Bukhara jews of New York: Аdaptation features

Abstract

Based on the author’s field materials, the article discusses the peculiarities of the adaptation of Bukhara Jews in New York to the last wave of emigration from Central Asia (from the late 1980s to 2000s) and the processes of transformation of the main components of their identity. Most settled in the central area of Forest Hills, Queens, where the Bukhara-Jewish community was already present. However, due to their large number and the fact that they moved to America directly from Central Asia — unlike the immigrants of the previous waves, who came from Palestine/Israel — they introduced peculiarities of Central Asian life to the neighborhood: there appeared cafes with Uzbek-Tajik cuisine, signboards in Russian and Russian speech in the streets. Among other things, it also became fashionable to build up the second floor and surround it with a fence, as was customary in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The preservation and motivation of ethnocultural identity is facilitated by the promotion of the history and cultural heritage of Bukhara Jews through mass media, literature and the activities of various sociocultural organizations. Nevertheless, as they adapt to American society, serious changes take place in the core components of their identity. Bukhara Jews themselves are particularly worried by the growth of mixed marriages, which not only “erode” ethnicity, but also threaten traditional family values sanctified by religion. The religious component of identity has also undergone a transformation under the influence of Chabad, who have a strong position in American Judaism, and is regarded mainly as a marker of Jewishness. The ethnocultural factor, the affiliation with the Jews of Central Asia, is increasingly becoming the dominant contributor to the ethnic identity of American Bukhara Jews, allowing them to survive as a special Jewish ethnic group.