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Barashe, Iraqi-Kurdistan
Barashe is a settlement in the province Zibara in Iraqi-Kurdistan in the northern part of Iraq. Barashe was mainly inhabited by Jews. Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela found Jewish communities in the Barashe region before the year 1170. Further information on the Jews of Barashe came in the 17th century. The Adoni (Barazani), Mizrahi, Duga, and Hariri’s were prominent rabbinical families based in Barashe during that time. The settlement was named after the family Barashi. Jewish houses were built from plastered trunks of trees and had wooden roofs. Among themselves they spoke Aramaic and with their neighbors they spoke Karmanji.1
Description
Immigration to and Emigration from Kurdistan: Jews came to Kurdistan when they were exiled from Eretz Israel (the land of Israel) during the rule of King Shalmaneser of Assyria, before the First Temple was destroyed. There were at least 50 Jews in Barashe in 1888. In order to gain safety, many Jews living in Kurdistan moved from small villages to larger settlements and towns. Many Jews in Barashe moved to other settlements in the area, especially to Dahukh, due to pressure from their Muslim neighbors. In 1922 two families illegally immigrated to Eretz Israel and took residence in Jerusalem. In 1927 Abraham Ben Moshe Barashi, the head of one of the families, returned to Barashe to encourage the other Jews to go to Eretz Israel. That year and until 1929 most of the Jews in Barashe immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem.2 They mainly lived (and many of their descendants still live) in Zichron Ya’akov, a small residential quarter, known as the Kurdish Neighborhood. In Zichron Ya’akov there are two synagogues, one of which is the Barashi synagogue where the immigrants from Barash worship.3
Economic conditions and jobs: Jews in Barashe made a living as growers of vines, figs, nuts, and rice. They also weaved fabrics.4 Every Jewish family in Barashe owned several vineyards. Some of these vineyards produced up to 4000 rotl (10,000 kilograms) of grapes a year. The vineyard work began with khepara, which is hoeing soil, in Nissan (April). Rich families plowed their soil through the use of zebara, the practice of volunteers offering labor to feudal lords and rich families. Ordinary peasants give and receive help from neighbors. After Nissan, the pruning (kizakba) begins. In Tammuz (July), the grapes start to emerge on the vines so a night watchman guards the vineyards from bears and wild boars, which consume large quantities of grapes.5
Rice Culture: Rice was a prominent crop in Barashe. Rice is the most important crop in Kurdistan because it brings in a good income and because an irrigated rice field is a very valuable type of land. The oldest member of a family must plow the rice field because it is thought to bring good luck. After a field is plowed, it is divided into rectangular sections and then flooded. It remains under water for several days. The oldest family member must also begin the sowing and must bring a little rice to the field by hand, rather than on a mule. Once the seed has sprouted, the weeding may begin.6
Family Names: When Kurdish Jews emigrated to Israel, they needed family names for administrative purposes. However, it was not very common for Kurdish Jews to have family names. Therefore, many of them assumed general family names that told their background. For example many Jews from Barash took on the name “Barashi” which meant “from Barashe”. Others just adapted their father’s name into the family name. In Kurdistan, personal nicknames were the alternative to family names. Some of these also became family names.7
Descriptions from outsiders: A traveler named Mordecai Edelman visited Barashe in 1880 and described it as rural communities of Jews who strictly observed the mitzvot (religious principles) and spoke a language they referred to as Targum,8 which is a group of Aramaic dialects spoken by Jews in northern Iraq and Kurdistan.9 The Jews were like serfs, ruled by the sheikh or a local feudal lord (agha).10
Scholars from Barashe: Many Torah scholars came from Barashe, which had just one synagogue. In the 1930’s. a prominent member of the community was Hakham Rabbi Eliahu Ben Abraham Barashi. He moved to Atrush to become a regional Rabbi, a teacher of Halakhah (Jewish law), a ritual slaughterer, circumciser, and cantor. His son Rabbi Zechariah Barashi emigrated to Eretz Israel in 1934.11
Sources
Notes:
[1] The Database of Jewish Communities. Beit Hatfutsot–The Museum of the Jewish People. See: http://www.bh.org.il,
[2] Ibid.
[3] Aviva Bar-Am, “Yemin Moshe, Bukharan Quarter, Nahlaot and Jaffa Road,” The Jerusalem Post-Israel Tour Guide.
[4] The Database of Jewish Communities. Beit Hatfutsot–The Museum of the Jewish People. See: http://www.bh.org.il,
[5] Erich Brauer and Raphael Patai, The Jews of Kurdistan (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1993), 210.
[6] Ibid., 208.
[7] Yona Sabar, “First Names, Nicknames, and Family Names Among the Jews of Kurdistan,” The Jewish Quarterly Review, Vol. 65 (1974): 46-47.
[8] The Database of Jewish Communities. Beit Hatfutsot–The Museum of the Jewish People. See: http://www.bh.org.il,
[9] Wikipedia. “Targum (Aramaic dialects).” Last modified June 6, 2010. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targum_%28Aramaic_dialects%29.
[10] The Database of Jewish Communities. Beit Hatfutsot–The Museum of the Jewish People. See: http://www.bh.org.il,
[11] Ibid.