Yeudim HaMizrach יודים המזרח | |
Total population | |
~21 million | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Cildania | ~20 million |
Languages | |
Yeudish, Cildanian | |
Religions | |
Yeudism, Secular | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Yeudi ethnic groups, Cildanians, Majatrans |
Cildanian Yeudis (Yeudi: מזרחים, Mizraḥim, literally Easterners) are Yeudis who inhabit the region of the modern state of Cildania, and their descendants born outside Cildania. Cildanian Yeudis derive their origin from two groups: from the Yeudis who inhabited the region of today's Cildania from ancient times, and the descendants of those Yeudis that arrived in the country in several waves of immigration. Since Cildania is the founding place of Yeudism, Cildanian Yeudis have been present on the island since at least 500 BCE.
History[]
There have been Yeudis in Cildania since ancient times: according to legend, Yeudism was founded on the island by a Qedarite prophet who claimed that the Promised Land of the Qedarite Migrations lay further West. Following this mythical event, Yeudism has maintained a continuing presence on the island. Many Yeudis arrived in Cildania throughout the Middle Ages, wishing to escape persecutions and pogroms in other countries. Still later, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some Yeudis from Artania settled in Cildania for trading reasons, while retaining their Western nationalities. Today there is no clear distinction between these groups, as they have intermarried extensively, and all regard themselves as "Mizrahim" in a broader sense. In modern times, many Yeudis have played an important role in Cildanian culture and politics, and today they constitute around 10% of Cildania's population.
Customs[]
The liturgy of the Cildanian Yeudis is very similar to that of Yeudis living in Majatran dominated countries, with several differences preserved orally. In earlier decades some communities and individuals used prayer-books which contained a slightly different text, leaving any specifically Cilanian usages to be perpetuated by oral tradition. The musical customs of Cildanian communities are very distinctive, as many of the prayers are chanted to the melodies of the hymns, according to a complicated annual rota designed to ensure that the maqam (musical mode) used suits the mood of the festival or of the Katub reading for the week.
Cildanian Yeudis have a large repertoire of hymns, sung on social and ceremonial occasions such as weddings and bar mitzvahs. Hymns are also used in the prayers of Shabbat and holidays. Some of these are ancient and others were composed more recently as adaptations of popular Cildanian songs; sometimes they are written or commissioned for particular occasions, and contain coded allusions to the name of the person honoured.
As in most Majatran countries, Cildanian Yeudi food is fairly similar to other types of Cildanian food, although some dishes have different names among Yeudi members. This is partly because of the Cildanian origins of Yeudism.
OOC notes[]
Cildanian Yeudis are primarily based on Syrian Jews in culture and appearance, as well as Berber Jews and Moroccan Jews and other Mizrahi and Sephardi Jewish groups.