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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

OrTorah: "My big fat Amaraic Wedding"

"My big fat Amaraic Wedding"
by EduPlanet Rectorate (daniEl I. Ginerman) - Wednesday, 23 November 2005, 12:11 AM
 
"My big fat Amaraic Wedding"
by Jay Bushinsky
International Jerusalem Post
April 29 - May 5, 2005

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HaTsafon

There is no better proof of modern Aramaic's vitality
than the spectacular weddings held by the Jewish "Nash
Didan" community, which hails from the remote
foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.

"Nash Didan" means "Our People" and its distinctive
music and dance have been immortalized by Nissan Aviv,
a brilliant composer and orchestrator who arrived in
Israel 55 years ago during the peak of the "Nash
Didan" immigration, and has devoted his life to
preserving and continuing this culture ever since.

Soon after the late Naomi Shemer's Yerushalayim Shel
Zahav ("Jerusalem of Gold") became a hit on the eve of
the Six Day War, Aviv obtained her permission to
render it in Aramaic.  Translated as Yerushalayim Ai
Dheba, it is a beloved staple at "Nash Didan"
weddings.

Aviv was born in Urmia, an ancient city in Iranian
Azerbaijan.

"We spoke Aramaic at home, Turkish on the street and
learned Persian at school," he said.

"I knew a fair amount of Hebrew when we came to Israel
because it was taught in our Jewish schools.  And
partly thanks to my Aramaic, I was able to speak like
a sabra in no time."

Aviv's lyrics are written in modern Aramaic and his
songs not only draw audiences from the various
Aramaic-speaking communities in Israel - located in
Holon, Givatayim and Jerusalem -- but also are played
on the Aramaic (or Syriac) radio and TV stations in
Australia, Canada and Sweden.

"Jerusalem of Gold is as popular abroad is it is
here," he said.

Aviv's music is based on three instruments:  a drum
known as a dair'a, a five-stringed instrument plucked
like a balalaika or mandolin known as a kar kavkazi
and a Central Asian version of the cello known as a
kamanncha.

Aviv has won the unstinting acclaim of one of Israel's
leading experts in cognate Semitic languages, Hezy
Mutzafi, who speaks half a dozen of the Aramaic and
Syriac dialects fluently.  Noting that the "Nash
Didan" community consists of "only a few thousand"
Israelis (its members constitute a relatively small
percentage of an influx of nearly 200,000 immigrants
from Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus), Mutzafi points
out that it is also one of the least known Jewish
ethnic groups.

"Its focus is on culture, folklore and spoken
Aramaic," explained Mutzafi, referring to the latter
as lishan noshan or "our language."

Mutzafi singled out Aviv as one of the outstanding
activits in the "Nash Didan" community, a man who has
contributed mightily to its spiritual and cultural
life.

Privately, Aviv is rather pessimistic about what the
future holds for the language and lifestyle he loves
and has tried to preserve.

"Our Aramaic is being forgotten," he said.  "The
younger generation can understand it, but cannot speak
and in time, this too will be lost."

One project that gives Aviv hope is the Tel Aviv
University's development of an Aramaic dictionary.

"The trouble is that the project is enormous and the
funding available for it is miniscule," he said.


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