The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1919-10-04
HighIance-s of TIE Caucasus Vino
Have Kept Free From G-nii e
Admixture.
SC]aa TIE FILMS PEOPLE
Their Language and Many Of Their
Customs Are PecuIiar-Date and
Circumstances Of Settlement in
That Region Unknown.

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
and free from gentle admixture, nor
any who have more faithfully pre-
served the traditions, beliefs and Gus
toms of the times before the exile.
Indeed, they hold themselves quite
aloof from the other Jews of the eau
casus region, refusing to intermarry
with them, to worship with them, or
even to have social or commercial In
tercourse with them beyond the limits
of the barest necessity. No Scottish
one-half so much as these Highland
er Jews scorn their kinsmen of the
plains and Of the urban ghetto.
Traditions Fail to Explain.
The date and the circumstances Of
their settlement in the Caucasus high
lands 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
Of grapes and tobacco. From the
grapes they make both wine and
brandy. and of these beverages they
are heavy drinkers. Indeed they have
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
is generally a Characteristic of noun
taineers, and in these highland Jews
1t is highly developed. They always
go 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
feuds of the Circassian tribesmen, nor
do they join in their raids and quar-
rels.
Peculiar Ianouaue.
Their language is neither Hebrew
nor that Of the country in which they
live, hut rather what philolOgists term
Parsi-Tartar, or a mingling of old Per-
sian and Tartar. From this circum-
stance 1t is inferred that their ances-
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
indeed 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
ries he does not establish a home OF
MS own. He simply builds wing on
his fathers house and lives in it. In
his fashion there are often three or
our generations living in single
house, which consists of single story
Zach house has its own allotment of |
and, comprising grain field, tobacco |
ield, vegetable garden and vineyard, |
ind all are kept in high state OF cul-
ivatiOn, though with primitive meth
IDS. Each garden is inclosed within
wall OF rubble and clay about six
eet high.
These highland Jews have no rabbis
nd no religious head. They have no
ynagogues and no liturgy. They have
scroll Of the law. but it Is used only
or reference. They observe the Sab
ath in the strictest Mosaic fashion,
DING no work and cooking no food. all
God requiring it being cooked on the
receding day. They keep the Pass
yer, not by eating unleavened bread,
ecause all their bread is always I'M
.avened, but by eating an evening
zeal In common In the open air. The
east OF Tabernacles is similarly OBJ
erved. and they have a special cere-
Iony Of their own at each new moon.
Girls must always be betrothed for
K months before marriage, and the
ffdegrOOm, instead Of receiving q
,wry with his bride, must pay her
lther price for her. This is usually
aid for In sheep, cattle or horses, but
ways In eighteens or some multiple /.
lereof. The price may be IS sheep
SO head Of cattle, or If the BRIDE
Dom is rich 1t may - Y horses, but
r some reason, the origin of which
lost In antiquity. the number must
ways be eighteen or multiple of
ghteen. There Is no religious. mar
age ceremony, but civil contract II
Fitten and signed.
When child Is born II Is laid upon J