Arban never met any Jews before, not in Mongolia. Well, that is beside the grandparents and the mother, but he did not know. They never told him that. Maybe they were planning to do that after he came home from the University, but he did not know that either. The entire Jewish thing was a mystery to him. Jews were a mystery to him. The Jewish connection? Where did that come from? How could he miss it? There were not too many Jews in Mongolia if any. Where would they come from? Where did all Jews come from? He did not know any and never heard of any Jews in Mongolia. A synagogue? Was such a thing in Mongolia? Where? Judging by the grandparents and the Uzbek relatives, Jews were not such bad people. He was not bad people, but he did not want the whole world to know about the Jewish connection. People, in general, did not like the Jews, and there should be a reason. It was so confusing but intriguing and so exciting. Jews, what does it mean? What is the whole thing about? He wanted to know, so he started to ask. First, the family was hesitant somewhat. They called the grandparents and the mother. Then, they started talking, and that was something to listen to. That was like a journey through the history of the world with the Jews leading the way paving it with accomplishment, tragedies, tears, and the dead bodies. He belonged to such an honorable group of people, a nation of Jews.
The relatives showed Arban the Torah and some other religious books that went back to the 16th — 17th centuries. Some artifacts were even older than that. They had a Persian silver coin that went back to the times before Christ. That coin had the Jewish symbols. Jews were that influential even back then and back there, in Persia. The story was (as far as they knew it) that they were the descendants of the Tribe of Naphtali and the Tribe of Issachar of the Lost Tribes of Israel who may have been exiled during the Assyrian captivity of Israel in the 7th century BCE. Historically, they spoke Bukhori, a Tajik dialect of the Persian language. That language was connected to the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara, which once had a sizable Jewish community. It was not clear whether Bukhori came from Bukhara or the other way around, but what difference did it really make. They were the ethnic Hebrews and lived in those lands for at least fifteen hundred years.
The Bukharan Jews were the Mizrahi Jews and have been introduced to and practiced Sephardic Judaism. The Mizrahi Jews, (“Sons of the East” — Hebrew) or Oriental Jews, were the descendants of local Jewish communities in the Middle East from biblical times into the modern era. They included the descendants of Babylonian and Mountain Jews from modern Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan, the Caucasus, Kurdistan, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. The Yemenite Jews, as well as the North African Jews, were sometimes also included but their histories were separate from Babylonian Jewry. They also claimed to be the descendants of the Khazars and the Jewish Kingdom that was right where they were now. Neither the Mongols nor the Arabs or the Turks mistreated the Jews. Jews, whether converted to Islam or not, were allowed to lead the professional lives and to prosper to some degree. The degree of prospering had to be determent by the local, ruler, and a few other conditions. Many of the Bukharan (Mizrahi) Jews, became quite known throughout history. Many converted to Islam either because they believed in it or just to make a living a little more comfortable yet, all were born in the region of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Fergana. If we check the birthplaces of most of the Arab/Turkish famous doctors, scientists, writers, philosophers, and the astronomers, we will find, the Emirate of Bukhara (a part of the former Kingdom of Khazars) quite often.
The relatives helped Arban to understand the complex history and the philosophy of the religion. He liked some of the customs, but the faith made no sense for him. All religious convictions were foreign to him, and the relatives did not push. They were not very religious and very assimilated. Still, there were some traditions they liked to follow, and Arban loved it as well. He wanted to know more, and the relatives gave him the names of the famous people and what they accomplished and tons of books to read. Some of those books were old, even rare, published before the revolution. Not too many new books covered the issues Arban wanted to know. The Soviet philosophy did not include the ethnicity and the religious aspects as the legit questions and suppressed anything related to that. So, it became more of Arban’s hobby, but he was earnest about. It was the interest chased for pleasure and relaxation and not as a primary occupation, but he wanted to know it all. Now, he knew that he had some Jewish blood, the blood of the mysterious Khazars that all Mongol warlords respected so much. So, he was one of them and a Mongol on top of it. What was he more? No matter what and how that was an unbeatable combination. He was so proud of it but warned not to advertise it, too openly. Who knows who was listening and their feelings on the subject. Not everyone was friendly to the Jews. Racism and especially, anti-Semitism, was still everywhere and so powerful. And, the minorities were the worst racists of them all. In short, the entire Jewish thing was on the need to know bases and not too many people needed to know. Only if you knew what the other people were, you could tell them what you are. But they should be first. Know your adversary better that they know you and be as ruthless as they are. Always strike first, if necessary. It was an astute policy that saved so many lives.
After graduating from the University in Tashkent, Arban came home to Ulaanbaatar as a doctor and with the knowledge of Mongolian, Uzbek, Russian, some Tajik and Chinese languages. Under the father’s advice, Arban went to the military service where he served for three years as a doctor in the military hospital in the capital. His record was spotless and quite impressive, and he could get any position anywhere in the country. He could even get a job in the Soviet Union, but that would be stretching. It was not really needed. Now, he was ready to enter and enjoy the civilian life, but he met a beautiful, yet overly spoiled, girl, and got married. They met at the retirement party of the grandfather. The grandmother had retired a few years earlier. He was active and energetic, but it was time even for him. Everyone who was someone came to that party, and so a few very significant government officials and often, with the families. The grandfather and the grandmother were quite well known and respected in the country, and that went far in the land of that size. They represented things that the Soviet Union had done right in Mongolia, that worked and rather well. In short, these Soviets were accepted and welcomed in the Mongolian society that was not known for embracing just anyone. The history taught the Mongols to be choosy, and history was always right. Who could know history better than the history itself?