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Urmia, Iran

Description

Urmia was home to a large ancient Jewish community. According to local tradition, the Jewish community of Urmia dates back to the 6th century BCE.

In the 19th century, the Jewish community suffered persecution, causing many to leave the city. During World War I, the city fell to the Russian Army and in 1918 Jews of Urmia faced another wave of persecution and attacks. This led many additional Jews to flee the city to places West including Baghdad, Palestine, and America. The city has a Jewish cemetery dating back to the 16th century.

Historically, there were four synagogues in the city, including the largest, Molla Moshe, and the Kalimiyan (Kalimyan) Synagogue. There was also a Jewish school, Etihad Mali, and an Otzar Hatorah school called Gangi-Danesh. There were two batei midrash (houses of study), the big and the little, which were adjacent to the big and little synagogues. A lady, Salbi, was the teacher in the small bet midrash in the 20th century.

 
In 1948, there were about 2,000 Jews in Urmia. 1,000 of them emigrated to Israel in 1951. 600 emigrated to Israel between 1957-1960, and the rest moved to other places within Iran.

The Jews of Urmia spoke Neo-Jewish Aramaic which they called Lishan Didan לישן דידן, השפה שלנו and they called themselves Nash Didan נשדידן, אנשים שלנו.

For livelihood, the Jews of Urmia were engaged primarily in the sale of fabric but there were also traveling salesmen. These salesmen went from village to village selling goods from the city. They usually returned to Urmia once a week, generally on Friday for Shabbat before setting out again on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urmia, Iran