In this Book

From Sofia to Jaffa: The Jews of Bulgaria and Israel

Book
Guy H. Haskell Foreword by Raphael Patai
2018
Published by: Wayne State University Press
Series: Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
summary
Within two years of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, an astounding 45,000 of Bulgaria's 50,000 Jews left voluntarily for Israel. This mass exodus was remarkable considering that Bulgaria was the only Axis power to prevent the deportation of its Jews to the death camps during World War II. After their arrival in Israel, the Jews of Bulgaria were recognized as a model immigrant group in a fledgling state attempting to absorb hundreds of thousands of newcomers from more than eighty countries. They became known for their independence, self-reliance, honesty, and hard work. From Sofia to Jaffa chronicles the fascinating saga of a population relocated, a story that has not been told until now. Beginning with a study of the community in Bulgaria and the factors that motivated them to leave their homeland, this book documents the journey of the Bulgarian Jews to Israel and their adaptation to life there.

Table of Contents

open access

Cover

Title Page

pp. 1-3

Copyright

pp. 4

Dedication, Epigraph

pp. 5-8

Contents

pp. 9-10

Foreword

pp. 11-12

Acknowledgments

pp. 13-14

Introduction

pp. 15-20

Part I: Israeli Social Science Looks at Immigration and Ethnicity

pp. 21-22

Chapter 1: Confronting Mass Immigration

pp. 23-34

Chapter 2: The Emergence of Culture

pp. 35-46

Chapter 3: Introspection and Diversification

pp. 47-68

Part II: The Jews in Bulgaria

pp. 69-70

Chapter 4: From the First Century to the Ottoman Conquest

pp. 71-76

Chapter 5: The Ottoman Period: 1389–1878

pp. 77-84

Chapter 6: From Liberation to World War II: 1878–1940

pp. 85-106

Chapter 7: The War Years: 1940–1944

pp. 107-117

Chapter 8: From Liberation to Emigration: 1944–1949

pp. 118-126

Part III: The Jews of Bulgaria in Israel

pp. 127-128

Chapter 9: Theoretical Approaches

pp. 129-136

Chapter 10: Components of Identity

pp. 137-151

Chapter 11: Folklore and Identity

pp. 152-166

Epilogue

pp. 167-174

Appendix A: Statistics

pp. 175-176

Appendix B: List of Informants

pp. 177-179

Appendix C: Two Interviews

pp. 180-202

Notes

pp. 203-215

Bibliography

pp. 216

Social Scientific Works

pp. 216-226

Bulgarian Jewry

pp. 226-230

Index

pp. 231-235
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