ებრაული თემა ქართულ კულტურაში XX საუკუნეში

Abstract

Among the Georgian periodicals of the twentieth century, the issue of the Jews was one of the most important topics. For centuries, the harmonious coexistence between Georgians and Jews has had a certain impact on the life and culture of both peoples. Jewish life has embraced a number of Georgian rules, which are clearly manifested in the rituals of Jewish wedding, burial, and mourning. The Jews in Georgia were closely connected with the Georgians not only by living in a common territory, but also by producing a common economic base. They pursued agriculture together with Georgians, successfully engaged in viticulture and winemaking. Along with agriculture, one part of the Jews pursued handicrafts and domestic industry: metallurgy, carpentry, handicrafts, carpentry, painting, and blacksmithing. Jewish artisans formed their own workshops or small industrial associations − “communities”, in which 2-3 artisans were united according to their main profession. In Kartli (Gori, Tskhinvali) the Jews had wine and vodka bottling factories, a tea-packing workshop, a shoemaker and a garment factory, and so on. In Nikozi, the Jews owned small brick factories where they made alize, brick and tile. They had sawmills, mills. Jewish meths were known in Racha. The comparison of the way of life of the Georgian people and the ethnic groups living in Georgia, the observation of the differences and similarities of the elements of traditional cultures, assures us that the diversity in this field is our wealth. Georgian Jews actively participated in the political and public life of Georgia, in particular, on May 26, 1918, an important political act of Georgian independence was signed by three Jews: M. Davarashvili, I. Eligulashvili and I. Goldman. In 1918, the Georgian-language Jewish newspaper “Voice of a Jew” started publishing in Kutaisi, and in 1924. The Georgian-language Hebrew newspaper Makaveli was also published in Tbilisi. The Jewish Cultural-Educational Foundation has been operating in the capital since 1993, with the support of which the magazine “Step to the Torah” is published. From the same year, the newspaper “Menora” was published, which systematically provides readers with information about the ongoing processes in Israel, and tells Georgian Jews living outside Georgia about the daily life of Georgia. In 1990, a “Jewish Agency for Israel” was opened in Georgia, which continues to participate in the construction of a Jewish state, It unites the Jews of the world with inseparable ties, strengthens their spiritual and material ties with the Israel of the XXI century, thus promoting a unique phenomenon − the 26th century brotherly coexistence of the Georgian and Jewish peoples.