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Executive Summary. The exact size of the Bukharan Jewish population—one of the sub-ethnic (ethno-linguistic) groups of the Jewish people that emerged in late medieval Central Asia and currently resides predominantly outside its historical territory—remains unknown. Similar to other Jewish sub-ethnic groups from the former Soviet Union, they now constitute a transnational community dispersed across numerous countries globally.

While trans-state "umbrella" centers of this group played a prominent role in preserving the specific communal and cultural identity of Bukharan Jewry at the beginning of the century, local associations are beginning to assume a significant role in this new phase. Concurrently, the ethno-cultural factor remains dominant in the group's self-awareness, set against the gradual weakening of the religious factor's specific communal role.

Bukharan Jews represent one of the sub-ethnic (ethno-linguistic) groups of the Jewish people, which formed in the late Middle Ages in Central Asia (principally within the Emirate of Bukhara, and partially within the Khanates of Khiva and Kokand), subsequently becoming part of the Russian Empire and the USSR.

During the late and post-Soviet eras, the vast majority of Bukharan Jews—who had historically exhibited significant emigration dynamics (for instance, in the 19th century, according to Giora Fuzailoff, an unprecedented proportion of Bukharan Jews compared to other Jewish communities, approximately 10%, immigrated to Israel)[1]—departed from their historical territory. Today, much like other Jewish sub-ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union, they constitute a transnational community dispersed across many countries worldwide.

The precise size of this relatively small group remains unknown for several reasons. According to the final Soviet census of 1989, 36,152 Bukharan Jews resided in the USSR (of whom 28,368 were in Uzbekistan and 4,879 in Tajikistan)—nearly 1.5 times more than in 1959, when the group's population was estimated at 23,208. However, during the Soviet era, some were recorded in censuses simply as Jews, while others may have been registered as Tajiks, whose language the Bukharan Jews utilized as their ethnolect. Consequently, experts cautiously estimate the actual size of the Bukharan Jewish sub-ethnic group in the USSR in 1989 at 43,000–45,000, to which several thousand "Bukharans" who departed the USSR during the 1970s and 1980s may be added. [2]

The mass migration of Bukharan Jews both within and beyond the post-Soviet space in the 1970s, and particularly following the commencement of the "Great Aliyah" in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, has significantly complicated this picture. This movement resulted, among other things, in the partial integration of Bukharan Jews with other Jewish sub-ethnic groups and assimilation into non-Jewish environments, raising questions regarding the communal and cultural affiliation of the second and, even more so, third generations of these migrants.[3] Consequently, estimates of the total population of the global Bukharan Jewish communities at the beginning of this century ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 individuals[4] (including 200,000 in Israel alone[5]), while expert demographic assessments of this group remain a subject of ongoing debate.

For instance, Albert Kaganovich estimated in 2000 that the total number of individuals with at least a Bukharan Jewish mother was 94,000. According to his data, 63.8% (60,000) lived in Israel; 26.6% (25,000) in the USA; 3.2% (3,000) in Central Asia; 2.1% (2,000) in Austria; and approximately 4.3% (4,000) in other countries. Six years later, by his estimates, the total population of this group had reached 102,000 individuals, including 65,000; 28,000; 2,500; 4,500; and 2,000 in each of the aforementioned regions, respectively.[6] Other scholars present alternative estimates.[7]

Regardless, Israel remains the country with the largest concentration of Bukharan Jews, where, according to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, approximately 110,000 members of this community resided at the end of 2022 (excluding second-generation immigrants). The United States ranks second, with the Bukharan Jewish community estimated by its leaders to number approximately 48,000–50,000 individuals (of whom 32,000–34,000 reside in New York).[8] Considerably smaller, yet notable, Bukharan Jewish communities exist in Moscow, Vienna, and several other capital cities worldwide. In Central Asia itself, only between a few hundred and no more than 2,000 Bukharan Jews remain today (primarily in Uzbekistan), where adverse demographic processes—chiefly ongoing emigration—could lead to the complete disappearance of this community in its historical homeland in the near future.

Over the past 30 years, highly significant changes have occurred in the socio-cultural profile and organizational infrastructure of this transnational community. As Israeli researcher Ze'ev Levin noted,[9] the 1990s represented a period of growth for local Bukharan Jewish associations, primarily of a religious nature, which were tailored to address the social, economic, and cultural-religious challenges of this group as dictated by local conditions. Furthermore, the funding (and consequently, the setting of priorities) for communal projects was almost universally provided by affluent members of these communities. The primary distinction was that in Israel, the structures were initially established by settled, established residents to address the immediate integration needs of new immigrants, thereby serving as instruments of influence for communal elites. Conversely, in the USA and Austria, the initiative to establish such synagogue and other organizational structures originated from the new immigrants themselves and was aimed at securing the autonomy of these communities.

In practice, as noted by Rita and Natia Kuznetsova, who researched the Bukharan Jewish communities in the USA, much like previously in Israel and Uzbekistan, the majority of Bukharan Jewish immigrants settled compactly in New York (in the Queens neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Fresh Meadows, and Briarwood), as well as in Florida (predominantly Miami) and Arizona. There, they established numerous communities with developed infrastructures for mutual aid and services. According to their data, this settlement pattern was facilitated by the UN International Organization for Migration, which managed the relocation of Bukharan Jews in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as local NGOs that assisted immigrants during their initial integration, thereby encouraging the majority of immigrants to settle within two or three states in close proximity to one another. [10]

Consequently, as demonstrated by the research of Russian anthropologist Tatyana Emelyanenko,[11] Bukharan Jews in areas of their highest concentration—such as the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens in New York (predominantly settled by "direct migrants" from Central Asia)—introduced elements of Central Asian life, including Uzbek-Tajik cuisine cafes, distinctive house architectural styles, and lifestyles. Furthermore, the ethno-cultural factor of identifying specifically as Central Asian Jews, alongside its expression and promotion through various community organizations, literature, art, food, holidays, and family rituals, is increasingly dominant in the self-identity of American Bukharan Jews. This process occurs through a form of "universalization" (influenced, in part, by Chabad) and the gradual decline of the specific communal role of religion—contrasting with "native" American Jews, for whom this factor, in her view, remains the primary marker of Jewish identity. The same pattern is observed by the Kuznetsovas, who note that in the USA, members of the Bukharan community have adopted many traditions and even sartorial elements from both local Israelis and Hasidim. (It should also be noted that the connection between Bukharan Jews and Chabad dates back to the 19th century, including, as Z. Levin observes, the training of community rabbis in the yeshivas of Kfar Chabad in Eretz Israel/Palestine).

A quantitative sociological study and a series of in-depth interviews conducted in Vienna, Austria, also demonstrated that among the members of the "Russian Sephardic" communities residing there, including Bukharan Jews, religion serves as a highly significant, yet by no means exclusive, component of the ethno-cultural background. As in America, the specific model of sub-communal Bukharan Jewish identity is more pronounced among those born in the USSR and the CIS who either immigrated directly to Austria or lived in Israel beforehand (in contrast to those born in Austria, Israel, or other countries). This is further facilitated by the preservation of sub-ethnic associations structured around sectoral religious, cultural, and communal centers, and associated functional organizations. It is also supported by informal networks for social, professional, business, cultural, family-clan, and friendly interactions, which cluster around first- and second-level structures, as well as informal "quasi-communal institutions" such as businesses, study circles, clubs, specific ethnic restaurants, online forums, and other platforms for group socialization. [12]

Over time, however, trans-state "umbrella" organizations have begun to play a more visible role in preserving the specific communal and cultural identity of Bukharan Jewry. These organizations emerged, in part, as a reaction to what Bukharan Jewish communal leaders perceived as a patronizing attitude from the heads of Russian-Jewish organizations toward the "Eastern" Jews of the former USSR.[13] Indeed, the first such attempt to establish an inter-communal organization of Bukharan Jews—the "International Union of Jews of Middle (Central) Asia"—was initiated in the USA in the late 1980s. However, until the late 1990s, such initiatives remained largely declarative, according to Levin.[14]

A somewhat more significant role was played by their Israeli counterpart, the Association of Bukharan Immigrants, which, with varying degrees of legitimacy, acted as the collective representative for a network of Bukharan-Jewish informal groups, NGOs, synagogue communities, and media, charitable, and other projects. In February–March 1999, an attempt was even made to establish a dedicated political lobby—the "Lev - Olim Le'ma'an Yisrael" party ("Lev - Immigrants for the State of Israel", LOMI), which declared itself a movement of "Russian-speaking Sephardim" originating from the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Notably, the party's official platform sought to bypass ideological issues, focusing primarily on the "communal values" of Bukharan Jews. Ultimately, the LOMI party received only 6,000 votes in the Knesset elections of May 1999, failing to cross the electoral threshold. The majority of potential voters preferred to support Likud, other immigrant-interest parties, and particularly the pan-Sephardic Shas party. [15]

The situation changed significantly only at the turn of the century, with the establishment in Jerusalem in 2000 of the World Congress of Bukharan Jews, initiated and patronized by the prominent Israeli businessman and philanthropist Lev Leviev. This structure, according to its founder, was designed to create "a global network of communities capable of restoring the former glory of Bukharan Jewry."[16] The Jerusalem convention was preceded by the first Congress of Bukharan Jews of North America, held in May 1999, which brought together approximately 200 delegates from 12 cities across the United States and Canada. An indicator of this structural transformation among Bukharan Jewish leadership was the revival of political activity following a brief period of stagnation caused by the failure of their communal party in the 1999 elections.[17]

Although the "Lev Le'Olim" party failed to enter the Knesset in either the 2006 elections or subsequent ones, municipal movements successfully formed factions in nine city councils, with representatives holding deputy mayoral positions in five of them. Furthermore, representatives of the Bukharan community associated with Leviev’s Congress were included in other party lists, enabling the formation of informal coalitions at the municipal level.

Consequently, in Israel, Z. Levin notes, the WCBJ became the preeminent organization for Bukharan Jews, relying on a professional structure of 20 coordinators managing cultural, political, socio-communal, and educational activities (including its own network of religious educational institutions, "Yad Chana") in cities and neighborhoods with high concentrations of Bukharans. The Congress also partially facilitated the establishment of dedicated museums or museum exhibitions focusing on this community in various cities worldwide, including New York, Tashkent, Samarkand, and Tel Aviv[18].

The defining achievement of the WCBJ was the passage of a law by the Knesset in 2007 dedicated to preserving the heritage of Jews from Bukhara—actively lobbied for by the Congress—alongside the allocation of state funding for this purpose.[19] The logical outcome of this process was the consolidation of the majority of Bukharan Jewish organizations in Israel and the diaspora under the "umbrella" of the WCBJ.

While formally remaining independent, these organizations aligned their activities with the agenda of the Congress leadership, which emphasized "providing Bukharan Jews with religious education, establishing a network of new synagogues and yeshivas, coordinating the activities of all religious structures, providing social support to community members, and supporting communal publishing houses, theaters, museums, and creative groups." Under the influence of the WCBJ, alongside the "Or Avner" organization (in the diaspora) and the "Ma'ayan" school system (in Israel), the role of religion within global Bukharan communities has notably increased and strengthened in recent years[20].

For several subsequent years, the WCBJ faced virtually no competition in the arena of communal politics. (Among the few exceptions was the Association of Bukharan Immigrants in Israel, established by earlier waves of Bukharan Jewish immigrants, which lacked the significant funding of the Congress and consequently could not command comparable local influence). However, in the following decade, the World Bukharan Congress and its affiliated organizations experienced a noticeable decline in activity, primarily due to financial, organizational, and political factors.

Assuming that the dominant trend within the Bukharan Jewish community in Israel and the diaspora remains a course toward self-preservation (without rejecting integration into host societies) to maintain their specific communal culture, local associations may play a vital role in this new phase. In turn, speaking on February 22, 2023, at a Knesset session dedicated to Bukharan Jews in Israel, Lev Leviev stated that the Congress is not a political organization and is prepared to support relevant initiatives from any Bukharan communal organizations, regardless of their formal status.

The question remains whether these communities can mobilize the necessary demographic and other resources to achieve this. Preliminary attempts to address this question were presented in an article by Dr. Ze'ev Levin and informational materials by Dr. Robert Pinkhasov, published in the third issue of the EAJC annual almanac "Jews of Europe and Asia," focusing on the contemporary state of Bukharan Jewish communities in Central Asia and North America, respectively, which continue to play a significant role in the transnational Bukharan Jewish collective. Undoubtedly, this important subject warrants further in-depth scholarly investigation.

[1] Fuzailoff, Giora. From Bukhara to Jerusalem: The Immigration and Settlement of Bukharan Jews in Eretz Israel (1868–1948). Jerusalem: Misgav Yerushalaim, 1995

[2] Mark Tolts, “Demographic Profile of the Bukharan Jews in the Late Soviet Period”, in: Ingeborg Baldauf, Moshe Gammer and Thomas Loy (eds.), Bukharan Jews in the 20th Century: History, Experience and Narration (Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2008), p. 78;  Alanna E. Cooper, “Looking Out for One’s Own Identity: Central Asian Jews in the Wake of Communism,” in Zvi Gitelman, Barry Kosmin, and Andras Kovacs (eds.), New Jewish Identities: Contemporary Europe and Beyond (Budapest – New York: Central European University Press, 2002), p. 89.

[3] Shmuel Shamai, and Zinaida Ilatov, “Assimilation and Ethnic Boundaries: Israeli Students’ Attitudes Toward Soviet Immigrants.” Adolescence 159 (2005): 682–693; Alanna Cooper, Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 2012), pp. 230-250.

[4] See, for example: “Bukharan Jews” // Khan-Tengri/IA-Center, May 26, 2020, https://ia-centr.ru/han-tengri/oriental/bukharskie-evrei/; Krylov A. V. “The Bukharan-Jewish Community in the Socio-Political Life of Israel.” Analytical Report. MGIMO Institute of International Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Moscow, 2015 https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache

[5] See “Ovadia Fatakhov: We are dedicated to the community” // Bukharan-Jewish World, February 27, 2009, http://www.bukharianjewishcongress.org/newspapers/610-we-engaged-in-community

[6] Albert Kaganovich, “The Bukharan Jewish Diaspora at the Beginning of the 21st Century,” in: Ingeborg Baldauf, Moshe Gammer and Thomas Loy (eds.), Bukharan Jews in the 20th Century: History, Experience and Narration, (Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2008), pp. 111-116 (cited information on p. 115)

[7] Zeev Levin, “From local to global: transformations of Bukharan Jewish community organization in the twentieth century”, Nationalities Papers, 42 (2), 2014: 321-335

[8] Emelyanenko T. Bukharan Jews of New York: features of adaptation // Antropologicheskij Forum, No. 43, 2019. – pp. 41-60 (cited information on p. 42). https://anthropologie.kunstkamera.ru/files/pdf/043/emelyanenko.pdf

[9] Levin, “From local to global”, pp. 323-327

[10] Rita Kuznetsova, Natia Kuznetsova, “Between the Russian World and Israel: The Identity Politics of Bukharan Jews.” Paper presented at the Bovin Scientific Conference “Israel in Struggle: Facets of Contradictions in Politics, Economics, and Society.” Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, October 24, 2022.

[11] Emelyanenko, “Bukharan Jews of New York”, pp. 51-3.

[12] For further details on the “Bukharan component” within the Austrian Jewish community, see Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin, “'Russians', 'Sephardi' and 'Israelis': The Changing Structure of Austrian Jewry”, in Olaf Glöckner, Haim Fireberg and Marcela Zoufalá (eds.), Being Jewish in Central Europe Today (Berlin: De Gruyter and Charles University Press, 2020), pp. 73-101

[13] Alanna Cooper, Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012)

[14] Levin, “From Local…”, p. 327

[15] Vladimir Khanin, “Israeli ‘Russian’ Parties and the New Immigrant Vote”, Israel Affairs, Vol. 7, Nos. 2-3 (Winter/Spring 2001), pp. 101-134

[16] Vesti (Tel Aviv), 19.11.2000

[17] Khanin V. (Z). “Russians” and Power in Modern Israel. – Moscow: Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, 2004. – pp. 122-123.

[18]  Levin, “From Local…”, p. 331

[19] In practice, the implementation of the law was suspended shortly thereafter, and the funding allocated at the time of its passage was not subsequently renewed.

[20] Krylov, “The Bukharan-Jewish Community in the Socio-Political Life of Israel”