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Georgian Jews (Georgian: ქართველი ებრაელები, romanized: kartveli ebraelebi) are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC.[2] It is one of the oldest communities in that land.
Prior to Georgia's annexation by Russia in 1801, the 2,600-year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence of antisemitism and a visible assimilation in the Georgian language and culture.[3] The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring Mountain Jews.[4] They were also traditionally a highly separate group from the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia.
As a result of a major emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority of Georgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city of Ashdod.The Georgian Jews traditionally lived separately, not only from the surrounding Georgian people, but also from the Ashkenazi Jews in Tbilisi, who had different practices and language.
The community, which numbered about 80,000 as recently as the 1970s, has largely emigrated to Israel, the United States, the Russian Federation and Belgium (in Antwerp). As of 2004, only about 13,000 Georgian Jews remained in Georgia. According to the 2002 First General National Census of Georgia, there are 3,541 Jewish believers in the country.[5] For example, the Lezgishvili branch of Georgian Jews have families in Israel, Moscow, Baku, Düsseldorf, and Cleveland, Ohio (US). Several hundred Georgian Jewish families live in the New York tri-state area, particularly in New York City and Long Island.
