Safra and the group met with leaders of the community and toured the local synagogue. As a parting gift, the community gave a locally made carpet to each of the visitors.The visit was organized with the support of German Zakharayev, a native of Azerbaijan and a member of the Russian Jewish Congress board.
There are between 20,000-30,000 Jews living in Azerbaijan, a country with a Muslim population of 90 percent. The vast majority of Jews live in the capital Baku, and comprise primarily Mountain Jews with a smaller representation of Ashkenazi Jews. Some 3,000 Jews live in Quba, with an equal number of Mountain Jews in its rural environs.
The Mountain Jews, who call themselves Juhuro (or Juvoro), began settling in the Caucasus Mountains around the 5th Century C.E., having migrated from ancient Persia. The largest communities live in Azerbaijan and Dagestan. They traditionally spoke a Semitic form of Persian called Judeo-Tat. Fewer than 2,000 Mountain Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, in part due to German policy considering them practitioners of the Jewish religion, but not of the Jewish race. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the population of Mountain Jews rapidly declined, with many immigrating to Israel or the United States.
The chairman of the Ashkenazi Jewish community in Azerbaijan is Gennady Zelmanovich. God Nisanov, a WJC Vice President and a member of the Russian Jewish Congress board, was born and raised in Azerbaijan and serves as a representative of the community. Israel has kept an embassy in Azerbaijan since 1992.
The Azeri government has taken a policy against anti-Semitism and the Jewish community enjoys an atmosphere of religious tolerance and acceptance.
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