Seharane
Seharane, also spelled Seharaneh, is a multi-day festival celebrated by Kurdish Jews. Although traditionally observed following Passover, in Israel today the festival is observed during the intermediate days of Sukkot.
Etymology
[edit]There are several theories as to the etymology of Seharane. One theory says it derives from the Kurdish word sayeran, meaning to see nature.[1][2] Others relate it to the Aramaic sahar, meaning moon,[3][4]: 115 or the Arabic sayar, meaning a walk.[3]: 115
Origins
[edit]Seharane is thought to derive from Newroz, a similar spring festival observed by Kurds of various religions, which was also called Sayeran in Kurdish.[2] Oral histories suggest that although the largest Seharane celebrations occurred at the end of Passover, smaller celebrations were held throughout the year to commemorate holidays and liminal events such as weddings and betrothals.[3]: 116 In some communities, the Passover Seharane was celebrated during the intermediate days, rather than at its end.[3]: 116
Traditional observance
[edit]The festival's duration differed between communities, with event preparations beginning the first night after Passover ended.[1] In Iranian Kurdistan, Seharane lasted for one day; in other regions, it lasted from two days to a week.[3]: 117 Generally, the festival did not have any religious elements besides a community's regular prayer services.[3]: 117
Traditionally, Kurdish Jews would travel to the countryside and set up camps for the festival celebrations.[2] Communities would hire guards to protect the camps for the festival's length.[2] Families would bring food, which they cooked or reheated over campfires and shared with each other.[2] Seharane observances were joyful and social occasions, in which people wore their best clothes and sang, danced (especially in group circle dances, some of which were sex segregated and others of which were mixed gender), and made music with the zurna and dahola.[1][2][5][3]: 118 In the evenings, people gathered to tell stories.[3]: 117
During the festival, distinctions of class, age, and gender became less pronounced.[3]: 117 Young men and women also were able to spend time more freely with each other, leading to social connections and engagements.[2] The Seharane gatherings were a popular time for fathers to arrange marriages for their daughters, and they often allowed their daughters more influence during the event.[3]: 117
Local Muslims also participated in some celebrations, either being hosted by their neighbors or visiting the site to sell wares.[3]: 117
Another aspect of the holiday was to visit the graves of "righteous elders".[5]
Contemporary observance
[edit]The Kurdish Jewish community was almost entirely relocated to Israel in the early 1950s, through Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.[2][6] Following this, observance of Seharane largely stopped for the next twenty years, due to the community being scattered across the country.[2][6] Some families did host modest celebrations near their homes, limited both by their financial situations and by access to transportation.[3]: 122–123 Other Kurdish Jews, aiming to assimilate into Israeli society, gave up the celebration altogether.[3]: 123 The festival was revived in the 1970s,[7] as part of a larger move to revive cultural traditions and festivals,[6] by the newly formed National Council of the Association of Kurdish Jewry.[2] The council decided to move the festival from its traditional timing after Passover to the intermediate days of Sukkot,[6] in order to avoid conflicts with Mimouna, a Maghrebi Jewish festival which also takes place after Passover.[1][2][7][8]
A Seharane festival was established in 1972, which has been held annually.[9] The festival offers an opportunity for Israeli politicians to interact with the community, as well as a way for Kurdish Jews to connect to the rest of the Kurdish diaspora; multiple times over the years, non-Jewish Kurds have been invited to participate.[8][9][10]
In the years since, the occasion has led to public celebrations, during which many people choose to picnic.[2]
In popular culture
[edit]In September 2019, the Israel Postal Company issued a series of stamps commemorating Seharane.[11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Zylali, Mira. "Seharaneh: A Post-Passover Kurdish Jewish Celebration". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "The Seharane". The Jewish Agency. 2005-07-20. Archived from the original on 2023-11-16. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Cite error: The named reference
Sharaby2022was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ↑ Sharaby, Rachel (2022-05-20). Constructing Ethnic Identities: Immigration, Festivals and Syncretism. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-51199-6.
- 1 2 Goren-Kadman, Ayalah (December 31, 1999). "Community Dance Practices in the Yishuv and Israel: 1900-2000". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
- 1 2 3 4 "Seharane". Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- 1 2 Tapper, Aaron J. Hahn (2016-06-07). Judaisms: A Twenty-First-Century Introduction to Jews and Jewish Identities. Univ of California Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 978-0-520-28135-6.
- 1 2 Maisel, Sebastian (2018-06-21). The Kurds: An Encyclopedia of Life, Culture, and Society. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-4408-4257-3.
- 1 2 Baser, Bahar; Atlas, Duygu (2021-10-02). "Once A Diaspora, Always A Diaspora? The Ethnic, Cultural and Political Mobilization of Kurdistani Jews in Israel". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 22 (3–4): 302–328. doi:10.1080/21567689.2021.1975111. ISSN 2156-7689.
- ↑ Berman, Lazar (September 30, 2013). "Cultural pride, and unlikely guests, at Kurdish Jewish festival". The Times of Israel. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
- ↑ "Ethnic Festivals in Israel -The Sehrane Festival Stamp Sheet". Israel Post Shop. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
Further reading
[edit]- Sharaby, Rachel (May 20, 2022). Constructing Ethnic Identities: Immigration, Festivals and Syncretism. Brill. ISBN 9789004511996.