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I first became interested in Yemenite Jewry 10 years ago, while living in Israel, where I was first exposed to the Yemenite Jewish community. I came to feel that they represent one of the most authentic forms of Judaism today, and eventually married a Yemenite girl from Rehovot.

From that time on, I had wanted to visit Yemen, especially before the remnant of Jewry still left there emigrated. I finally made the trip last summer. I arranged, through connections at work, to have a Jew pick me up at the airport in Sana'a and be my "driver" and translator during my entire visit. I had read and researched at length regarding Yemenite Jewry and was eager to go (although my wife was not so eager). Most people that I spoke to either told me "You're going where?" or "Nu, seriously..." or a combination of the two responses.

To travel outside of Sana'a today, one needs a "tasrich" document from the Ministry of Tourism which outlines where and when you will arrive at each destination. This document is photocopied numerous times and is presented at all the numerous military checkpoints leading in and out of Sana'a. (This is due to the fact that there is an ongoing insurrection in the north of the country led by a group called the al-Houthi. The group's leader has been killed but the insurgency continues, despite what the government claims. Hundreds of soldiers and insurgents have been killed although the West hardly knows about it due to the media blackout in Yemen. Several weeks after my visit, one of my hosts, Moshe Nahari, was murdered in the souk in Raydah by an Arab terrorist.)

The entire north, including Sad'a where my mother-in law was born, is off limits. Also off limits is the famous old stone bridge of Shihara. Also closed is the northeast, including Marib, with its famous stone columns from the ancient Himyar civilization and the entire east including Wadi Hadramout and the former Jewish village of Habban.

The Yemenite Jews have several features which make them unique. First, there is their pronunciation of Hebrew, which is thought to be the most authentic since it includes different sounds for each letter (except sin and samech). They differentiate between a dotted gimmel and without, dotted dalet and without, and pronounce the vav as wav, and sof or taf as thaf. The Yemenites are extremely strict in their reading of the Torah in making sure that all the proper vocalizations and intonations are done right. In Yemenite shuls, when one is given an aliyah to the Torah, that person will read the Torah portion given to him. There is no baal koreh and every person is expected to know every parsha.

In addition, the Yemenites still read the Targum (Aramaic translation of the Torah by Onkelos) after every pasuk is read. A small boy known as the metargaman or translator will stand by the reader and translate pasuk by pasuk also using the trop. The Haftarah is also read this way. Other unique features are the Yemenite tradition of eating kosher locusts and of polygamy. Unfortunately, I could not find any kosher locusts during my visit. They reportedly come in waves and none are preserved. One man visiting from Israel, however, was looking for a third wife.

Today in Yemen there are about 35-40 Jewish families. Most of them reside in Raydah, a small town an hour north of Sana'a. The others are internally displaced refugees who were expelled from their homes in the north by the al-Houthi. They were airlifted to Sana'a and now reside in a hotel in the capital. Their homes in the north were subsequently demolished by the al-Houthi. We visited them on our first night in Sana'a, which was quite depressing.

Traveling around the country with my guide, who wears a kippah, beard, long payot, and an Arab jalabiya (or in Yemenite gamis) and gauging the reactions from the Arabs was interesting. We are never left alone and always attract attention. This attention ranges from what a movie star would attract to what the Elephant Man would attract.

Although we are never physically assaulted, my guide was the victim of an attempted spit; although he also spit back. The numerous photos of Saddam Hussein, Ahmed Yassin, and Hassan Nasrallah are unnerving. Saddam Hussein pictures nearly outnumber pictures of President Ali Abdullah Saleh for some reason. Unfortunately, most of what is said to us I do not understand due to my lack of Arabic, although my guide does translate some choice epithets for me.

One man, a police officer no less, tells my guide to cut off his payot and become a Muslim. Another old man asks my guide to provide him with a Jewish woman to marry. Once a car full of Arabs drives by and shouts at us "Yemach Shemo" in Hebrew. I am bewildered and my guide tells me he knows them. His local neighbors. All I understand are the shouts of "Yahoodi, Yahoodi" whenever we enter an area. A combination of traditional Islamic anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and the paternalistic attitude that Muslims have over their "djhimmis" all exist in Yemen. Sometimes these attitudes overlap and it is difficult to tell what one is encountering. Suffice it to say it is not easy being a non-Muslim in Yemen.

Shlomo Kirschner lives in Elizabeth. He invites questions about his trip and can be reached at oritk2@yahoo.com.