There are many Jews (or were) in Syria, Baghdad and India whose roots trace back to Spain and the expulsion of Jews.  Many Iraqi Jews settled in Bombay and other Indian cities, as did a number of Persian Jews.  An entire community of Iraqi Jews settled in Teheran in the 1950s, while others went to New York or to Israel.

The Jewish people of Syria, Baghdad and India (mainly of Iraqi origin) are not Sephardic Jewish people, but Mizrachim (Eastern) Jewish people.  From a posting by Udi Cain chaikin@netvision.net.il

The Ancient Near East
The History of the Ancient Near East, Ancient Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Arabia, Cyprus, Bahrain and Western Iran
http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/index.html

The Modern Middle East
At various times, Holocaust Maps and many more links  
http://www.rootsweb.com/~isrwgw  

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/modernmap.html

Photos of a traveler from Carthage to Cairo
http://chriscox.travellerspoint.com/

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Centennia

A map based guide to the history of Europe and the Middle East from the beginning of the 11th century to the present.  It is a dynamic, animated historical atlas.  You can watch over 9,000 border changes occur as the map reshapes itself from date to the next.  This is a commercial product, but is worth looking over. 
http://www.historicalatlas.net/  

The company allows a download copy to use to try out.  This 'Working Model' covers the period from 1790 to 1819.  This was the era of the French Revolution, the Partition of Poland and the Napoleonic wars and is free for as long as you want.  MAC models are not supported for the free download.

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Books 

"Locked Doors: The Seizure of Jewish Property in Arab Countries" 
Authored by Itamar Levin and published by Ministry of Defense Press and Praeger Publishers in 2001.  In English.  A review of this book can be found in the B'nai B'rith Magazine, Spring 2002 issue on page 9.  The book can be purchased by using my amazon.com link to the left of this page.

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"My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq"
Authored by Ariel Sabar and published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

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The Ancient Near East
The History of the Ancient Near East, Ancient Israel, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Arabia, Cyprus, Bahrain and Western Iran
http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/index.html

---

The Modern Middle East
At various times, Holocaust Maps and many more links  
http://www.rootsweb.com/~isrwgw  

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/modernmap.html

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    Maps

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Afghanistan 

http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/afghanis.htm

The Jewish community dates back more than 800 years. Jews were first mentioned in an Afghan document of the 7th century, which speaks of a people called Bani Israel settling in Bhor, and later, in the 12th century, famed traveler Benjamin of Tudela counted 80.000 Jews in the country.  Archaeologists have found Jewish tombstones in various parts of Afghanistan.  The stones offer not only the names of the deceased (in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Persian) but also their titles and status in the Jewish community.  Similar tombstones were found in China, where the community was apparently founded by Jews from the Persia-Afghanistan area.

The first known oleh from Afghanistan, Mula Beyamin Gul Shaoulof, settled in Jerusalem in 1892, and Jews continued to trickle in over the years.  But most came to Israel after the State was established in 1948, and shortly thereafter official permission to emigrate was given.

Much of the above information was obtained from reading an excellent article in the May 2009 issue of the Orange County Jewish Life written by Nechemia Meyers who lives Rehovot, Israel and is a syndicated columnist for many Jewish newspapers and magazines throughout the US.
www.ocjewishlife.com

In 1948, there were some 5,000 Jews living in the country, but the majority emigrated to Israel in the 1950s.  Most of the remaining Jews live in Kabul where there is one synagogue.

In Afghanistan today (2009) there is only one Jew left.  See and listen to his story.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/04/06/opinion/1194839255168/op-ed-last-jew-in-afghanistan.html

http://www.isjm.org/country/herat.htm

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Herat

Located in western Afghanistan.  Many generations of Jews had resided here over the past 2,000 years and possibly from the period of the Babylonian Exile and the Persian conquest.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Afghanistan.html

Cemetery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Herat_Jews_Cemetery.jpg

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Egypt 

Information can be found at my African page

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Iran  

http://www.jewishjournal.com/iranianamericanjews/2007/12/P8/

From Persia to Miami: A Journey for Survival"
www.jewishmuseum.com

The Persian Jewish community is over 2,500 years old, dating back to the 6th century B.C.E., but has been dispersed to Israel, California and New York. Before the 1979 revolution, the Jewish community numbered 80,000.  Today there are still about 25,000 Jews left.

There are some 18,000 Jews in Tehran.  There are also 20 synagogues, all of which are full during the Jewish holidays. There are also 10 Jewish schools in Tehran. Another 12,000 or so Jews live elsewhere Iran, mainly in Isfahan and Shiraz.

Iran bans Jews from any correspondence with relatives in Israel, though Jews can receive incoming phone calls from Israel.

Yivo's Holdings
Include items in Judeo-Persian (Farsi in Hebrew characters).  Used by the Jews of Iran for speaking and writing, including centuries-old poetry, prose and even a very early 20th century Teheran newspaper, it is barely spoken by today's modern community.
www.yivoinstitute.org

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Books  
             

"An Unknown Episode"
The history of an encounter of thousands of Polish Jewish soldiers with the Jews of Iraq and Iran in 1942-1943 written by Dr. Shaul Sehayik (Tel Aviv 2003).

This is an amazing true story of Jewish brotherhood and how the Iranian and Iraqi Jewish communities during the years of 1942-43, accepted, assisted, smuggled to Palestine  and opened the houses and the hearts to their Jewish Polish brothers who suffered awful persecutions during WWII, refugees, soldiers in the Anders Army and 750  children known as "the Teheran Children".

Table of Contents and a Forward:
http://www.zchor.org/brotherhood/book.htm

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"The Comprehensive History of the Jews in Iran"
Authored by Dr. Habib Levi and published by Mazda Publishers

---

"Full Circle - Escape from Baghdad and the Return"
Authored by Saul Silas Fathi
http://www.saulsilasfathi.com/

---

Hamadan (Echatana)

Population in 2009 was 400,000.  It is located  375 km SW of Tehran. Scenically situated at 1870 m it has a relatively cool climate in spring and autumn but is extremely cold in winter. Allegedly the oldest city in Iran.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/253131/Hamadan

Note what is said about the alleged tombs of Esther and Mordachai. Under a simple brick dome, two ancient wooden tombs lie side-by-side.  One, draped in shimmering cloths is labeled "Ester" in English and Hebrew; the other, also covered in color cloth, reads "Mordekhay". There is a tiny (25) Jewish population remaining here and the Rabbi will ask you for a biro for his exotic collection. Some interesting excavations going on at Hegmataneh Hill provide a reminder of Hamadan's very ancient past

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Iranian Jewish Oral History

http://www.cijoh.org/

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Mashad

In 1736, Nader Shah, the ruler of Persia, enticed 40 Jewish families with promises of privileges and financial incentives to move to his new capital.  But the Jews were confined to ghetto-like neighborhoods in the fervently Muslim city.  In 1839, a pogrom incited by rumor resulted in a decree against the Jews: conversion or death.  Over 200 families converted but continued to practice Judaism secretly, marrying within the community to preserve their Judaism.  Although they now can practice Judaism openly, they remain a tightly knit group wherever they live today.

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Shiraz

Had a Jewish presence and is almost 120 miles north of Hamadan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910_Shiraz_blood_libel

http://www.iranian.com/BTW/2003/February/Jews/index.html

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Shushan

Ester, of Purim fame, lived here.  There was once a large Jewish presence
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Jews_in_Shushan

---

Translating Services - Languages

Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department.  They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English.  A nominal fee is usually charged.

LingvoSoft Dictionary software English <-> Yiddish for Windows - 400,000 words
With this LingvoSoft smart dictionary software on your computer, you can easily switch between English and Yiddish, Farsi to English (and many other languages) for prompt translations of 400,000 words both ways!
Download Free Trial now

---

Iraq  

Jews have deep roots in Iraq going back more than 2,500 years and belonged to the oldest Diaspora community, with a very strong Jewish tradition.  Here was the birthplace of Abraham. Jews can date their community back at least to the First Babylonian Exile in 586 B.C.E.  Some cite the even more ancient date of 732 B.C.E., when the Israelite tribes of Samaria were expelled by the Assyrians.  

The community never assimilated, produced great scholars, rabbis and learned books, and for some 800 years, from 200 to 1038 B.C.E., represented the intellectual center of the Jewish world, according to Lev Hakak, a professor of Jewish studies and literature at UCLA, who was born in Israel of parents who were part of the great exodus in 1951-51. In the 1940s, there was a once thriving and influential community of 130,000 Jews and today there are fewer than 50.  In 1932, when Iraq gained its independence, all progress for Jews came to an abrupt and violent end.  Laws were passed restricting employment for Jews, as well as where Jews could live and travel.

The Baghdad Jews are not Ashkenazim (Jews from Northern and Eastern Europe) or Sephardim (descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews) but part of a third major branch of Judaism, the Mizrakhim (Middle Eastern Jews).

At the Jewish community's height in the twentieth century, 150,000 Jews lived in Iraq.  In 1941, the lot of Iraqi Jews turned to fear and instability, fueled by a pogrom.  In 1970 there were only 3,300 Jews left. During  the 1920s, the British created Iraq out of three provinces, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra of the old Ottoman Empire.

Emigration was prohibited so many Iraqi Jews escaped through an underground Jewish community.

In 1951-52, there was a great exodus of some 110,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel.  Today the estimated 250,000 Israelis with Iraqi roots has become the third largest Jewish Community in Israel. Those who were left after the Six Day War in 1967 were arrested and dismissed from their jobs.  Many had lived in the Beitawin district, still known as Thawrat (Torah) because of the Jews who once lived there in Baghdad.

 "Many Jewish people of Iraq and Kurdistan, are referring themselves as of "East of Eretz Israel" origin, and I gave the example of my father-in-law's parents, who like huge amount of people who came from Kurdistan right after the British conquered Israel, and took the surname Mizrachi because they came from East of Israel, and today we have thousands of people with the surname Mizrachi (Eastern) which was given to their ancestors in the 1920s, since they came from "East of Israel."  From a posting to JewishGen by Udi Cain on

Iraq 1940
Movie Clip
http://www.movietone-portraits.com/

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Books  
                

"From the Tigris to the Mississippi: My Road to Maturity"
Authored by Violet Kandoory.  Violet is an Iraqi Jew who now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and tells her story from the time she was born in Baghdad in 1927 to her escape to Israel, then to Egypt and Switzerland and then to New York and finally to St. Paul, Minnesota

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"Jewish Schools in Baghdad: 1832-1974; Picture Album",
Hebrew-English edited by Yehuda Z. Or Yehuda, Babyl. Jew. Herit. Ct, 1996 114 pages. This information was supplied by Carol Rombro Rider CRomRider@aol.com 

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"Jewish State, Iraqi Contributions"
An article about the Jews from Iraq and what they brought to Israel - the sounds, smells and tastes of their centuries-old culture.  Authored by Loolwa Khazzom and published in Hadassah Magazine of November 2003 page 26

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"Searching for Baghdad: A Daughter's Journey"
Authored by Adriana Davis and produced by D-Squared Media E-mail adavis@dsquaremedia.com  - a story about a number of prominent Baghdadi Jews in the 1800s sailing for Southeast Asia where they established a trading empire.  Carole Basri, a descendant, journeys East to discover what may have been preserved of the Iraqi Jewish essence in this documentary.

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"Surviving Saddam - Memoirs of an Iraqi Jew from Baghdad"
The story of his escape in 1970 and life for Jews in Iraq
http://thesite2000.virtualave.net/iraqijews/herdoon.html

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"With Baggage from Babylon"
An article published in the November, 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine and authored by Rahel Musleah.  Page 13.

---

Book Resources

Rubin Mass Ltd.
P O Box 990
Jerusalem 91009, Israel 
Telephone: 972 2 6277863  Fax 972 2 6277864 
www.interage.co.il/mas

 E-mail rmass@inter.net.il  has a catalog list of recent publications from Israel.  Some of the books available, that might be of interest to a researcher:

• #87126 Annals of Iraqi Jewry Melameda, Ora (ed.) Melamed, O. (ed.)  $60;
  #80509 Edward Norman's plan to transfer Arabs from Palestine to Iraq
              by Chaim Simons;
  #66572 Geology of Iraq, V.; A Ehrlich and Y. Bartov $35;

• #67882 Iraq under Qassem Dann, O Uriel;
  #84214 Iraq-My Testimony Mercado, authored by Esther Mercado $18;
  #101514 Newspapers and Periodicals of Iraq compiled by Haim Gal and
               published by The M. Dayan Center  Tel Aviv University $16. 
  #98165 Palestinian Refugees in Iraq Qudsiyeh authored by Shaml Labib $25.

• (Mention that you saw them mentioned on Jewish Web Index).

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Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center

Although I haven't studied the site very much, there seems to be quite a bit of information about the Jews of Iraq at this site which offers an insight into the 2,700 years of Babylonian Jewish history since they were exiled from the land of Israel and until their eventual return from Iraq to their former homeland.
http://www.babylonjewry.org.il/new/english/home.htm 

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ETSI - Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Society  

The purpose of "ETSI" is to help people interested in Jewish Genealogical and Historical Research in the Sephardi World.  "ETSI's" field of study covers the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Greece, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Egypt); North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia); Spain, Portugal, Italy and Gibraltar.  The study of every Sephardi community or family who lived in other regions is equally within the society's aim.   Email laurphil@wanadoo.fr
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/cal.html

---

Genealogy

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-museum-20101031,0,1866157.story 

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Iraqi Jews genealogy

From Baghdad to links to family trees at
http://thesite2000.virtualave.net/iraqijews/genealogy.html

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Jews From Baghdad

This site is dedicated to the Jews of Iraq who left Baghdad during the 1960's and 1970's. We are dispersed all over the world: Israel, UK, USA, Canada, Holland, Australia,  This is the place to share memories and stories and to look for lost friends.
http://thesite2000.virtualave.net/iraqijews  

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Los Angeles

There are some 3,000 Jews of Iraqi origin and descent in Los Angeles.  Members of the Iraqi Jewish community, the largest such enclave in the U.S., belong to various synagogues, but the center of their religious life is Kahal Joseph, on the West Side of the city.  The Sephardic congregation consists of some 400 families, most of whom have either descended from or had emigrated to India, China, Singapore and Burma in the early 1900s.
http://www.jfsatx.org/

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Sephardic Sites

http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig/

---

Translating Services - Languages

Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department.  They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English.  A nominal fee is usually charged.
http://www.systransoft.com/arabic-english-translation

---

Lebanon 

 
Beirut Maghen Abraham Synagogue
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2008/09/_lebanon_jews_t.php

The Sephardic Communities of Lebanon and Lebanese Sephardim Deportees from France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Lebanon

http://sephardichouse.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Lebanon

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/lebjews.html

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Libya 

Street scene in Le Kef

The Slat Abn Shaif Synagogue in Zliten, before World War II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Libya

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Books 
            

---

ETSI - Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Society  

The purpose of "ETSI" is to help people interested in Jewish Genealogical and Historical Research in the Sephardi World.  "ETSI's" field of study covers the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Greece, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Egypt); North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia); Spain, Portugal, Italy and Gibraltar.  The study of every Sephardi community or family who lived in other regions is equally within the society's aim.  Email laurphil@wanadoo.fr
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/cal.html

---

History of the Jews in Libya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Libya

---

Libyan Sephardim Deportees from France

http://sephardichouse.org/

---

North African Jews in Israel

Family history through the story of Simon Benzimra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_exodus_from_Arab_and_Muslim_countries

---

Syria

http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-06-28/news/17209421_1_syrian-jews-jewish-syrians-wave-of-jewish-emigration

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Books  
             

General Information - Syria

There were about 30,000 Jews around 1948, however since the founding of Israel, the amount has dwindled to an estimate 25 Jews - all in Damascus, the capital city. It is possible to visit the country, even if you are Jewish, though if you have visited Israel in the past, and your passport is stamped by Israel, you will have difficulty unless you are willing to lie about any previous visits to Israel.

The story of the beginning of Syrian Jews is that Joab, one of King David's lieutenants, started the first Jewish settlement in Syria about 3,000 years ago. More certain is the Jewish presence in Roman and Medieval times, and after the Inquisition in 1492 as Syria was then part of the Ottoman Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Jews

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Aleppo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Syria

Books  
             

"Jews of Aleppo: a Historical point of view"
Authored by Sarina Roffe may be viewed at Issue 17 of ETSI.  also a list of the pupils who attended the Alliance Israelite Universelle School of Aleppo before 1879

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"Aleppo Tales"
Authored by Haim Sabato and translated from the Hebrew by Philip Simpson.  Published by Toby Press.  The three tales told in the book are tied together by their reminiscences of Syrian Jewish life.

---

Bosra

Located south of Damascus (about a 2 hour drive),  there is a magnificent Roman theatre in a near-perfect state of preservation.  A large citadel was built around it several centuries later, and there are also the remains of the old Roman town along with some interesting mosques and churches.
http://www.hsje.org/jews_kicked_out_of_arab_countrie.htm

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Damascus

This city was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome and was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

In Hebrew/Arabic it is known as Damesek.  It is the capital of Syria.  Even in Polish, the town name is known as Damaszek. It was apparently the surname of some Syrian Jews much as European Jews adopted similar geographic names.
http://www.oldamascus.com/jews.htm

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ETSI

Sephardi Genealogical and Historical Society  
The purpose of "ETSI" is to help people interested in Jewish Genealogical and Historical Research in the Sephardi World.  "ETSI's" field of study covers the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Greece, Palestine, Syria, Libya, Egypt); North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia); Spain, Portugal, Italy and Gibraltar.  The study of every Sephardi community or family who lived in other regions is equally within the society's aim.   
Email laurphil@wanadoo.fr
http://www.sephardicstudies.org/cal.html

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Jodensavanne

A synagogue still stands in this village.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodensavanne

---

National Museum

Located in Damascus, has on display the first complete alphabet in the world going from left to right and incised into a clay tablet.  It also holds an ancient synagogue dating from the third century C. E. and transported to Damascus from Durs Europos on the upper Euphrates river.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/syria/damascus-national-museum

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Palmyra

This was a Roman city around 200 AD.  It is located in the desert, about 4 hours north east of Damascus.  The Arabic name is Tadmor.  There is a museum and the Temple of Bel and the two tombs in the Valley of the Tombs which are open to the public.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0019_0_19508.html

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Sephardic Sites

http://www.jewishgen.org/sephardicsig/

---

Syrian Jewish Community

Located in Brooklyn.
http://www.jewishgen.org/SefardSIG/AleppoJews.htm

---

Translating Services - Languages

Just in case you didn't think of it, contact a nearby university or college's foreign language department.  They may offer to write letters and translate letters into English.  A nominal fee is usually charged.
http://www.sms-translator.net/english-arabic-translator.php

---

Tunisia

© 2007. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute  this issue of The Philadelphia Jewish Voice or (unless specified otherwise) any of the articles therein in their full original form provided these same rights are conveyed to the reader and subscription information to The Philadelphia Jewish Voice is provided. Subscribers should be directed to
http://www.pjvoice.com/Subscribe.htm

Most of Tunisia's Jewish population has relocated to other countries, its synagogues are thriving from international tourism.  President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali authorized funds to restore these historic monuments to Tunisia's heritage. One such restored synagogue is Ghrebet El Yahud which is the oldest in North Africa (located in Le Kef's Kasbah, a small village Hara Sghira) of 120,000 where Jews once lived.  None have lived here since 1984 though visitors from such countries as the United States, Europe, Lebanon and even Libya appear in the synagogue's Guest Book.

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Djerba

An island that is home to around 1,000 of Tunisia's 1,500 Jews.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/regions-places/africa-northwestern/tunisia_djerbaisland.html

http://benatlas.com/2009/06/life-of-djerba-jews-in-tunisia-part-1/

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Houmi Souk

Where the Jews have small shops alongside their Muslim neighbors. The Jewish shops are distinguished by the addition of Hebrew lettering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houmt_Souk

http://palinstravels.co.uk/book-2187

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La Goulette

Located near Tunis, has a Jewish presence.

http://www.jewishquarterly.org/issuearchive/article8110.html?articleid=159

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Le Kef's Synagogue

Al-Ghriba Synagogue

Le Kef once had a thriving Jewish community.  this abandoned synagogue is all that remains of their presence even though it was in the middle of the former Jewish quarter.

Has one of the most unusual features - a 600 year old Torah scrolls, written on sheepskin.  There is also a wooden circumcision chair displayed near the entrance and black and white photos taken at various stages during the 1994 restoration. It is located in the northwestern part of Tunisia where a Muslim man named Mohamed Tlili restored the abandoned old Jewish synagogue, also called the Ghriba, because he thought it was the right thing to do.
http://www.kosherdelight.com/Tunisia_Larry_Luxner_1.shtml

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Nabeul

Once had a Jewish population of nearly 1,200 Jews, a quarter of the population of the city. It is a five minute drive from the popular Mediterranean resort of Hammamet. There was once a Great Synagogue that would hold up to 400 Jews for Yom Kippur services and six smaller shuls were also filled.  Currently, there are about four Jewish families
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2008/01/muslims-restore-jew-less-tunisian.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2742/is_390/ai_n27873088/

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Yemen

http://mentalblog.com/2007/05/yemenite-jews-of-arabian-peninsula.html

As of January, 2009, there are approximately 280 Jews remaining in Yemen.  Another source counts 400 Jews.

---

Raida

A northern city that has some Jews

Information about Yemenite Jews  
www.chayas.com/articles.htm 

---

The Last Jews of Yemen

An audio  
musical.htm

---

Secret Mission Rescues Yemen's Jew

By MIRIAM JORDAN
AFP/Getty Images
UNDER SIEGE: The State Department has resettled about 60 Yemeni Jews in the U.S. since July 2008 amid rising violence; more are expected to arrive. Here, the father of Moshe Nahari, who was killed in December, with his daughters outside a court in Yemen following a hearing in the murder case.

MONSEY, N.Y. -- In his new suburban American home, Shaker Yakub, a Yemeni Jew, folded a large scarf in half, wrapped it around his head and tucked in his spiraling side curls. "This is how I passed for a Muslim," said the 59-year-old father of seven, improvising a turban that hid his black skullcap. The ploy enabled Mr. Yakub and half a dozen members of his family to slip undetected out of their native town of Raida, Yemen, and travel to the capital 50 miles to the south. There, they met U.S. State Department officials conducting a clandestine operation to bring some of Yemen's last remaining Jews to America to escape rising anti-Semitic violence in his country.

In all, about 60 Yemeni Jews have resettled in the U.S. since July; officials say another 100 could still come. There were an estimated 350 in Yemen before the operation began. Some of the remainder may go to Israel and some will stay behind, most in a government enclave.
Clandestine Resettlement

Moshe Nahari, who was murdered in December 2008 (left), and Said Ben Yisrael, whose house was firebombed, danced at a wedding celebration in Raida, Yemen in 2007.
    
The secret evacuation of the Yemeni Jews -- considered by historians to be one of the oldest of the Jewish Diaspora communities -- is a sign of America's growing concern about this Arabian Peninsula land of 23 million.

The operation followed a year of mounting harassment, and was plotted with Jewish relief groups while Washington was signaling alarm about Yemen. In July, Gen. David Petraeus was dispatched to Yemen to encourage President Ali Abdullah Saleh to be more aggressive against al-Qaeda terrorists in the country. Last month, President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to President Saleh that Yemen's security is vital to the region and the U.S.

Yemen was overshadowed in recent years by bigger trouble spots such as Afghanistan. But it has re-emerged on Washington's radar as a potential source of regional instability and a haven for terrorists. The impoverished nation is struggling with a Shiite revolt in the north, a secessionist movement in the south, and growing militancy among al-Qaeda sympathizers, raising concern about the government's ability to control its territory. Analysts believe al-Qaeda operatives are making alliances with local tribes that could enable it to establish a stronghold in Yemen, as it did in Afghanistan prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The State Department took something of a risk in removing the Yemenis to the U.S., as it might be criticized for favoritism at a time when refugees elsewhere are clamoring for haven. The U.S. calculated the operation would serve both a humanitarian and a geopolitical purpose. In addition to rescuing a group threatened because of its religion, Washington was seeking to prevent an international embarrassment for an embattled Arab ally.

President Saleh has been trying to protect the Jews, but his inability to quell the rebellion in the country's north made it less likely he could do so, prompting the U.S. to step in. The alternative -- risking broader attacks on the Jews -- could well have undermined the Obama administration's efforts to rally support for President Saleh in the U.S. and abroad.

"If we had not done anything, we feared there would be bloodshed," says Gregg Rickman, former State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.

Mr. Yakub says the operation saved his family from intimidation that had made life in Yemen unbearable. Violence toward the country's small remaining Jewish community began to intensify last year, when one of its most prominent members was gunned down outside his house. But the mission also hastens the demise of one of the oldest remaining Jewish communities in the Arab world.

Jews are believed to have reached what is now Yemen more than 2,500 years ago as traders for King Solomon. They survived -- and at times thrived -- over centuries of change, including the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula. "They were one of the oldest exiled groups out of Israel," says Hayim Tawil, a Yeshiva University professor who is an expert on Yemeni Jewry. "This is the end of the Jewish Diaspora of Yemen. That's it."

Centuries of near total isolation make Yemeni Jews a living link with the ancient world. Many can recite passages of the Torah by heart and read Hebrew, but can't read their native tongue of Arabic. They live in stone houses, often without running water or electricity. One Yemeni woman showed up at the airport expecting to board her flight with a live chicken.

Through the centuries, the Jews earned a living as merchants, craftsmen and silversmiths known for designing djanbias, traditional daggers that only Muslims are allowed to carry. Jewish musical compositions became part of Yemeni culture, played at Muslim weddings and festivals.

"Yemeni Jews have always been a part of Yemeni society and have lived side by side in peace with their Muslim brothers and sisters," said a spokeswoman for the Embassy of Yemen in Washington.

In 1947, on the eve of the birth of the state of Israel, protests in the port city of Aden resulted in the death of dozens of Jews and the destruction of their homes and shops. In 1949 and 1950 about 49,000 people -- the majority of Yemen's Jewish community -- were airlifted to Israel in "Operation Magic Carpet."

About 2,000 Jews stayed in Yemen. Some trickled out until 1962, when civil war erupted. After that, they were stuck there. "For three decades, there were no telephone calls, no letters, no traveling overseas. The fact there were Jews in Yemen was barely known outside Israel," says Prof. Tawil.

After alienating the West by backing Iraq during the first Gulf War, Yemen sought a rapprochement with Washington. In 1991, it declared freedom of travel for Jews. An effort led by Prof. Tawil and brokered by the U.S. government culminated in the departure of about 1,200 Jews, mainly to Israel, in the early 1990s. Arthur Hughes, American ambassador to Yemen at the time, recalls that those who chose to remain insisted: "This is where we have been for centuries, we are okay; we're not going anywhere."

The few hundred Jews who stayed behind were concentrated in two enclaves: Saada, a remote area in Yemen's northern highlands, and Raida to the south. In 2004, unrest erupted in Saada. The government says at least 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting between its troops and the Houthis, a Shiite rebel group. Animosity against Jews intensified. Notes nailed to the homes of Jews accused them of working for Israel and corrupting Muslim morals. "Jews were specifically targeted by Houthi rebels," says a spokeswoman for the Yemeni embassy in Washington.

In January 2007, Houthi leaders threatened Jewish families in Saada. "We warn you to leave the area immediately... [W]e give you a period of 10 days, or you will regret it," read a letter signed by a Houthi representative cited in a Reuters article.

Virtually the entire Jewish community in the area, about 60 people, fled to the capital. Since then, they have been receiving food stipends and cash assistance from the government while living in state-owned apartments in a guarded enclave, says the Yemeni embassy in Washington. President Saleh, a Shiite, has been eager to demonstrate goodwill toward the Jews. On the Passover holiday, he invited TV crews to videotape families in the government complex as they feasted on lamb he had ordered.

Raida became the last redoubt of Yemeni Jews, who continued to lead a simple life there alongside Muslims.

Ancient stone homes dot the town. Electricity is erratic; oil lamps are common. Water arrives via truck. Most homes lack a TV or a refrigerator. The cell phone is the only common modern device. Some families receive financial aid from Hasidic Jewish groups in Brooklyn and London, which has enabled them to buy cars. Typically, the Jewish men are blacksmiths, shoe repairmen or carpenters. They sometimes barter, trading milk and cow dung for grass to feed their livestock. In public, the men stand out for their long side curls, customarily worn by observant Jewish men. Jewish women, who often marry by 16, rarely leave home. When they do, like Muslim women, only their eyes are exposed. For fun, children play with pebbles and chase family chickens around the house. At Jewish religious schools, they sit at wooden tables to study Torah and Hebrew. They aren't taught subjects like science, or to read and write in Arabic, Yemen's official language.

"I showed them a multiplication table and I don't think they had ever seen one," says Stefan Kirschner, a New York University graduate student who visited Raida in August 2008 and says he sat in a few classes.

In September 2008, militants detonated a car bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, killing 16 people. The attack raised fresh concern about Muslim extremism and the government's stability.
Then, on Dec. 11, a lone gunman shot dead Moshe Nahari, a father of nine and well-known figure in Raida's Jewish community. Abdul-Aziz al-Abdi, a retired Air Force pilot, pumped several bullets into Mr. Nahari after the Hebrew teacher dismissed his demands that he convert to Islam. In June, the shooter was sentenced to death.

Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip later in December sparked protests in Yemen. Jewish men and children in Raida were heckled, beaten and pelted with rocks. A grenade was hurled at the house of Said Ben Yisrael, who led one of three makeshift synagogues in Raida, and landed in the courtyard of his two-story home. From the safety of his new home in suburban New York, Mr. Yakub recounted his last months in Yemen. Rocks shattered the windows of his house and car. Except for emergencies and provisions, Jews began to avoid leaving home. When they did, Mr. Yakub and other Jews took to disguising themselves as Muslims.
 
"This was no way to live," he said, seated at the head of a long table surrounded by his wife and children. Salem Suleiman, who also arrived recently in New York, bears scars from rocks that hit his head. "They throw stones at us. They curse us. They want to kill us," he said. "I didn't leave my house for two months."

New York had a community of about 2,000 Yemeni Jews. Yair Yaish, who heads the Yemenite Jewish Federation of America, says he was barraged with "desperate calls from the community here saying we have to do something to get our families out." The U.S. Ambassador to Yemen urged Yemeni ministers to facilitate the departure. After initial reluctance -- the government preferred to give the Jews safe haven in the capital city -- Yemen agreed to issue exit permits and passports. "It was the embassy's view, and the Department concurred, that because of their vulnerability, we should consider them for resettlement," says a spokeswoman for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

Jewish Federations of North America raised $750,000 to help the effort. Orthodox groups also pledged to pitch in. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was tasked with their resettlement. Word reached Jews in Raida that there was an American plan afoot to rescue them. The first applicants signed up at the U.S. Embassy in January. To avoid attracting attention, families convoyed to Sanaa in taxis at dawn. Later they traveled to a hotel for interviews with U.S. officials. To establish a case for refugee status, they had to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution. For many of the women, it was the first time speaking with anyone outside the home.

As news spread of their imminent departure, many families reported trouble selling property. Potential buyers offered low prices or refused to bid, thinking they could get the property free after it was deserted." All they have is this little house worth $15,000," says Yochi Sabari, a Jew from Raida who lives in New York and has relatives in Yemen. "They can't leave until they sell it."

About three weeks before their travel date, the U.S. embassy contacted the first four families cleared for travel. On July 7, their 17 members traveled to the airport in Sanaa and boarded a Frankfurt-bound flight. When the Yemenis landed in New York the next day, Jewish organization officials there to greet them spotted several women cloaked in black robes, only their eyes exposed. "The Jewish women were the ones in burqas," says Gideon Aronoff, president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. He says he was "initially shocked."

Several families missed the two flights offered to them by the U.S. and, therefore, forfeited their chance to move here. Family members say they are having trouble disposing of assets. An undisclosed number of people have reached Israel, including the family of Mr. Ben Yisrael, whose home was the target of a grenade, and the family of Mr. Nahari, who was slain in December 2008. In the U.S., the Yemeni refugees are being settled in Monsey, a suburban enclave of ultraorthodox Jews, lined with strip malls that sell black coats and wide-rimmed hats worn by Hasidic men. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society's network established a Monsey office, where case managers arrange housing and disburse food stamps, cash and other refugee benefits to the Yemeni arrivals. Many of the adults, caseworkers say, aren't yet capable of budgeting, following a schedule or sitting still in a structured classroom to learn English.

On a recent morning, Mr. Suleiman, a 36-year-old father of three, retrieved an alarm clock that he received with his furnished apartment. "I still don't know how to use this," he said. "The children have been playing with it." Write to Miriam Jordan at miriam.jordan@wsj.com 
The above was obtained from my good friend Paul Tab (aka Tabachnik).

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Shalom Nagar

A Yemenite Jew who was a prison guard in Israel and who was assigned the task of "pushing the button at Adolf Eichmann's hanging.  Selected by lot to do so, Nagar was an unwilling executioner, and the experience gave him a humanitarian outlook and turned him to religion.  There is available, a documentary
http://go2film.com

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   more to come ....