Photo: GPO

The exact number of Bukharan Jews is unknown. It’s one of the sub-ethnic (ethnolinguistic) groups of the Jewish people, formed in the late Middle Ages on the territory of Central Asia, and today mostly living outside their ethnic region. Like other Jewish subethnic groups of the former USSR, today they represent a transnational community that has settled in many world countries.

While at the beginning of the century, the role of trans-state “umbrella” centers of this group was noticeable in preserving the specific cultural identity of Bukharan Jewry, at the new stage, local associations began to play a more significant role. At the same time, the ethnocultural factor remains dominant in the self-consciousness of this group against the background of a gradual weakening of the specific communal religious aspects.

Please follow the link for the full version of the article in Russian.