BARAZANI Origin of surname

Asenath Bat Samuel Barazani (1590-1670), scholar and poetess, born in Kurdistan. She was taught by her father, Samuel Barazani, a noted scholar. She married her cousin, Jacob Ben Abraham, who succeeded her father as head of the yeshiva. Upon her husband’s death she succeeded him as chief teacher of Torah in Kurdistan. During her time as head of the yeshiva in Mosul she attracted pupils from many communities.
An expert in Jewish literature she wrote a commentary on Proverbs. Barazani was also renowned as a Kabbalah scholar and tales were told of her greatness as tanna’it (lady tanna) and of the miracles she wrought. She died in Mosul, Kurdistan (now in Iraq).

Rustaqa

A small settlement in the region of Ruwanduz, eastern Iraqi Kudristan, north-east Iraq.

According to a tradition among the Jews of Kurdistan, they had come to Kurdistan as exiles from Eretz Israel at the time of King Shalmaneser of Assyria, before the destruction of the First Temple, and did not return to Eretz Israel. Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela found Jewish communities in the region on his visit before the year 1170. Further information about Jews there is of the 17th century. The leaders of the communities at that time were the families of Rabbis Adoni (Barazani), Mizrahi, Duga and Hariri. Much later, in 1880, the traveler Mordecai Edelman visited the region. He reported having found poor rural communities of Jews who were very strict in observing all the mitzvot (religious precepts) and spoke a language that they called Targum (the Aramaic Bible translation), which is in fact distorted Aramaic mixed with Syrian. The Jews were under the patronage of the sheikh or “agha”, the feudal local ruler, who was the head of the tribe. They were practically serfs. He gave them protection and in return they looked after his property and provided him with guards.

The Jews of Kurdistan often moved from the small villages to bigger settlements and the towns for safety reasons. This explains the occasional changes in the composition and size of the communities. The urban Jews engaged in wholesale and retail trade and in peddling. There were also artisans, like weavers, dyers of fabrics, tanners, goldsmiths and silversmiths, cobblers and carpenters. The Jews of the villages made a living as small traders and peddlers, and also as artisans. Some were farmers who grew wheat, barley, rice, sesame, lentils, tobacco, etc. There were also individuals who owned vineyards and groves and others who bred cattle and sheep.

The life of the communities centered around the old synagogue. At the head of each community stood the hakham, who was at the same time also a hazzan (cantor), mohel (circumciser), shohet (slaughterer), and gabbai (warden). On matters of halakha (rabbinical law), they refrred to the rabbis of Baghdad. Three year old children began their schooling at the beth midrash, where they were taught torah and prayers, and reading and writing in Rashi script. The older children learned torah, mishnah, and gemara. At the age of eight, they began going to the general school.

The Jews lived in their own houses, around the synagogue. The Jewish quarter was not surrounded by a wall. The houses were of one storey, built of unburnt mud bricks or of unplanned stone. In the mountain settlements, each house was linked to the house above it.

In 1933 some 60 Jews were living at Rustaqa. According to the tradition of the community, the ancient synagogue of Rustaqa had been built before the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem. Recent sources maintain that it was built in the 12th century. At the Jewish cemetery in the village there is a tomb attributed to the Babylonian Amora Rabbi Safra.

In 1942 there were 17 houses of Jews at Rustaqa. Most of the Jews were engaged at that time in weaving and there were also some torah scholars. Hakham Shimshon ben Efraim was then the head of the community. Zionist activity at the place started in 1946, with the arrival of emissaries from Eretz Israel. The local youth gathered to listen to their stories about the struggle against the Arabs and the British.

Persecution of the Jews by the authorities began with the outbreak of the War of Independence in Eretz Israel (1948). Jewish shops were closed, property and money was requisitioned, but the Kurdish neighbors generally maintained good relations with the Jews. In 1947, 80 Jews were living at Rustaqa, many of them engaged in farming. The community was liquidated when the entire Jewish population of Iraq went to Israel in the early 1950’s.

Zibar

Az Zibar; in Arabic: از زیبر

A rural settlement in the district of Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, north Iraq.

According to a tradition among the Jews of Kurdistan, they had come to Kurdistan as exiles from Eretz Israel at the time of King Shalmaneser of Assyria, before the destruction of the First Temple, and did not return to Eretz Israel. Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela found Jewish communities in the region on his visit before the year 1170.

In the 17th century the leaders of the communities at that time were the families of Rabbis Adoni (Barazani), Mizrahi, Duga and Hariri. Much later, in 1880, the traveler Mordecai Edelman visited the region. He reported having found poor rural communities of Jews who were very strict in observing all the mitzvot (religious precepts) and spoke a language that they called Targum (the Aramaic Bible translation), which is in fact distorted Aramaic mixed with Syrian. The Jews were under the patronage of the sheikh or “agha”, the feudal local ruler, who was the head of the tribe. They were practically serfs. He gave them protection and in return they looked after his property and provided him with guards.

The Jews of Kurdistan often moved from the small villages to bigger settlements and the towns for safety reasons. This explains the occasional changes in the composition and size of the communities. The urban Jews engaged in wholesale and retail trade and in peddling. There were also artisans, like weavers, dyers of fabrics, tanners, goldsmiths and silversmiths, cobblers and carpenters. The Jews of the villages made a living as small traders and peddlers, and also as artisans. Some were farmers who grew wheat, barley, rice, sesame, lentils, tobacco, etc. There were also individuals who owned vineyards and groves and others who bred cattle and sheep.

The life of the communities centered around the old synagogue. At the head of each community stood the hakham, who was at the same time also a hazzan (cantor), mohel (circumciser), shohet (slaughterer), and gabbai (warden). On matters of halakha (rabbinical law), they refrred to the rabbis of Baghdad. Three year old children began their schooling at the beth midrash, where they were taught torah and prayers, and reading and writing in Rashi script. The older children learned torah, mishnah, and gemara. At the age of eight, they began going to the general school.

The Jews lived in their own houses, around the synagogue. The Jewish quarter was not surrounded by a wall. The houses were of one storey, built of unburnt mud bricks or of unplanned stone. In the mountain settlements, each house was linked to the house above it.

In the region of Zibara, around Zibar, were a number of villages with small Jewish communities. The nearest village to Zibar was Argush. In 1884 310 Jews were living in the region. In 1906 their number was about 200 and in 1930 about 100, all speaking Aramaic. In 1933 some of the Jews of the region were illiterate and did not know the prayers. They spoke Kurdish and were mostly weavers, some bred cattle and sheep. A few of them were farmers or engaged in trade. In 1947 there were more then 100 Jews in the region of Zibara. In 1950 began the exodus of the Jews of Iraq to Israel. 15 Jews of Argush went to the town of Irbil, on their way to Israel, and so did also the Jews of Zibar and the other villages of the region.