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and historical research of ethnic populations,
including Jews, in Afghanistan.The article focuses
on the ‘khesht’, a key symbol in the culture of the
Afghan Jews. It was used as a birthing stool, as a
support for washing the dead and as a magical
offering to demonic entities. Symbolic decoding
of their folk culture allows us to understand the
cosmological conceptions and notions about
gender and symbolism held by the Afghan Jews
during the first half of the 20th century.
Dr.Tsila Zan-Bar Tsur is engaged in the study of
Folklore of Afghan Jews.

Chen Bram examines the formation of group
identity in two distinct Jewish groups: the
Jews of Bukhara and the Mountain Jews of the
Caucasus, by focusing on the generic names
of both groups and how they came about.
Comparison between Bukharan Jews and
Mountain Jews reveals that in both cases the
process involved a general name for the group
that underwent changes with relation to local
identity due to negotiations with the changing
regime and environment, At the same time the
formation of their identity was influenced by the
first immigrations to Eretz Israel and contacts
with their new surroundings. This dynamic of
creating a common generic identity illustrates
the centrality of Israel-Diaspora relations in
the experience of different Jewish groups. At
the same time it stresses the centrality of the
encounter with different forms of government
(especially the colonialist and imperialist), along
with other Jewish groups, shaping their group
identity in Modern Times.

VI P e a m i m 1 3 6 ( 2 0 1 3 )