Thread by @ZechariahSharab

🧵on Jews of #Yemen ٱلْيَمَن 🇾🇪

The #Jews of Yemen are one of the most ancient and indigenous communities of the Middle East

Our community first arrived in the Arabian peninsula prior to the destruction of the First Temple in #Jerusalem, over 2,500 years ago

2) Depite the geographic distance from other Jewish communities, Yemeni Jews preserved authentic traditions of Judaism as well as pronounication of the Hebrew language

As such, we are not Sephardic, but rather have our own unique branch of traditions

3) One example is wearing of the prayer shawl (talith) on the left shoulder at all times, not only during prayer

You'll see notice this in all pictures from Yemen

4) Another example is the strict schooling starting at age 3.

All kids would learn our ancient traditions of Hebrew pronounciation, as well as start memorization of the entire Torah, Prophets, Mishna, and Maimonides

5) Unlike the rest of the Jewish world, Yemeni kids would start reciting the Torah in public in synagogue starting at age 5, and wear Tefillin well before age 13

Schooling was very serious! Sitting in a circle, half the class would need to learn to read upside down

6) That's why many of our grandparents would prefer to read upside down

In this picture, an elder is holding a prayer book upside down, a common picture from my chidhood

7) Jews dominated the craft of precious metal in the Arabian peninsulate for over 2,000 years. They were noted for their skilled use of fine granulation and filigree, producing ornaments such as women's bracelets, necklaces, as elaborate daggers, worn by all men in #Yemen

8) Sana'a alone had hundreds of Jewish silversmith shops whose work was appreciated and popular throughout the entire Arabian peninsula

9) Our ancestors were also masters at crafting unique emboridered garments embedded with jewlery

Garment designs differed depending on age, occasion, and marital status

Both men and women would work together to produce these amazing garments

10) Both traditions of Jewlery and garments are strongly preserved today in #Israel in our community

Here is a wedding in #Israel showing some of these authentic traditions

11) Another tradition unique to the Arabian Peninsula is women's poetry

#Jewish women in #Yemen wrote and published poetry as early as the 17th Century in both Arabic and Hebrew, reflecting anecdotes and expressions of every day life

12) In fact, all our wedding songs today are based on this ancient poetry

A new generation of Yemeni Jewish musicians in #Israel is preserving this important tradition by reviving this poetry in their music

13) Jews lived all over Yemen, but major communities lived in 4 primary regions:

🔷Sana'a
🔷Shar'ab (Taiz)
🔷Aden
🔷Hadramaut

14) The Jews of Sana'a lived in a Jewish Quarter called Qa'a al-Yahud قاع اليهود, similar to the Jewish Quarter in #Jerusalem

Highly influenced by Maimonides, the Sana'a community followed a rational philosophic approach and opposed all forms of mysticism

15) The leader of the Sana'a community was Chief Rabbi Yaḥya Qafiḥ يحيى القافح

Rabbi Qafih formed the Dor De'ah movement, promoting learning of the rational philosophies of Maimonides, mathematics, sciences, languages, and Arab philosphers Al-Farabi, Ibn-Sina, and Ibn-Rushd

16) The community of Shar'ab as-Salam #Taiz took a very different route. This community of 1,000 were devout mystics, dedicating their time to meditation and study of the Zohar and Kabbalah

This beautiful village is where my grandparents lived

17) This was the home of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, the 17th C poet and scholar. R' Shabazi wrote huge amounts of poetry in Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic

Jews and Muslims would make a pilgrimage all year round to his tomb, still in tact today and protected by a local Muslim family

18) #Aden was always a major a port city, hence this community was highly influenced by other Jewish traditions. During the 19th C, they took on many Sephardic customs

They developed their own unique cuisine. Jachnoon, perhaps the most popular Yemeni Jewish dish, is from Aden

19) Headed by Rabbi Banin Menahem Moshe Cohen, the community built major educational and professional institutions

They were the first in #Yemen to build a major girls school

In this picture, King Edward VIII visits the Jewish community of #Aden in 1922

20) Finally, the community of Hadhramaut חצרמוות حَضْرَمُوتُ was the most unique

They grew long hair, wore different clothes, and most were warriors!

21) In fact, it was the Jews of Hardhramaut that King Abdullah of Jordan picked to be his bodyguards

They are members of the famous Ma'atuf family, whose descendants live in #Israel today and practice a uniqe form of Yemeni martial arts!

22) The Jew of Hadhramaut are also known as Habbani Jews

Many live in the town of Bareqet in #Israel and preserve their unique traditions

23) Yemenite Jewish surnames often reveal our city of origin

🔹Shar'abi = Shar'ab
🔹Sana'ani = Sana'a
🔹Habbani = Hadhramaut
🔹Adani = Aden

And so on...

24) #Yemen was historically very tribal and split into independent governates.

As such, religious tolerance was very dependent on location and time in history

For my grandparents in Shar'ab (Taiz), they experienced wonderful co-existence with their Muslim neighbors

25) In Northern areas under Zaydi rule (the godfathers of the Houthis) Jews and other minorities were discriminated against and even had to wear special symbols to clearly show their religion

Luckily, most of Yemen was not under Zaydi rule...

26) The expulsion of the Jews of Yemen started in 1949 with the riots in Aden

Several homes and community buildings were burned and destroyed and Jewish residents attacked

27) The Yemeni government decided to exile most of the 50,000 Jews of #Yemen between 1949-1951

My grandparents' community had to walk by foot from Taiz to Aden, close to 200km, in order to reach an emergency airlift to #Israel

Many died on the way

28) After 2,500 years of loyal citizenship, the Jews of #Yemen were forced to leave their homes without their belongings

This is a very painful memory for our community

29) Jews from all Yemeni communities met in Aden in preparation for their migration to #Israel

Despite all the challenges and pain, they kept their faith and resilience and continued to smile through it all

30) They lost their homes and belongings, but never lost their faith

31) By 1951, most of Yemen's Jews were in #Israel

Starting a new life in new world: different languages, different traditions and cultures, and with it, new challenges

32) All Yemeni Jews first landed in the city of Rosh HaAyin, where they would spend the next few months rebuilding their communities, synagogues, and workshops

For there, the community moved to different cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Rehovot, and various Moshavim in the South

33) Our grandparents kept all their traditions: religious, language, pronounication, clothing, food, and of course, the mada'a: the huge Yemeni smoke pipe😂a new arrival in the Levant

34) Today #Israel has 500,000 Yemeni Jews

We work hard to preserve our ancient cultures and traditions, as passed down from our grandparents

Everywhere we go, the Torah goes with us, as well as the fond memories of our grandparents

35) A new generation of Yemeni Jews, proud of their traditions, preserves our music, religous traditions, and pronounciation

Bands like A-WA continue to innovate and revive our musical traditions and ancient poetry

36) There are hunderds of Yemeni synagogues in #Israel and even Yemeni yeshivas

We even have special degree program in Yemeni Jewlery at one of our universities!

We walk hand in hand with our elders who pass on our traditions as well as love for #Yemen