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Line 1: '''Chala''' ({{lang-uz\|чала}} {{IPA-fa\|tʃala\|}}) is aan [[Uzbek language\|Uzbek]] term meaning "neither this nor that," referring to [[Bukharan Jews]] who were allegedly forcibly converted to [[Islam]] beginning in the late eighteenth century. In response, these Chala Jews outwardly practiced Islam, but secretly retained their Jewish traditions. These [[crypto-Jews]] married among themselves and lived in their own neighborhoods that bordered on existing Jewish neighborhoods. The Chala Jews carry a very similar story to the [[Marranos]] of Spain. Chala Jews were unable to return to their true Jewish faith due to the fatal consequences associated with leaving the Islamic faith. The Islamic rulership during this period imposed a death penalty against those renouncing their Islamic faith. Therefore, it was not until the emergence of Imperial Russia, and Soviet rule that Chala Jews were able to revert to their original faith. Ironically, these crypto-Jews lived in nearby neighborhoods that sat next to existing Jewish neighborhoods, where there were openly practicing Jews living at the same time as the Chala.

Chala (Jews): Difference between revisions