How Cultural Identity Impacted My Sense of Self

Being a Bukharian Jew growing up in Northeast Philly has had its ups and downs. On one end, I knew I was a part of a culture that is rich with traditions, history, and delicious food. On the other end, I felt nearly isolated because of the lack of people I could connect with culturally.

Being Jewish is already a complex matter on its own. Contrary to popular belief, Judaism is not JUST a religion(click for YouTube explanation) , it is also a nation of displaced people that all link to the ancient land of Judea. The Jewish nation makes up less than 1% of the total world population with people of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrachi descent. Bukharians are special in way that we are technically Mizrachi Jews, but we follow the Sephardi customs. Bukharians even speak their own language, Bukhori, which is a Tajik branch of the Persian language, yet it’s still different because it is mixed with a bit of Hebrew. To make things even more complicated, we speak Russian due to the Soviet Union taking control of Central Asia and forced everyone to speak Russian for nearly a century.

I knew I was a part of a VERY unique group of people. Bukharian Jews are mainly from what is now the countries of Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. At the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, majority of Bukharians moved to either Israel or the United States. Within the United States, a vast majority moved to Queens, New York. My family were part of that vast majority, for a few years and later decided to make the move to Philadelphia. They came with the recommendation of their family members who have already been living here for numerous years and hoped that other Bukharians would follow.

Growing up in a predominately Russian speaking neighborhood of Northeast Philly, it was still difficult for me to connect with cultures other than my own. I was raised with constant reminders from my parents that I am a Bukharian Jew, which meant we had our own cultural values and traditions. I was fortunate enough to learn about my Judaism by being a part of a Russian speaking Orthodox synagogue growing up. However, the majority of the congregants were Ashkenazi, and I was continuously reminded of the cultural differences even within my own religion.

I had to adapt. I had to find a way to find the middle ground with my cultural identity especially, since I attended public schools with a variety of other cultures. I was an American born, Russian speaking, Mizrachic Jew that followed Sephardic customs, living in Philly. At this point my mindset was also slightly different from most Bukharians in New York. My sense of self was that I was all of the above and that’s what made me branch out into my own culture. That’s the beauty within what seems to be chaos.

Cultural identity will always continue to change on a daily basis. Not only does our cultural background affect us, we also make an effect on our cultural future as we all try to grasp a better sense of self each day. In Philly today, there are now about 50 Bukharian families. I will always be proud to say that Bukharians in Philly are successful because of our will to grow, adapt, and prosper despite how difficult it may have been to connect culturally with those around us.

If you could relate to this blog in someway, please feel free to comment below. I think for my next blog, I’ll try to give an in depth explanation of the history of Bukharian Jews.
Stay Tuned… 🙂