For tiny Circassian community, food and language sustain ancient heritage amid conflict

Living in two northern villages, Israel’s estimated 5,000 Circassians – Sunni Muslims who serve in the IDF – hope to preserve their community while contending with Hezbollah attacks

REHANIYA (AFP) — On a sunny afternoon, Shina Shabso was busy making traditional cheese pastries for a wedding on Israel’s border with Lebanon. The celebration in the Circassian village of Rehaniya was a much-needed break from weeks of war.

Known as “halyuj,” the fried semi-circular pastries are a staple of life in this tiny community of Circassians spread across two villages in northern Israel, and are served up to honor guests at a celebration or to comfort those who mourn.

“Preserving traditional food, especially Circassian cheese, is very important because in Israel we are a minority of around 5,000,” said Shabso, who filled them with her own freshly-made cheese, the tradition passed down through families for generations.

“It’s important for the next generation to know where we came from, what people used to eat and how they used to produce it,” said the 32-year-old artisanal cheesemaker who runs Gvinot Shabso (Shabso Cheese) with her husband Itzik.

It is an explanation she often gave tour groups who would visit before Hezbollah began shooting missiles at northern Israel following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.

Like their Jewish and Arab neighbours, the Circassians — Sunni Muslims who serve in the Israel Defense Forces — have had their lives disrupted by the current round of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel that began in March, when the Iran-backed terror group resumed its fire on Israel amid the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.

For now, though, the skies were clear with only a few distant booms echoing over the border some 4.5 kilometers (nearly three miles) away.

‘You’re loyal to your surroundings’

The Circassians are an ethnic group indigenous to the North Caucasus, a mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas, in what is today primarily southern Russia.

They were massacred and forcibly expelled from their homeland by Russian troops between 1860 and 1864 in what their descendants want recognized as a genocide, its anniversary marked every May 21.

Known for their resilience in harsh conditions, their fighting skills and their loyalty to the place they live, the Circassians were brought to the Middle East by the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1870s and never left.

Today, they number five million worldwide, of which three million live in Turkey, 120,000 in Syria and 100,000 in Jordan. The rest are scattered across Russia, Europe, Israel and the United States.

“When the rulers changed, the Circassians stuck with it, they’re people of their word. Loyalty means you’re loyal to your surroundings,” said Zuher Tchaocho, 52, director of the Circassian museum in Kfar Kama, the other Circassian village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the south.

Although he speaks Hebrew, his native tongue is Circassian — a phonetically-rich language based on 64 letters written in Cyrillic that graces the street signs, alongside Hebrew and Arabic.

“This is the only place in the world where children are taught Circassian as part of the education system,” Tchaocho said.

A living language

The everyday use of Circassian is what sets the community apart, according to Riyad Gosh, 80, former head of Circassian heritage at Israel’s Education Ministry.

“We’ve retained our Circassian identity 100 percent… We preserve our community in language, culture, customs and behavior,” he said, wearing a green baseball cap with the 12 gold stars and three crossed arrows of the Circassian flag.

“But we’re a people that is disappearing because many don’t speak the language,” he said. “It’s not preserved like we preserve it here. That really hurts me.”

Elsewhere, spirits were high as the wedding celebrations began, trays of cheese pastries handed around as the groom approached the bride’s home to claim her, his entourage dancing after an accordion playing traditional songs.

In this case, both bride and groom are from the village. But the problem of not marrying out is a growing challenge, with just 1,500 Circassians living in Rehaniya and 3,500 in Kfar Kama, said Tchaocho.

Bringing someone from abroad involves complex residency issues, Gosh added.

“They want to keep marrying only Circassians and so far they’ve managed, but it’s hard to find people from just the two villages,” he said of a problem that he said will “become more serious later on.”

‘We’re really attached to the Israelis here’

Although the post-October 7 conflicts have been hard on everyone in the community, no one would consider leaving, least of all Shabso.

“We feel connected to the state of Israel, we’re really attached to the Israelis here. It’s like an inseparable part of my life,” she told AFP.

Her cheese business survived thanks to loyal customers spreading the word, with orders now coming from across the country, she said.

“I don’t really know the history of the Circassian people but I drive 45 minutes just to buy these delicious things,” Zeev Dragobetsky, 52, a veteran customer from Kfar Vradim to the southwest, said with a grin.

He added, “Whether there’s a war or not, whenever Shina starts to fry [her cheese pastries], I would come — rockets or no rockets.”