The Georgian-speaking Jewish community is one of the world’s oldest, with roots going back approximately 2,600 years. Today, JDC is proud to have helped power in its rich history, starting in the 1920s with support to local Jewish farm collectives. Though Jews played a key role in Georgia’s founding in 1918, like elsewhere in the Soviet Union, Soviet leaders banned organized Jewish life when they took control in 1921. They later expelled JDC from Soviet lands in 1938.
But toward the end of the Soviet Union, Jewish life reemerged. JDC helped spark this revival in 1988 when we provided Tbilisi’s Jews with books and other religious items. After Georgia gained independence, JDC stepped in to help the community build a strong Jewish infrastructure to care for its vulnerable elderly — people who were left without a social safety-net following the Soviet Union’s collapse.
The events of the 21st century — including a severe earthquake in 2002, a dramatic 2008 rescue operation in Gori and other cities, the global pandemic, and continuing economic crisis — have further stressed Tbilisi’s Jewish community, tested its mettle, and proved its strength. Through it all, JDC has worked alongside local communities to write the next chapter of Georgia’s Jewish history.
