The Yemenites part 1

There have been many classic (and not so classic) movies about lands forgotten by time. People living in the Stone Age, Vikings whose culture has survived in tact in the Arctic, ancient civilizations long hidden in the Amazon, were all parts of the movies that fired my imagination as a child back in the '50s. When it comes to Jewish civilization, we have a real-life example of this in the Yemenites (Teimanim). There are, indeed, older Jewish communities. But the very isolated ones usually forgot their original traditions and preserved only remnants of their past; forgetting the Hebrew language, and adopting many facets of the surrounding cultures. Those that were less isolated, often came under the influence of larger Jewish cultural centers, with little left of their original ways. The great exception is the Yemenites. This Southern Arabian land was inhabited by Jews since First Temple times. They were isolated enough to maintain the most ancient of Jewish traditions. Yet, unlike many others in similar situations, maintained constant contact with Jewish communities in other lands; accepting what seemed to make sense in the writings of the great rabbis abroad, while filtering out those that seemed to veer away from their understanding of Judaism as received from their ancestors.Contrary to popular opinion, Yemenites are NOT Sepharadim. As we shall see in future posts, there was, indeed, a very heavy influence on them from Maimonides, whom they saw as he greatest preserver and interpreter of Classical Judaism. But even he was subject to scrutiny in light of ancient practices that they considered sacrosanct. They were a a Jewish community lacking in books; so large numbers memorized the few books that were available. To know the fourteen volume legal code of Maimonides by heart was not at all unusual. Accuracy of transmission was also a hallmark of the Yemenites. Maimonides' Code underwent many changes since the late twelfth century. Codifiers often had great difficulty when studying his works, not knowing what was authentic, what was the result of scribal error...or deliberate tampering with the text. Twentieth century scholars discovered a manuscript in Maimonides' own handwriting. To their astonishment, it was found to differ greatly from our standard printed texts, but was identical to the Yemenite version almost letter for letter, with no substantive differences. Musicologists have shown that all other communities' music was influenced by surrounding cultures. But Yemenite music was unique, with no Arabic influence (although they spoke Arabic). They have their own pronunciation of Hebrew, which differs significantly from both Ashkenazic and Sepharadic traditions. Scholars believe it to be the closest to the ancient pronunciation. Nearly every Yemenite home had its own Etrog tree (pronounced by them "Athroj"), which is used in our prayer services during the Sukkot holiday. But the Yemenite Etrog is different in many ways from the "standard" Etrog. Many rabbis have noted that theirs fits more closely the description in the Talmud, and many non-Yemenites have adopted this variety (including yours truly). Even the late Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Avraham Shapira, only used a Yemenite Etrog. If you were to attend a Yemenite synagogue, you will be very surprised. When the Torah is read, in most communities there is a designated reader, with each person called to "read", actually only reciting the blessings, while the designated reader chants the text. Among Yemenites, each one reads his own portion. Heaven help him if he makes even the slightest error in punctuation or cantillation. Accuracy in the Word of G-d is taken VERY seriously! Moreover, only one verse is read at a time, while someone else (usually a small child) will recite the Aramaic Translation (Targum), a trow back to the days when Aramaic was the predominant language among Jews. Unlike most other communities, where children under Bar Mitzvah age are not allowed to read the Torah publicly, Yemenites begin reading the Torah at age six. By the time they are Bar Mitzvah, a boy is expected to be capable of reading anywhere in the Torah with an accuracy rarely seen or heard of elsewhere (although a few Sepharadic communities do this as well.)
I could go on and on about their unique traditions. But, in fact, we almost lost this amazing community in the twelfth century. One man was responsible for that not happening. That will be the next part of our story