Krymchaks

Krymchaks
Кримчаки (Ukrainian)
Krymchaky
Total population
1,200–1,500 (est)[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Israel1,200[2]
 Russia954 (2021)[3]
 Ukraine406 (2001)[4]
Languages
Russian, Krymchak
Religion
Orthodox Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Crimean Tatars, other Jews, especially Crimean Karaites

The Krymchaks (Krymchak: plural: кърымчахлар, qrımçahlar, singular: кърымчах, qrımçah) are Jewish ethno-religious communities of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism.[4] They have historically lived in close proximity to the Crimean Karaites, who follow Karaite Judaism.

At first krymchak was a Russian descriptive used to differentiate them from their Ashkenazi Jewish coreligionists, as well as other Jewish communities in the former Russian Empire such as the Georgian Jews, but in the second half of the 19th century this name was adopted by the Krymchaks themselves. Before this their self-designation was "Срель балалары" (Srel balalary) – literally "Children of Israel". The Crimean Tatars referred to them as zuluflı çufutlar ("Jews with pe'ot") to distinguish them from the Karaites, who were called zulufsız çufutlar ("Jews without pe'ot").[citation needed]

  1. ^ Kizilov, M. Krymchaks: Modern situation of the community. "Eurasian Jewish Annual". 2008
  2. ^ "Михаил Кизилов. Крымчаки: современное состояние общины". Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  3. ^ "ВПН 2020 | Официальный сайт | Всероссийская перепись населения 2021". Archived from the original on 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
  4. ^ a b Krymchaks Archived 2014-06-22 at the Wayback Machine at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine