The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-09-25
P ! J I, i FLOODED |l|l I
JEWS !. I ! !! :. ARE Ex|LES
hghanders Of the Caucasus Who
! Have Kept Free From Gentle
! Admixture. -.
scoRN THE PLAINS PEOPLE
Their Language and Many Of Their
/ Customs Are Peculiar-Date and
! Circumstances Of Settlement In
1 That Region Unknown. ..


: That Region Unknown. ...
+, l.
Eondon.-Of all the scattered tribes
and remnants Of the Jewish people,
none is. less known to the world at
large, and certainly none presents
more striking contrast to the common
conception of the modern children OF
Israel than the Jewish Highlanders Of
the eastern Caucasus. Yet there are
|probably none In all the world who
have kept the Jewish blood more pure
land free from gentle admixture, nor
Iany who have more faithfully pre-
served the traditions, beliefs and Gus
lions Of the times before the: exile.
Indeed, they hold themselves quite
aIoof from the other Jews Of the Cau-
icasus region, refusing to intermarry
with them, to worship with them, Or
even to have social eor commercial in
|teroourse with them beyond the limits
tok the barest necessity. No Scottish
Highlander ever scorned the Lowlander
one-hah SO much as these Highland
tar Jews scorn their kinsmen of the
ipaeins and Of the urban ghetto. =
{ Traditions Fail to Explain.
=. The date and the circumstances Of
their settlement in the Caucasus high
hands are unknown, even in their own
traditions, but it Is certain that they
have been there for nearly a thousand
years. In that time their physical
characteristics have been materially
modified by, their environment and
mode Of life. With characteristic Jew
!ish faces. and complexion, they have
{ TALL, stalwart, muscular bodies, re-
,sembling the best of the Hill men OF
India, or some Of the giant Highland
,ers Of Scotland. Their life is of course
purely rural, since they have no con-
siderable towns and they devote them
selves to agriculture, and the growing
Of grapes and tobacco. From the
grapes they make both wine and
brandy, and of these beverages they
/ are heavy drinkers. Indeed they have
4 the unenviable reputation Of being the
hardest drinkers in all that part Of the
world-which might easily be, since
the Mohammedan tribes around them
are almost entirely total abstainers.
However, drunkenness is little known
among them, If at. all.
They are also great fighters. That
IN generally a characteristic Of noun
taineers, and in these highland Jews
It is highly developed. They always
/ 70 armed, as do the Montenegrins and
are never backward in using their
:. weapons for defense. They do not,
however, share in, any of the blood
! Seuds of the Circassian tribesmen, nor
do they join In their raids and quar-
rels
Peculiar Language.
Their language Is neither Hebrew
rnor that Of the country in which they
live, but rather what philologists term
PRrsi Tartar, or a mingling of old Per-
sian aud Tartar. Prom this circum-
tors went to the Caucasus from Persia
in. the days of Cyrus the Great, or
Darius. Perhaps they were fugitives
from Persian captivity; or else they
preferred going to the Caucasus
rather than back to Palestine. There Is
tindeed one ancient legend which tells
that they wandered northward in quest
of Mount Ararat and the remains Of
Noah's ark.
The patriarchal mode of life pre-
walls among them. When son mar
iYies he does not establish a home Of
Ihis own. He simply builds a wing on
his fathers house and lives in it. In
ithis fashion. there are often three or
-four generations living in single
house which consists Of single story
spread over a large area of ground.
Each house has Its own allotment Of
snnd. comprising grain field, tobacco
fseld. vegetable garden and vineyard,
and all are kept in high state of cul-
aviation, though with primitive meth
ads Each garden is inclosed within
a wall of rubble and clay about six
feet high
These highland Jews have no rabbis
and no religious head. They have no
Synagogues and no liturgy. They have
scroll Of the law, but 1t Is used only
for reference. They observe the Sab
bath in the strictest Mosaic fashion,
doing no work and cooking no food, all
food requiring it being cooked on tho
preceding day. They keep the Pass
over, not by eating unleavened bread.
because all their bread is always I'M
1eavened, but by eating an evening
meal In common in the open air. The
feast Of Tabernacles is similarly OBJ.
served. and they have special cere-
mony of their own at each new moon.
Girls must always be betrothed for
six months before marriage, and the
Bridegroom, instead of receiving q
.dowry with his bride, must pay her
father price for her. This is usually
paid for in sheep, cattle or horses, but
always in eighteens or some multiple
thereof. The price may be IS sheep
or IS head of cattle, or If the bride.
groom Is rich it may be- e horses, but
EfeR some reason, the origin of which