Countries and Their Cultures: Jews of the Middle East

Prior to 1948, Jewish communties were found discontinuously in an area stretching from southwest Asia across North Africa, from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the north to Yemen in the south, and from Afghanistan in the east to Morocco in the west. Jewish cultures can be viewed as both subcultures within a larger "Jewish civilization" and as minority groups in the society where they live. culture-bearing units, four apply to the Jews of the Middle East: religion, region, language, and economic-ecological position. Cultural differences between rural and urban, coastal and oasis communities differentiate Jewish groups from one another. Jews living in rural areas share many characteristics with Jews from other rural areas, as do Jews from different cities or those who reside along different trade routes.