By Maia Zasler
March
א אבאנא אלדי פי אלסמואת, יתׄקדס אסמך, תׄאתׄי מלכותׄך
This is not Hebrew. Although each letter, read from right to left, surely resembles those of the Hebrew alphabet, this particular excerpt from the Lord’s Prayer is an example of Judeo-Arabic.
Judeo-Arabic is an ethnnolect, which has been defined as “a linguistic entity with its own history and used by a distinct language community.” Jews from Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Iran have spoken and shared its sonorous sentences, sayings, benedictions and curse words for thousands of years. In each regional case, Arabic serves as the substrate, or base, language and Hebrew and Aramaic maintain significant influence on all of Judeo-Arabic’s components, such as cultural-specific vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and phonology.
As of 2024, less than 240,000 native speakers of Judeo-Arabic remain. The memory of the language, its intrinsic value, has seemingly faded into a linguistic background, an archive accessed only by a handful of scholars who take an interest. This phenomena has been driven by the simultaneous fading of the once vibrant Jewish communities in the Arab World. Jews in the mid-20th century who were forced to leave their lives behind under threat of persecution, and who went to the nascent State of Israel, then faced a different, unexpected sort of discrimination from the incumbent Eastern European Jewish population. Viewed as second class citizens, the Mizrahi Jewish immigrants were actively encouraged to drop their mother-tongue and to speak Hebrew. These Mizrahi refugees faced hardships in temporary displacement camps, far from their homes in Iraq, or Syria, or other Arab countries from where they had fled. They were quickly immersed in Ulpan programs, learning Hebrew upon arrival and adopting it for functional, daily use. In many cases, the Jews who settled in the United States, Great Britain, or France, etc. were quick to assimilate, also letting go of their ties to Judeo-Arabic.
Judeo-Arabic is a colorful language, a means of connection between familiar faces, between friends and family. Its playful phrases, aggrandized negative references, associated ceremonies and customs must not be forgotten, lest a whole history be forgotten along with it.
Foods
Foods are at the center of most Jewish festivals. Each diasporic community has adapted to the range of ingredients available in a given region while still consistently integrating long-held religious customs. In the case of the Baghdadi Rosh Hashanah tradition—a celebration of the Jewish New Year where Iraqi Jews would pray in Hebrew for strength and G-d’s benevolence—foods eaten during the holiday are symbolic. They correspond with words from the Hebrew prayers that retain phonetic resemblance to the Arabic names for certain foods.
For example, in looking towards a New Year, Jews pray to take heart against dark forces, whether an individual’s internal struggles or an external enemy. In Hebrew, the word for heart is lev. Sounding close to the Arabic word loubia (meaning long beans), loubia are always placed at the dinner table. The Hebrew for the verb “to end” (yitamu), as in “to end our enemies’ hateful conquests” is similar to the Arabic word for “dates” (temmer). Additionally, the Hebrew for “cut off” (yikartu), as in to “cut off our enemies”—whether they be external or internal, self-destructive tendencies—has a phonetic correspondence to the Arabic k’rath (“parsley”). The foods eaten by other Arab Jewish communities only differ slightly based on dialect.
Ceremony
B’frahak; “May you be the next to get married”
This wish of goodwill to unmarried young ladies would be said at wedding festivities.
B’milah
Yet another wish whispered or shouted at wedding ceremonies… but, in this case, it is said directly to the bride, encouraging her to have a baby. Milah is drawn from Hebrew, or, more specifically, the Jewish ceremony of brit milah, a bris, which occurs eight days after a baby boy is born. The expression demonstrates the Jewish cultural emphasis on l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation. A wish to pass down tradition and love to one’s children offered at such an important life cycle event illustrates the strength of the Arab Jewish community and the importance of familial ties.
Ash Deedak
“Bless your hands,” or compliments to the chef - said in appreciation of a warm meal or a particularly delicious dish.
Mash’Allah
“May he/she walk with G-d” - said to protect against any evil when someone is complimented or when they are singled out for doing something well.
Curse Words
Judeo-Arabic is filled with clever (and occasionally not so clever, but ever cutting) curses. From this category of vernacular in any language, one may paradoxically catch a glimpse into what that culture values. If something or someone is important enough to be the subject of scorn, it must carry weight in a community. Sometimes, single words get a message across: zmal (meaning “donkey”) or booma (an “owl,” sarcastically referencing, anything but wise). Other times, a conglomeration of words must be employed.
Den alabook laboo a book laboo jabbek; “A shoe on your father, your father’s father, and your father’s mother”
Family ties held a special place of honor in Arab Jewish communities. In the Arab world, it is traditionally considered a high insult to flash or hit another with the bottom of one’s shoe. Incorporating the value of family and the culturally-laden affront of the shoe, this sentence offers a comprehensive reference that delivers a profound sting.
The words we use give us insight into the values of our community, of our cultures. To lose just one word from a language or dialect does a disservice to current and future generations. From this quick study of a small sample of words imbued with cultural insights, one can see how preserving Judeo-Arabic, ensuring its longevity in scholarly study and lived experience, keeps alive a distinct Jewish experience and yet an additional, deeper understanding of its relation and similarities to surrounding cultures and peoples. These elements are crucial to understanding the entire Middle East, for they are embedded in the region’s history and are key to comprehending its progression.