This was originally written for the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies‘ magazine, 2024 edition. It is presented here with some light edits and news about a recent acquisition since the article was first published.
The country of Yemen, at the entrance of the Red Sea, has been in the news quite a lot in the last year and a half. Although the banner of the rebel Houthi (“Ansar Allah”) group that has been attacking shipping over the last few months includes an explicit “curse upon the Jews,” Jews lived in Yemen for millennia before the 21st century. The Jews of Yemen have a distinct and vibrant culture, and produced important documents and scholarship throughout the centuries.
Some of the earliest documentation for Jews in Yemen comes from tombs dated to the third century of the common era, and scholars have suggested evidence for Jews in Yemen as early as the second century before the common era. The 3rd-6th century Ḥimyarī dynasty in Yemen even practiced Judaism, during which time Yemenite Jews corresponded with a yeshiva (religious academy) in Tiberias. Arabic poets in the pre-Islamic period noted the distinctive practices of Jews, including Sabbath observance. With the rise of Islam, though, Jews in Yemen became dhimmis, and the varied governments included periods of both flourishing and persecution for the Jews there. One of the most well-known episodes for the Jews in Yemen was the 12th century rise of a false messiah, after which Maimonides wrote his “Epistle to Yemen” to comfort and strengthen the faith of the community.
Columbia’s Judaica collection contains a significant number of manuscripts from Yemen. The most famous one is probably “The Columbia Talmud,” two bound volumes collectively containing the tractates of Betsah, Pesahim, Megillah, Mo’ed Katan, and Zevahim. This manuscript was written in Yemen in 1546, and contains significant variants from the printed text that is used today. Because of their location and context, Yemenite manuscripts were not censored in the same way as those in the Christian world, and thus are considered closer to an “original” text in many ways, and are critical to scholarly research.
However, this is not to say that the Yemenite communities had no exposure to the Western world. We have a few Yemenite manuscripts in the collection that use printed pages from European presses as part of their bindings, indicating that printed Hebrew texts did indeed make their way to Yemen. A later Yemenite manuscript (from the 19th century) includes a commentary of Menorat ha-Ma’or, written by Mosheh Frankfurter, an Ashkenazic Jew whose work was studied by Yemenite Jews.
There are a few manuscript types that are unique to Yemen. The first is the Tiklal. This term applies to a liturgical collection of prayers and Biblical readings for the entire Jewish year, often alongside particular Mishnayot (like Avot and Yoma) that applied to particular times of the year. The copy of a Tiklal shown on the right also depicts the Babylonian nikkud – where the vocalization of Hebrew words was added above the letters rather than below them.
A Diwan was more of a miscellany; a collection of varied literary material, often poetry. This Divan contains poetry and prayers, including poems in Judeo-Arabic, written by multiple scribes. Some famous diwans include those of Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra. The format of this diwan is very long and narrow, possibly to be carried in a deep pocket or a wide sleeve
Another unique book of the Jews of Yemen is a Taj. A Taj is a Bible written in three languages. Each verse was written in the original Hebrew, followed by its Aramaic translation (Targum) and the Judeo-Arabic translation of Sa’adiya Ga’on. This style of Bible allowed its reader to complete the dictate of “reading the Torah twice, once with Targum [translaton].” In some Yemenite communities today, there is an additional reader who echoes the Torah reading verse by verse in the Judeo-Arabic translation.
In December of 2024, we acquired another Yemenite manuscript, a Pentateuch written in 1679, with the commentary of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher. The manuscript includes two beautiful micrographic pages, as well as micrography of the Mesorah throughout the manuscript. This set of four volumes is particularly important for historical research, as the scribe writes the following in the colophon:”due to our many sins, our troubles have multiplied to the point that we are drained of strength, our distresses have increased, and the light of our hearts has darkened. For in this year the sacred synagogue of San’a was destroyed and Israel was sent into exile.” This refers to the beginning of the Mawza Exile, which started with the burning of all synagogues and exiled all Yemenite Jews to the desert of Mawza.
Today, there are very few, if any, Jews left in Yemen. Most Yemenite Jews migrated to Israel during the 20th century, although there are Yemenite communities in the United States as well.
