Currently, there are only a handful of Yemenite Jews left in Yemen and the majority live in Israel. Between 1948-1950, 50,000 were airlifted to Israel during operation “Magic Carpet,” joining the estimated 50,000 who already lived there. (There was a significant migration during the early 1900s.) Many of those who remained left following a series of extremist attacks on the small community—as of 2020, the count in Yemen was 40. When Yemenites immigrated to Israel, their traditions changed as they sought to assimilate with modern Israeli society. The desire to integrate changed attitudes towards the Yemenite henna. During the ’50s, a henna was associated with being old fashioned and primitive, and as a result, Yemenites watered down the traditions, removing different aspects of the henna, such as the jewelry and clothing. In more recent times, thanks to social media and Yemenite-influenced pop culture in Israel, the ceremony has experienced a revival among a generation of young Yemenites rediscovering their roots. It has become so popular that even Ashkenazi Jews of European descent, who don’t observe the tradition, are opting for a henna.
This history of Yemenite traditions particularly is personal to Talia Collis who documented Tsur’s wedding through video and photographs. She herself is half-Israeli-Yemenite and half-British. Her great-grandfather was born in Yemen and had four wives and 12 children, all of whom eventually left their home country to settle in Israel. Collis considers herself closest with her grandmother, her Safta Noga from whom she learned about her Yemenite roots. “I felt a responsibility to my Safta Noga,” she says. “I wanted to show her that her culture is special to me and beautiful.”