OCTOBER 31 • 2019 | 17
iarity with Chaldean culture
and family life that Adelman
took notice of the terrorism
being perpetrated by ISIS
on Chaldean Christians in
Northern Iraq.
In her book, Adelman
writes about the diaspora of
the Christian community
and links it to the reasons
why Christianity is disap-
pearing from Iraq and Syria,
both Islamic countries.
She says the diaspora has
increased in the last 15 years
due to the American inva-
sion in Iraq in 2003 and the
rise of ISIS in 2014.
Hundreds of thousands
of Chaldean Christians
living in Iraq and Syria
have been killed by ISIS,
Adelman says. This, she
says, has direct implications
for Aramaic as a language
and for its very survival as a
spoken language.
WHAT IS ARAMAIC?
The Aramaic language, today
often known as Chaldean, has
been spoken in the Middle
East for about as long as
Hebrew has — around 3,000
years. Aramaic is most likely
the language spoken by Jesus
and is the language of many
critical Jewish historic and
religious texts, including the
Talmud, not to mention poet-
ry, songs, folklore and myths.
“From a religious aspect,
[the preservation of the
Aramaic language] is import-
ant,
” Adelman said. “From a
scholarly aspect, it is absolute-
ly critical.
”
Currently, in Metro Detroit,
there are between 120,000 to
150,000 Chaldean residents,
according to the Chaldean
Chamber of Commerce.
Adelman felt it was import-
ant to spread the word about
the struggle of the Chaldean
Christians living in Northern
Iraq and the threat that terror-
ism poses to the culture and
language.
“I feel very passionate about
the importance of getting
their story out, letting readers
know about these people and
getting the United States to be
proactive in getting involved
in the Chaldean community,
”
Adelman said. “The best pos-
sibility of getting Christianity
re-established in their own vil-
lages is in Northern Iraq. And,
in terms of Aramaic being
spoken, that’
s gone unless
these people are able to live in
their villages.
”
Some of the Hakim family
speak Aramaic/Chaldean,
including Norma and some of
her eight children.
Karen Jalaba, 66, one of
Norma’
s daughters, says her
older siblings speak Chaldean
continued on page 18
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