-georgia/23968-10-things-you-might-not-know-about-georgia--bbc.html
Update: 6/4/19 on relationship with Maronite Christians from Lebanonfile:///C:/Users/Home.DELL.000/Downloads/Are%20the%20Maronites%20of%20Lebanon%20really%20Jews.pdf, possible Maronite origins-being Georgia in early period.
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