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Georgian Jewry, Gruzinim, claim a 2,600-year continuous presence in the Caucasus, descendants of the Babylonian exile who reached Georgia via the Silk Road. Distinct from the Mountain Jews (who speak Tat) and the Bukharan Jews (who speak Bukhori), Georgian Jews speak Kivruli (Judeo-Georgian), a dialect close to Georgian itself. Their settlement spread from Mtskheta and Tbilisi to Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, and Sukhumi. Almost uniquely in the diaspora, Georgia is famous for its philosemitic record, no expulsions, no pogroms, royal favor under the Bagrationi dynasty. ~70K made aliyah in 1971-1989, the largest single Georgian-Jewish wave, settling in Ashdod, Bat Yam, Holon, and Lod, where their Hesder yeshiva tradition remains visible. ~5K Jews remain in Georgia today.
Cultural note, Georgian Jews are not "Mizrahi" in the standard sense and not "Caucasian" in the Mountain-Jew sense. They are a category of their own: Jewish communities that integrated linguistically with Georgian Christian society over two millennia while keeping rabbinic Judaism intact. The Bagrationi royal court relied on Jewish merchants and advisors. When David hears "Gruzini" in Israel, he\'s meeting a community whose ancestors arrived in the Caucasus before the Second Temple was destroyed.
Origins & Bagrationi Court
Major Cities (Tbilisi, Kutaisi)
Judeo-Georgian (Kivruli) Language
Soviet Era & 1971 Aliyah
Israeli Settlement & Heritage
Story: The 1971 Letter
In August 1969, eighteen Georgian-Jewish families wrote an open letter to the UN Human Rights Commission demanding the right to emigrate to Israel. It was the first public letter of its kind from Soviet Jewry, and it broke the dam.