In the late 19 th century, wealthy Jews of Central Asia (Russian Turkestan, Bukhara, andAfghanistan) founded a colony outside of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The ‘Bukharan Neighbourhood’ (Shekhunat ha-Bukharim) quickly developed into the most important cultural and religious centre for Persian speaking Jews. In the 20 th century, the close connections between Palestine and Central Asia were disrupted several times. Three major waves of emigration from Soviet Central Asia to Palestine/Israel can be differentiated: From the 1920s to the Mid-1930s, in the 1970s, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In this presentation I will focus on the family history of the intellectual and writer MordekhayBen Hiyo Bachaev (1911 Marv – 2007 Petah Tikva) to demonstrate how these connections and disruptions affected the lives of Central Asian Jews before, during, and after the Soviet Union.