Interview by Petr Lyukimson, Tel Aviv, exclusively to VK
Gabriel (Constantine) Mirelashvili, the president of the World Congress of Georgian Jews, the vice president of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), a businessman, spoke about the Jews living in Georgia to VK.
- Mr. Mirelashvili, how do you see the task of the World Congress of Georgian Jews?
We have, as they say today, multi-vectoral goals and objectives. On the one hand, it is extremely important for me personally and for my colleagues to make the Georgian Jews an integral part of world Jewry. On the other hand, it is certainly important to maintain our unique community and its identity. But again, I personally have never felt any contradiction between these two objectives; I am trying to work equally actively in both directions.
- Are you saying that the Georgian Jews did not previously consider themselves a part of world Jewry?
Of course they did. The Georgian Jews not only remained faithful to our Torah, to the faith of their fathers and grandfathers, but were always willing to help other Jewish communities and played an important role in crucial processes for our people not for centuries but for millennia. Let me remind you of just two facts. The Georgian Jewish community was one of the first ones which actively supported the Zionist movement. In the early 20th century, some Georgian Jews moved to Israel. Before the establishment of the Soviet power in Georgia, there were several Zionist centers there. Incidentally, the father of Ariel Sharon, the future military leader and Israeli Prime Minister, was an activist of one of them. His family moved to Israel, i. e. to Palestine, from Georgia via Baku. In 1970 a campaign organized by a large group of families of Georgian Jews were allowed to get permission to emigrate to Israel for all the Jews of the USSR for some time. However, the Georgian Jews were always on their own account. Now, thanks to the Congress, we are actively involved in many major national projects, and we feel not only essential but also a very important part of a large Jewish family. At the same time we try to maintain a variety of community institutions.
- Where is the center of your work? Is it in Georgia or in Israel?
Of course, it is in Israel. The simple reason for it is that most Georgian Jews now live here. in the land of their ancestors. In Israel, there are dozens of 'Georgian' synagogues, community centers, etc. But at the same time, we do not forget about Georgia, where the Jewish community continues to exist, though, of course, it is much smaller than before. Now we are going to open a Jewish kosher restaurant and shop of kosher products. Both these institutions are designed to help local Jews and Jewish-Georgian guests from Israel and other countries, both tourists and businessmen, to maintain Jewish traditions (there are more and more both Jewish tourists and Jewish businessmen in Georgia). I would also like to note that Alexander Mashkevich, the president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, plays a significant role in promoting all of these projects.
- Which problem of the Georgian Jewish community do you consider to be the most relevant one?
This problem is the very high rates of assimilation of the Jews of Georgia. To our shame, according to the latest figures, they amounted to 50%. This has never happened before. It's no secret that the Georgian people have always been very tolerant towards the Jews, the Jews and the Georgians have had a friendly relationship for almost three millennia, but we have remained faithful to Judaism and to our national identity. Loving and respecting our neighbors, we have not assimilated and have avoided intermarrying. Again, I do not want to say that there have never been such marriages. It is known that Georgians themselves believe that the Bagrationi family, their royal family, is descended from Jews, and many Georgians know that the descendants of the aristocratic families have Jewish ancestors. However, it was a very small number of examples. Now, unfortunately, the extent of assimilation is too serious, and we cannot help worrying. The fact which gives us hope is that some Georgian Jews have recently become significantly more interested in their national origins, religion and culture, and we try to maintain this interest in different ways. In Tbilisi, there are several synagogues, both operating and under restoration, there are also Jewish schools, etc.
- In Israel, we have often heard recently that the economic situation in Georgia is considerably worse than in neighboring Azerbaijan. How do you assess the prospects of the Georgian economy? And are business people from Georgia ready to help the country in which they were born?
Although the economic situation in Georgia is in fact worse than in Azerbaijan, if you look at the GDP growth rate of this country in recent years, you'll see that they are among the highest in the former Soviet Union. Georgia is developing rapidly. There were different periods in the economic relations between our two countries, but I think the main thing is to create a favorable investment climate. Now such a climate is, finally, being created, and I am convinced that in the near future, a lot of the major Israeli businessmen (not only natives of Georgia) will invest in the Georgian economy, perhaps even more actively than in the other post-Soviet countries.
