The History of the Yemeni Jews 1st in a series [Archives:1999/40/Reportage]

By: Mohammed Hatem Al-Qadhi & Mohammed bin Sallam
Yemen Times
Some historians say that the history of the Jews dates back to the age of the Prophet Abraham who migrated from a tribe in Aoor in Iraq to Palestine during 1920-1950 BC. He went through Euphrates River on his way to Palestine which was inhabited by Kananyoon as mentioned in the Holy Book “The Genesis”Al-Kananyoon is an Arab tribe that migrated from Yemen and settled down on the side of Palestine. Since then these lands have been called Kana’an Lands. This has also been mentioned in the Old Testament and the old history of Egypt. The migration of this tribe from Arab lands to settle down in Arab lands is one of the common phenomena. Some historians as well as orientalists have made unfound claim that all the Jews were Hebrews. They want to prove that all the Jews are from Yemen. Their sole purpose was to vindicate in a general sense the originality of the Jews and to create an old as well as new vision that is aimed to assert the unity of the Jews, usually referred to as the scattering nation.
The historical as well as the distinct social reality vindicate underlying the question that the Jews of Yemen are a part and a parcel of Yemeni people. These people were converted to embrace Judaism in their homeland “Yemen” where there used to be a spirit of religious tolerance. One could convert to any religion one wanted so long one respected the existing order and norms of the society.
The Old Testament also reveals that the Jews are one branch of the Semitic nations which had the language as the only common thing. However, the Jews of Yemen are undeniably part of the Yemenis, very much similar in all aspects, such as origin, language including different dialects as well as physical appearance. One of the commonly held beliefs is that the Jews of Yemen are the oldest Jews ever. It is said that they were present in Yemen even before the destruction of the first structure in Jerusalem in 586 BC. Yemen was also their shelter after Palestine was conquered in 63 AC by the Romanian Emperor Toyotas. He destroyed the temple of Jerusalem for the second time in 70 AC. Historical events also assert that the Yemeni Jews had a great impact on the Yemeni society in the third century AC at a time Yemen was in its best prosperous stage. The Jews were treated like other Yemenis.  They had all rights to travel abroad and make relations with Palestinians at the outset of the third century and the first quarter of the sixth century.
The strong dominance of the Jews became very clear in the earliest centuries of AC and until the date of our Prophet Mohammed’s Mission during “570-634” for they were able in the fifth as well as the sixth centuries to establish an independent Jewish kingdom.
Their Destination in Yemen:
Jews were, like other Yemenis, scattered all over Yemen. Some of them were found in towns, others in villages. There is a special place in the old city of Sana’a where the majority of them used to live. This place is called the “Caa’a of Yahood” which is now known as “Caa’a Al-Olefi”. They also lived in different places in Hashed at Dolaymah district, a part of Al-Madayer and Haboor. They inhabited Ibb governorate in a zone called Al-Ga’ah located in the East South of the town. In Al-Syani they inhabited a special village formed for them called Al-Qodss. In Jeblah they inhabited a zone called Al-Maka’dah. In Al-Naderah they inhabited a village called Gahran. They also inhabited Hadramout and most of them were found in Crater, Aden as well. They settled down in Haba’an, Sa’adah, Amran, Raydah, Shara’ab Al-Shoraif, Kadass, Al-Torbah, Taiz, Rada’a at Al-Caa’a where the elite of them continued to live.
The Jews In Yemen have been living in peace and are pursuing their jobs in different fields. They have not been tempted to travel to Palestine even though the way was open through Aden Port long ago. With regard to the number of the Jewish settlers in Yemen we have different estimates as there is no accurate statistics. They built their palaces on hills and they used to call them “Al-Ataam”, castles built of stones and looked like forts. This is usually a habit of theirs to build houses in this way. These houses do still exist till now. As a matter of fact, the same ideas and beliefs about the Jews of the North are shared in the South of Yemen. They are not strangers in the region for they settled down in the area so long ago. They have obviously been affected by the economic situation and as a result they migrated from different governorates to Aden looking for jobs, especially after the colonization of Aden in 1839. At that time there was a highly prosperous trade as Aden was declared an International Free Zone. Those who used to get rich, used to encourage other Jews to work and improve their economic situations. This can be undoubtedly applied to other Muslims who traveled to different countries, such as Britain, Australia, USA, Canada, etc, especially after the 1st and 2nd World Wars and settled there. Aden was the door of Yemen to the outside world and traveling to Aden meant achieving one’s hopes either to avoid Imam government or to avoid heavy bribes citizens had to pay so as to get permission to travel abroad or to be prosperous in one’s life.
The life of the Yemeni Jews:
The Yemeni Jews, in general, were having full freedom to observe their religious as well as social practices and ceremonies such as prayers, weddings, and other conventions. Other Yemeni Moslems used to participate in such festivals and share their happiness. The Jews used to make wine and get it exchanged among themselves and in different parts of the country with full freedom. They used to have trade relations with other Yemenis. They used to sell their goods by installments. They used to practice trade and profession; chief among them were the following:
1) wool products.
2) shoes and leather product.
3) pottery product.
4) silver ware as well as gold jewelry, for they were very famous for their skill at making jewelry.
5) different metal products; for they used to use a special machine called the air pumping machine, “bellows” to heat and melting metals.
6) light weapons such as swords, Jambias, knives, as well as ploughing agriculture tools.
7) soup products, especially the white ones.
8) bakery products and selling them in markets and houses.
9) Local as well as outside trade.
In the religious side we find that the Jews of Yemen preserved their tradition as well as religious conventions. There were no limitations or constraints that prevented them from practicing all their beliefs. They were taught these Talmud practices by their old rabbis in their temples and few special religious schools. They used to transfer their religious principles orally from one generation to the other. On their day to day dealings they used to speak Arabic. The old people used to recite the holy Qura’an admiringly and with full respect in reciprocation to Yemenis who used to show their respect to all the holy religious sects. The Jews of Yemen, like other Muslims, preserved their cultural heritage as well as their ways of life, language, arts, songs. They transferred this heritage as it was to Palestine and to other countries they migrated to.
In general, the Jews and Muslims used to influence each other negatively as well as positively in different fields.
The Immigration of the Jews of Yemen to Palestine:
The first one hundred families migrated to Palestine from Yemen in 1881. The Zionism had also spread rumors that Rotshileeh, at the top of the Jews throne, had made a special destination for the Jews of Yemen. Perhaps, this was the reason behind the huge migration of the Jews from Yemen. Some of them used small catamarans to reach Palestine. The first as well as the second groups of these families reached Palestine in 1881. Immigration took place in small measures until the huge immigration phenomenon took place after the war of 1948 and until December 1950. At this time there was a huge immigration not only from Yemen but from different countries in the Arab Peninsula to Palestine so as to work in the agricultural field beside the Jews of Egypt. This period was considered to be the most fertile Zionist immigration to Palestine as the other immigration were done under secrecy.
The Real Objectives of Immigration:
There are strong evidences that prove without a shadow of doubt that the immigration process was an act of colonization act and not a religious one as clear from the following accounts:
1) The immigration was obligatory for the youth and the old ones were left behind.
2) Zionism has never been interested in religion for all its activities used to be focused on the Jews as a political congress.
Why the Jews of Yemen migrated late?
The Zionism could use different terrorist ways to compel the Yemeni Jews to migrate from Yemen. However, this was not an easy task.
There were different sources that had interfered in the immigration of the Jews from Yemen. They used to exercise pressure through different ways. However, the surprising thing was their ability to mobilize the Jews of Yemen who were deeply rooted in the Yemeni society, 2000 years ago. Then Zionism came to claim that the Yemeni Jews traveled for religious reasons. There were a lot of Jews who had been cheated by the call of the “Promise Land”. Those who realized the trick refused to immigrate from Yemen and decided to convert to Islam so as to stay in Yemen. Some of them admitted this. It is worth mentioning that thousands decided to convert to Islam so as to stay in Yemen, though they did not delve so deep into the Islamic religion.
It is an established belief that the immigration of the Jews from Yemen was made under American, British as well as Zionist pressure. However, the continuous Zionist efforts have shown that the inhuman ways adopted by the Zionist Movement to compel and force the Jews to migrate. The “anti-Semitism” slogan means in the Zionist dictionary “the practice of all possible oppressing means and ways such as killing, burning, stealing of the Jews to make them immigrate to Palestine”. However, the great number of Jews in Yemen had been very much influenced by the general economic situation of the country which had also compelled many Yemenis to immigrate due to the destruction of the Marib Dam.
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