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Sachkhere is a town at the northern edge of the Imereti Province in western Georgia, located at the bank of the river Kvareli. It is the center of the Sachkhere Municipality. The place as an inhabited destination was first mentioned in the 17th century. Jewish people have lived in Sachkhere since the 18th century. Georgian historian Vakhushti Bagrationi points out in his works that during this period Jewish inhabitants of Sachckere were under local religious leaders; with the end of dictatorship and the freeing of workers in 1864, Jewish people were freed as well. The Jewish population was divided into three, which meant that they needed three different shrines. It is said that in Imereti’s cities, such as Kutaisi, Sachkhere and Kulashi, Georgian-Hewbrew language was established; it was called Kivruli. It contained a little bit of Hebrew and Aramaic. In 1878, April 4, in a village, Parvisi, the most known blood slander took place, where 9 Jewish merchants were blamed for a murder of a 6-year-old christian girl named Zara Modebadze. It was said that they used her blood to bake “Matsa”. The court took place in Kutaisi; this case was spread around Jewish media in Russia, which caused mobilization of Jewish people led by Baron Ginsburg. Two well-known lawyers, Jewish Krupnik and Russian Alexandrov, managed to deny the charges in 1879, March 13. In Sachkhere this happening was followed by a rebellion of Kutaiseli Jews in 1895. The vast number of Georgian elite were going against religious fanaticism, because it went against Georgian culture and tradition. In 1909 “Talmud Torah” was established in the village, and in 1914 the construction of a new synagogue was finished. After World War II in the first years there were two communities, which registered legally in 1946. One community used a stone building, located on Tsereteli Street and built in the 20th century, to pray; while the other had a wooden house, located on Beria Street, as a synagogue. In 1951 the synagogue located on Tsereteli Street was turned into a bakery. The sites you can find there are an inactive synagogue and a Jewish graveyard.

Kulashi is a small town in Imereti. It had formerly been a home to one of the largest Georgian Jewish communities, size of which has significantly decreased due to several waves of Jewish expatriation to Israel. The Jewish community of Kulashi is made up of the Jews who came to the village from Akhaltsikhe, Lailashi, Bandza, Sujuni, etc. The Jews who were born in Kulashi were called “Kulashelebi” by Georgian Jews. One of the districts in Kulashi was called “Abuashvili’s District” and it was inhabited by families, one of them being “hakham” Abraham Mikhelashvili. Kulashi used to be a beautiful city full of life, where Christians and Jews lived in harmony; Christian and Jew kids used to study in local schools together, Jews usually worked as farmers or merchants, but some also took up in liberal professions. The industry Jews were mostly involved in was growing vine. Kulashi was the center of Jewish traditions and culture; Kulashi was referred to as “Georgia’s Jerusalem”.