Religious Beliefs. The traditional religion of the Mountain Jews is Judaism. In the cycle of wedding, birth, and funeral rituals are a number of pre-Judaic and premonotheistic concepts, including belief in the purifying strength of fire, water, amulets, and talismans against evil spirits (water nymphs, devils, etc.). Some believing families have preserved the Judaic talisman called mazuze. Oaths are rendered by the Torah and the Talmud, but also by the hearth.
The great majority of Mountain Jews today are nonbelievers, in part because of efforts in this direction by members of the community. The visible growth in the departure from the faith is also explained by the increasingly negative attitude in the former Soviet Union as a whole to the Jewish religion, partially in reaction to the creation of the state of Israel. Jewishness came to be regarded as damaging, and the more conservative elements in the community began to link the leading elements of the Mountain Jewish population with Zionists. All this damaged the Jewish ethnic identity (constitutionally the equal of other ethnic groups). This also explains why many Mountain Jews began not only to conceal their Jewish faith but to call themselves "Tat." Many of them, even believers, stopped attending the three synagogues in Daghestan (in Derbent, Makhachkala, and Buynaksk). They are now used by a small number of believers, primarily of the older generation, mainly on the evening of Sabbath and on major holidays. There are now practically no qualified rabbis. That role is taken by those who are more devout, who at some time studied in Hebrew schools (and can therefore more or less read the sacred books and prayers), and who are able to perform the rituals.
Ceremonies. Presently the faith is maintained through the performance of traditional rituals in the home. By the same token, religious holidays are observed more because of tradition than belief. Most important are Purim (Omunu among the Mountain Jews), Pesach (Passover, better known by the people under the name Nisonu, from the name of the month of spring, "Nisan"), Rosh Hashanah (New Year), and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Even today on the eve of the latter holiday, believing families sacrifice a bird and a chicken for each person. Hanukkah (Khanukoi) is the major winter holiday. More religious Mountain Jews observe the fasts and prohibitions of different holidays and give alms ( sadagho ).
Arts. The long coexistence of the Mountain Jews with the peoples of the Caucasus and Daghestan has led to many of them mastering the languages of their neighbors—Azerbaijani, Lezgin, Dargin, Kumyk, Chechen, Kabardian, etc.—and the music, songs, and dances of these peoples. This explains why the majority of Mountain Jews, depending on their historical place of settlement, prefer either Azerbaijani-Persian music or that of Daghestan-northern Caucasia. They have not only adopted Azerbaijani, Lezgin, Kumyk, and Chechen songs and music, but they have reworked them in accord with their own traditions. That is why so many Mountain Jewish singers and musicians have become professional masters of the arts, not only in Caucasia and Daghestan, but in the whole country; for example, the organizer and artistic director of the world-famous Daghestan national song and dance ensemble (called "Lezginko"), Tanko Izrailov, Folk Artist of the USSR, and his successor, Iosif Mataev, Folk Artist of the Daghestan ASSR, are Mountain Jews, or, as they are now called, Tats.
From the Mountain Jewish community come many well-known scholars and leaders in public health, education, culture, and art. Unfortunately, the names of some individuals known in Russia and even internationally cannot be cited here because, for the most part, they are officialy identified as Tats, Azerbaijanis, Daghestanis, and even Russians. Today, measures are being taken to foster the cultural life of minorities. In Daghestan and Kabardia the teaching of Tat has been introduced in some schools. Courses are being organized for those desiring to study Hebrew. In Daghestan steps are being taken toward the rebirth of the Tat theater and the publication of newspapers.
Death and Afterlife. Many traditional funeral and memorial customs are still practiced, most of which follow Orthodox Jewish tradition. The deceased is buried on the day of death, in a Jewish cemetery. Not only all relatives, near and far, but also the entire local community of Mountain Jews, led by its clergy, take part in the funerals. Mourning ( yos ) takes place for seven days in the house of the deceased, with women, including professional female mourners, playing the main role. After seven days the first memorial service is organized, which marks the end of the mourning period for all except close relatives. After forty days the second memorial service is held, and the third and last on the first anniversary of the death. Depending on the circumstances of the family, a monument is set up, not infrequently a costly one with a portrait and a Hebrew inscription. Today these are inscribed in Russian. Engraved on the majority of monuments is a six-pointed star of David. These days religious communities have shortened the mourning and memorial periods. In religious families the son and the brothers read a kaddish (memorial prayer) for the deceased. In the absence of these relatives, the function is carried out by the rabbis, for which they are paid, and donations are made to the synagogue.