The Jews of the Great Silk Road: Yesterday and Today

Sun, Dec 20, 2020, 7:30 to 9 pm Central European Time (UTC+1)

Tickets ($18) here.

Follow in the footsteps of the Bukharian Jewish merchants on the Silk Road and discover the ancient network of trade routes that were for centuries crucial to Eurasian cultural interaction. Explore with us the history of these roads connecting East and West, stretching from the Korean peninsula and Japan to the Mediterranean Sea. Understand the impact and the contribution that Central Asia’s Jewish communities of today’s Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan made towards the development of this ancient path. We will learn about the Jewish presence in this area for over 2000 years, will look into their houses and read into the letters that the Jews of Central Asia exchanged for centuries with their fellow European Jewish communities.

0% of the profits will be donated to the Bukharian Ethnographic Society and Bukharian Jewish Heritage “MEROS” museum. For several decades, its Executive Director, Mr. Aron Aronov, has transported embroidered garments, kitchen and farm implements, portraits and artifacts, and other examples of traditional Bukharian Jewish culture from his native Uzbekistan to New York, where they are displayed in his museum.

Manashe Khaimov is a fourth-generation community organizer, serial entrepreneur, and social innovator. He is the founder of the Bukharian Jewish Union, an organization for the young professionals in their 20’s and 30’s, the founder of AskBobo.org, the only Bukharian online dictionary, and the founder of The Jewish Silk Road Tours ™, an initiative that helps to introduce New Yorkers and tourists from around the world to the diversity of NYC. Manashe launched MEROS: Center for Bukharian Jewish Research & Identity at Queens College Hillel, and has researched and produced several documentaries about the Bukharian Jewish community. In 2015, the Jewish Week named Manashe one of the 36 under 36 changemakers in Jewish life. In 2016, the TimesLedger Newspaper’s named Manashe one of the borough’s unsung heroes who inspired youngsters to reach their full potential and awarded their prestigious Queen’s Impact Award. Manashe has presented on the history of the Bukharian Jews around the United States, Canada, Uzbekistan, in Limmud South Africa (2018), Limmud FSU Vienna (2020), and presented at the eFestival Limmud North America (2020). Currently, he is also an Adjunct Professor in Jewish Studies, with a specialty in History and Culture of the Mizrahi and Central Asian Jews at Queens College.