Jewish FH Samarkand (Uzbekistan)

As early as the 5th century B.C., during the time of the Babylonian exile of the Jewish people, Jews migrated via Persia to Central Asia. They settled in Uzbekistan. Sephardic customs came to the country only in the 18th century through a traveling Jew. Ashkenazi Jews migrated to Uzbekistan from Germany and western Russia.

The language of Uzbek Jews is Bukharic. This dialect, mixed with Hebrew roots, was also spoken in synagogues and during ritual acts. Due to expulsion and emigration, the community in the city is small.

In the burial culture, one can see the lying tombstones of the Sephardic Jews next to the standing stones of the Ashkenazim in the shared cemeteries. In more recent times, the influence of the Soviet burial culture was added. Now photos of the deceased appear on the stones - an abomination for Orthodox Jews.