Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Mountain Jews
The Mountain Jews are a subethnic group of Jews of the Northern and Eastern Caucasus. Their self-designation is Juhur, Gyivr.
Language
The Mountain Jews speak several related dialects of the Tati language which belongs to the western branch of the Iranian group of languages. The Russian and Azerbaijani languages are also widespread.
Dispersion
The most significant communities of the Mountain Jews are located in Dagestan, Derbent, Makhachkala and Buynaksk, in Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, in the Stavropol territory, in Pyatigorsk and in Moscow.
Society
Until the 1930s, the settlements consisted of 3-5 large 3-4-generational patriarchal families (more than 70 people), with each of them taking up a separate courtyard, in which each nuclear family had its own house. The large families originating from a common ancestor were united into tukhums.
Traditional occupations
In the past, the Mountain Jews worked in agriculture, grape growing, horticulture and kitchen gardening, tobacco growing, fishing, leathermaking. The lack of their own land often made Mountain Jews seek seasonal work in neighboring villages. Mountain Jews were also occupied in trade, they included both rich merchants and wandering peddlers. Even now, trade is the main occupation of these people.
Food
Almost all the recipes of the Mountain Jew cuisine are of a Persian origin. Especially popular are such dishes as dushpere (a kind of dumplings notable by the large amount of onions in the mincemeat filling), ingar (the Caucasus khinkal), tara (a thick soup), bugleme (a fish aspic), yepragi (stuffed cabbage). As relishes, herbs (cilantro, celery, parsley) as well as cucumbers and tomatoes, radish and dried fish are used. Dairy products, rice, strong tea and wine also have a strong presence in the diet of the Mountain Jews.
