Yudi, Tripolita'it (Israel)

Libyan Jews, who call themselves Tripolitanians, are the descendants of a community of about 38,000 that moved almost in its entirety to Israel between 1949 and 1951, among the fastest and most complete migrations of any Jewish community. Unlike most North African immigrants they settled mainly in the centre of the country, in Netanya, Bat Yam, Ashkelon and Or Yehuda, while about a quarter founded moshavim, often whole small-town communities from the Tripolitanian hinterland transplanted together, such as Zeitan, founded by Jews of Zliten. Their Judeo-Arabic dialect, Yudi or Tripolita'it, is now heard only among the elderly, but customs such as the Bsisa blessing of the new month of Nisan and the local Purim of Tripoli are still kept. The Heritage Center of Libyan Jewry in Or Yehuda and the Or Shalom center in Bat Yam preserve their manuscripts, Torah scrolls and memory of the Italian racial laws and the Giado concentration camp.