Abraham Miguel Cardozo

CARDOSO, CARDOZO, CARTOSO, CARTOZO

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

The surname Cardoso is associated with the locality of El Cardoso in the Spanish province of Guadalajara, or with the town of Cardoso in the district of Viseu, Portugal.

Distinguished bearers of the family name Cardoso include the 17th century physician, philosopher and author Isaac (Fernando) Cardoso from Celorico, Portugal, who escaped the Inquisition and settled in Venice. His work 'Philosophie Libera in Septem Libros Distributa' was published in Venice in 1673; his brother Abraham Miguel Cardoso, also a physician, was a follower of the pseudo-messiah Shabtai Zvi movement (born ?1630 in Spain, died 1706 in Cairo, Egypt). Cardoso is also recorded in the 18th century in a 'ketubbah' from Tunis dated April 11, 1789 of Ruben Hai, son of Abraham Cardoso and his wife Reine, daughter of Daniel Franco; J. H. Cardoso of Italian nationality is mentioned in a list of commercial establishments in Tunis in 1865. Other distinguished 19th century bearers of the family name Cardoso include Daniel Cardoso (died 1872), who was head of the rabbinical court (Av Bet-Din) and chief rabbi of the Grana Jewish community (Jews from Livorno, Italy, who settled in Tunis since the 16th century) since 1868 until his death; David Cardoso, the first Tunisian barrister; the surgeon Maurizio Cardoso, born 1877 in Sousse, Tunisia, who was director of the Italian hospital and of the Jewish hospital in Tunis; and Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (born 1860 in New York, to a Jewish family from Salonica, Greece, died 1938), who was a Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court.

Tripoli

In Arabic: طرابلس‎‎

The largest city in Libya. Includes the Port of Tripoli.

Tripoli was founded in the 7th century B.C.E by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BCE who named the area Wiat (Oea in Latin). Towards the second half of the 2nd century BCE Oea was ruled by the Romans who designated it as part of Africa, and referred to the region as Regio Tripolitana, "region of three cities:" Oea (modern Tripoli), and its neighbors Sabratha and Leptis (modern Homs). A Roman road map from the 4th century indicates a Jewish neighborhood named Scina (or Iscina), Locus Judaeorum Augusti ("Scina, Locality of the Jews of the Emperor") in the vicinity of Oea; they were probably captives.

During the second half of the 11th century, there was a beit din in Tripoli that was independent from the Palestinian beit din. The Jewish community went through a difficult period under the rule of the Knights of Malta and Spain (1510-1551), but the Ottoman conquest in 1551 once again allowed the community to flourish, and many Jews from small rural communities began settling in Tripoli; there is evidence that at the end of the 16th century descendants of Spanish Jews who were expelled from Christian Europe also settled in Tripoli. During the 17th century Jews from Leghorn (Livorno) Italy, most of whom were merchants, also began to settle in Tripoli. During the reign of the Turkish Qaramanli Dynasty (1711-1835), Tripoli became a haven for Jewish refugees from Tunis and Algiers. The Jews of Tripoli played an important role in trade with Europe and Africa; others held diplomatic and consular positions.

The Jews of Libya were under the sole jurisdiction of the community of Tripoli. From the middle of the 18th century the presidents of the community represented Libyan Jewry before the government; during the period of Turkish rule, these presidents attended the governor's council meetings. They were also authorized to implement prison sentences, and to inflict corporal punishment on offenders.

In 1549 Rabbi Simeon Labi, a kabbalist from Morocco of Spanish origin, stopped in Tripoli on the way to Eretz Yisrael. Finding the population woefully ignorant of Torah, he decided to stay as a teacher; he is generally credited with the revival of Jewish learning in the city, and is considered to be one of Tripoli's greatest scholars. Abraham Miguel Cardoso, who would later become one of the leaders of the Sabbatean movement, settled in Tripoli in 1663. Beginning in the mid-18th century, the dayyanim and the prominent chakhamim of Tripoli mostly arrived from Turkey and Palestine, returning home after holding office in Tripoli.

In 1749 Rabbi Mas'ud Hai Rakah, an emissary from Jerusalem, arrived in Tripoli. He was joined by his son-in-law, Rabbi Nathan Adadi, who was born in Palestine and later returned there. Rabbi Rakah's grandson, Abraham Chayyim Adadi, settled in Tripoli after the 1837 earthquake in Safed and accomplished a great deal as the community's dayyan and chakham; he also retired to Safed. After his death in 1874, the Ottoman government in Istanbul issued a royal order appointing Elijah Hazzan as chakham bashi (chief rabbi); Rabbi Hazzan also represented Tripolitanian Jewry before the government. Subsequently, the Italian government continued this tradition after they first came to power and appointed Rabbi Elia Samuele Artom as chakham bashi.

In 1705 and 1793 the Jews of Tripoli were saved from the danger of extermination by foreign invaders. Two local Purim days were fixed to commemorate these events: Purim ash-Sharif on 23 Tevet in 1705, and Purim Burgul on 29 Tevet in 1793.

In 1835, Tripoli was again under Ottoman rule and the Jewish community once again flourished. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Italy, which was established in 1861, attempted to exert its influence Tripoli, especially within the Jewish community. Indeed, the first European school in the city was established in 1876 by Italian Jews, responding to Jews in Tripoli who wanted to increase their economic and social ties with Italy. The community became divided between the conservatives, who generally supported the Turks and Ottoman rule, and those who favored Italy and were drawn to European culture. After the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), Tripoli became part of the Kingdom of Italy. During the period of Italian rule (1911-1943), the Jews of Tripoli enjoyed complete emancipation until World War II. They worked as craftsmen, traders, builders, carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, cobblers, and wholesale and retail merchants; the textile trade and gold and silversmithing were exclusively Jewish professions.

The Paris-based school Alliance Israelite Universelle was opened in 1890 and ran until 1960 when it was closed after the mass immigration to Israel. By 1950 the city also had a Talmud Torah, a Youth Aliyah school, and a school for the children of Jews who had moved from villages to Tripoli. There were also Jewish children who attended Italian schools. There was also a branch of the Zionist sports and culture organization, Maccabi, which ran from 1920 until December 1953.

Until 1929, when internal conflicts prompted the Italian authorities to appoint a non-Jewish Italian official to take charge of the community's affairs, the Jewish community of Tripoli was run by a committee. Subcommittees were responsible for providing services for the poor. The community was funded through taxes on kosher meat, matzah sales, and community dues. In 1916 Zionists made up 11 of the 31 seats on the committee.

By 1931 there were 21,000 Jews living in Libya, most of whom lived in Tripoli. Their socioeconomic status was generally good until 1939 when the Fascist Italian regime began passing anti-Semitic laws. Jews were consequently fired from government jobs, Jewish students were not allowed to attend public or private Italian schools, and citizenship papers belonging to Jews were stamped with the label "Jewish race."

During World War II, the Jewish quarter in Tripoli was often used to store Italian anti-aircraft, and so was bombed by British and French forces; one attack left 30 Jewish people dead, and destroyed 4 synagogues. Jewish graves were stripped of their tombstones to provide fortifications, and the Jewish cemetery was also used for anti-aircraft positions and bombed. Nonetheless, the Jews of Tripoli were relatively fortunate. Those holding British or French citizenship were deported to the concentration camp Jado; the rest were required to supply workers for labor camps building roads and railroads. Though the living conditions in these labor camps were poor, the workers nevertheless received adequate food and medical care.

In spite of the war's hardships, in 1941 there was still a large Jewish community in Tripoli; 25% of the city's population was Jewish, and there were 44 active synagogues. In 1943, when the British liberated the city, the Jews of Tripoli numbered approximately 15,000.

The worst anti-Semitic violence in Tripoli would actually occur after World War II. In 1945, following Libyan independence, there was a pogrom in the city. During these riots 120-140 Jews were killed, hundreds more were injured, and property was looted; the British, who at that point were occupying Tripoli, were blamed for their slow response to the violence. A secret armed Jewish defense movement was formed after the pogrom. The pogrom would also set into motion the emigration of Jews from Libya.

Approximately 20,000 Jews lived in Tripoli in 1948. That year there were more anti-Jewish riots that broke out in Tripoli. This time the Jewish self-defense units, which had been organized after the previous pogrom, enabled the Jews to fight back against the Muslim rioters. In the end, 13-14 Jews and 4 Arabs were killed, 38 Jews and 51 Arabs were injured; there was also major property damage. What had been a trickle of Jewish emigration to Palestine after the riots of 1945 quickly became a flood of Jews leaving Tripoli for the new State of Israel.

According to the 1962 census, taken after the mass emigration to Israel during the late forties and early fifties, only 6,228 Jews remained in Tripoli (3% of the city's population of 19,000). The majority of Jews who remained after 1962 were wealthy merchants who were closely connected to Italy and lived there for part of the year. Further riots after the Six Day War in 1967 prompted most Jews to leave for Italy and Israel.

After Muammar Gaddafi came to power in 1969 he expelled the remaining Jews from Libya. He also confiscated all property belonging to Jews, and cancelled all debts owed to Libyan Jews. In 1970, there were only several dozen Jews living in the town. By 1974 there were no more than 20 Jews in Libya. By the end of the 20th century there were no more Jews in Tripoli; the last Jew left in Libya was granted permission to leave for Italy in 2003.

Venezia

A city in northern Italy.

21ST CENTURY

As of the early 21st century, Venice had an active Jewish community of around 500 members, with services still conducted in its beautiful synagogues and a Jewish museum established in the ghetto.

Five synagogues situated within the ancient borders of the ghetto remained standing; the great German synagogue (1529), the Canton synagogue (1533), the Spanish synagogue (1555, reconstructed in 1654), the synagogue of the Levant (1538), and the Italian synagogue (1575). The ancient Lido cemetery, dating back to 1386, was also still in existence. There was also a prayer room in the rest home for the elderly, and a museum containing a collection of magnificent sacred apparel donated to the synagogues.

A commemorative plaque at the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo records the names of some 246 Venetian Jews who were captured and deported during the 1943-44 Nazi-Fascist period. Near the plaque is a Holocaust monument by sculptor Arbit Balatas.

HISTORY

The first documents linking Jews with Venice date back to 945 and 992. Even though a census taken in 1152 shows the number of Jews as 1,300, the figure is considered an extreme exaggeration.

After the 13th century, there was sizable immigration of Jews from the Levant and Germany to the area. Initially, they were not allowed to live in the city proper but in 1366, they received permission to reside in Venice itself. Legislation enacted in 1382 allowing moneylending in the city by Jews marked the start of an authorized Jewish presence in the city.

However, a mere 10 years later, they had to leave. From that point forward, officially no Jew could stay in Venice for longer than 15 days at a time, with exceptions made only for merchants arriving by sea and doctors. Also, all Jews coming to the city were required to wear on their outer clothing a yellow circle. To make evasion more difficult, it was changed to a yellow head-covering in 1496 and at the end of 1500, to a red hat.

In 1423, Jews were forbidden to acquire real estate. A blood libel in 1480 caused the death of three Jews at the stake and in 1506, a Hungarian Jew accused of the same crime was stoned by the crowd.

Following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal after 1497, there was an influx of Jews and Crypto-Jews to Venice. The most distinguished of the new arrivals was Isaac Abravanel, who spent the last years of his life there.

The authorized continuous residence of Jews in the city of Venice and the emergence of its Jewish community was a 16th-century development not initially planned by the Venetian government. For example, as part of its restrictive policy towards Jewish residence in Venice in the 15th century, a charter was issued in 1503 that permitted Jewish moneylenders in Mestre to come to Venice in a case of war. Consequently, during the war of the League of Cambrai in 1509, enemies of Venice overran the Venetian mainland. Jewish moneylenders and other Jews who resided in Mestre, Padua and elsewhere, fled to Venice. The Venetian government soon realized that allowing them to stay was doubly beneficial. They could provide the hard-pressed treasury with annual payments, while their moneylending in the city itself was convenient for the needy urban poor.

However, many Venetians, especially clerics, objected to Jews being allowed to reside all over the city. Therefore, in 1516, the Senate decided to segregate them despite objections from the Jews. It was a compromise between the new freedom of residence all over the city and the previous state of exclusion. Accordingly, all Jews residing in the city and all who were to come in the future were required to move to an island known as Ghetto Nuovo (the New Ghetto). It was walled up and provided with two gates. For most of the ghetto’s existence, they were locked all night.

However, the establishment of the ghetto did not ensure continued residence of the Jews in Venice. That privilege was granted by the Venetian government in a 1513 charter. Upon its expiration in 1518, extensive discussions took place in the Senate. Numerous proposals, including the expulsion of Jews from Venice, were advanced. Eventually, a new charter was approved and renewed for generations.

Jews mainly of Italian and German origin were moved into this quarter, the most extreme segregation to which the Jews had ever been submitted. In 1541, Jews from the Levant were moved to the adjoining Ghetto Vecchio (the Old Ghetto). In 1633, Ghetto Nuovissimo (the Newest Ghetto) was established and populated mainly by Western Jews. Among the western Jews were many Crypto-Jews. The division of the Jewish population into three groups - Germans, Levantines, and Westerners - was officially accepted. Also, by this time, the word ghetto had come to be used to designate the closed Jewish quarter.

Overall, the attitude of the Venetian government towards the Jews was ambivalent. Although the majority of the senators allowed Jews to continuously reside in the city from 1513 on, there was a constant undercurrent of hostility. The government’s attitude towards Jewish moneylending evolved over time, viewing Jews as a source of cheap credit for the urban poor, rather than as revenue for the state treasury. Accordingly, it lowered interest rates and reduced the required annual payments from the Jews, which led them to continually borrow money. The native Jews of Venice claimed that they could no longer support the network of pawnshops (sometimes misleadingly referred to as banks) on their own. The Jewish communities on the mainland were required to contribute, and that responsibility was also extended to Jewish merchants, despite their strong objection. The nature of Jewish moneylending had changed from a voluntary profit-making activity engaged in by a few wealthy individuals, to a compulsory responsibility imposed on the Jewish community. In turn, the community passed that responsibility on to individual Jews with the resources to fund the pawnshops, and then subsidized them based on the loans they would have to take permanently.

The authorities of the republic of Venice repeatedly issued orders for the expulsion of the Jews, as was the case in 1527 and 1571. However, the Jews succeeded in having these orders suspended; the first time thanks to a loan of 10,000 ducats, the second time through some intervention which has remained obscure. However, the importance of the Jews as an economic and commercial element in the steadily declining trading activities of the city and, in particular, their importance in trade with the Levant, had become a decisive factor as far as the authorities were concerned. The authorities of the republic  treated Levantine and Western Jews particularly favorably as a result of their overseas connections. Nevertheless, the Pope decreed in 1553 that all copies of the Talmud be publicly burned in the city squares. The city of Venice complied with the order and 13 years later, the senate of the Venetian republic forbade the printing of Hebrew books; however, Hebrew printing continued to flourish for centuries within Venice and other localities within the republic.

In 1552, Venice had 160,000 inhabitants, including 900 Jews, mainly merchants. A considerable number of them had established companies in partnership with Christian merchants. As a result of immigration and natural increase, the Jewish population rose to 4,800 in 1655. However, it soon began to decline as some of the wealthier families departed, attracted by the free port of Livorno (also known in English as Leghorn). Around 2,000 Jews resided in Venice in the last years of the 16th century (1.5% of the total population of the city), increasing to almost 3,000 (2% of the total population) toward the middle of the 17th century.

The Venetian government enforced the regulations regarding residence in the ghetto and the requirement to remain there after the hour established for closing its gates. Only Jewish doctors treating Christian patients and Jewish merchants who had to attend to their business enjoyed permission to be outside the ghetto beyond the permitted hours. In addition, individual Jews were granted the privilege, including representatives of the Jewish community who had to negotiate charter renewal with the government, as well as singer and dancers who performed in the houses of Christians and other who had special needs or skills.

In the 16th century, many magnificent synagogues and yeshivas were erected; some of these were owned by families renowned for their wealth and culture. The synagogues and chapels that were built in the 16th century and subsequently decorated, remodeled, and restored are valuable testimony to the life and culture of the Jewish ghetto. They also reflected the heterogeneous ethnic backgrounds of the Jews of Venice. Five were generally considered to be major synagogues. Three were located in Ghetto Nuovo: the Scuola Grande Tedesca and the Scuola Canton, both of the Ashkenazi rite, and the Scuola Italiana. Situated in Ghetto Vecchio were the Scuola Levantina and the Scuola Ponentina or Spagnola, officialy Kahal Kadosh Talmus Torah. Additionally, at least three similar synagogues existed in Ghetto Nuovo: the Scuola Coanim or Sacerdote, the Scuola Luzzatto, and the Scuola Meshullam. Only the cemetery, initially established in 1386 out of necessity, was located outside the ghetto.

A wealth of remarkable personalities were either born or lived within the walls of the Venetian ghetto. In 1524, at the beginning of his singular career, the adventurer David Reuveni arrived in Venice. Six years later, he met pseudo-messiah Solomon Molcho in the city, the scene of some of his most notorious adventures and vicissitudes. From Antwerp in 1544 came Gracia Mendes Nasi, who was arrested on suspicion of being a Crypto-Jew and set free by Joao Miguez, alias Joseph Nasi, and later duke of Naxos.

In 1574, Solomon Ashkenazi was appointed envoy extraordinary of the sublime porte in Venice after he had impressed the Venetian representative in Constantinople. He was received with all honors by the doge, Alvise Mocenigo, and other dignitaries of the republic. It was rumored that the revocation of the 1571 expulsion decree was due to his influence.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, scholars and rabbis of great renown lived in Venice, such as Leone Modena, Simone Luzzatto, the historian Rodrigo Mendfes da Silva, and the erudite Samuel Aboab. Other outstanding residents were Moses Zacuto, rabbi, kabbalist, and playwright; Sara Coppio Sullam, a poetess whose fame transcended the limits of the ghetto; and the philosopher David Nieto, who left Venice for London to become the spiritual head of the emerging Sephardi community there.

The Shabbatean movement also found convinced supporters and firm opponents in Venice after the arrival of one of the followers of Shabbetai Tzevi, Nathan of Gaza. The rabbis soon compelled him to desist from propagating the movement. Venice was an important Kabalistic center, as well. At the beginning of the 18th century, Nehemiah Chayon lived there. The writings of Moses Chayyim Luzzatto, the famous mystic of Padua, were condemned and the Venetian rabbis, led by Isaac Pacifici, decreed that anyone daring to read these writings or possessing them would be excommunicated.

Among the most important organizations in Venice was the Chevrat Pidyon Shevu'im, an association primarily aimed at redeeming Jews taken captive by the Knights of St. John and held on Malta before being sold into slavery.

The rabbis of Venice constituted an overall distinguished cadre that provided leadership for their time along with several outstanding figures of more local significance. The best known was Leon Modena (1571-1648), whose works include a remarkable Hebrew autobiography that sheds light on his own life, as well as providing insight into the everyday life, practices, values of the Jews in early-modern Venice, including their relationship with Christian neighbors. Another prominent figure was Modena's contemporary, Rabbi Simone Luzzatto (1583-1663). He is mostly remembered for his 1638 Discourse on the Status of the Jews and in particular Those Living in the illustrious city of Venice. He wrote it in Italian for the Venetian nobility to avert possible expulsion of the Jews as a result of a major scandal involving the bribery of Venetian judges through Jewish intermediates. Luzzatto provided considerable insight into the economic and commercial situation, combined with a thorough acquaintance with both classical literature, as well as intellectual trends of the day, especially in the fields of philosophy and political thought and scientific discoveries in mathematics and astronomy. He argued that the presence of the Jewish merchants and moneylenders was very useful for the Venetian economy; therefore, the Jews should not be expelled.

Additional significant figures in Venice were the Jewish doctors, many of whom had been attracted by the educational experience offered by the nearby medical school of Padua. As it was regarded as one of the best medical schools in Europe, attendance of Jewish students was significant and provided a rich opportunity for Jews to familiarize themselves with the best European intellectual and cultural achievements. Many Jewish students enrolled in the school and later returned to serve their communities. One noteworthy Jewish doctor was David dei Pomis (1525-1593), who left Rome and settled in Venice, where he published his works. Among them was a paper that refuted charges that were often brought against Jews and Jewish doctors in his own time.

During the 16th century, Venice became a central location in creating and exporting printed press in a variety languages including Italian, Latin, and Greek, but also Hebrew, Judeo-Italian, Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), and Yiddish (Judeo-German). The Venetian printing press made an extensive and lasting contribution to Jewish learning and culture by assuming a major role in the early history of Hebrew printing and publishing. One of the outstanding publishers of Hebrew books in Renaissance Italy and indeed all times, was Daniel Bomberg, a Christian from Antwerp. With the help of editors, typesetters and proofreaders, mostly Jews or converts from Judaism to Christianity, he printed around 200 Hebrew books. His complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud (1520-1523) with commentary by the Rashi and the Tosafot is a significant book for Jewish religious life and culture, as well as his edition of the Rabbinic Bible (Mikra'ot Gedolot) (1517-1517, 1524-1525).

After Bomberg, the more important subsequent printers of Hebrew books included the Christians Marco Antonio Giustiniani and Alvise Bragadini. Their competition in rival editions of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah led to a papal decree of 1553 condemning the Talmud and ordering it burned. Consequently, on October 21, 1553, Hebrew books were burned in Piazza San Marco, to the great loss of the Jewish community and Christians printers alike. In the early 1560s, Hebrew printers in Venice resumed their activity, printing books by Jewish authors from all over who sought out the resources of the city. The books were later exported throughout Europe and the Mediterranean world. However, from 1548 on, Jews were officially not allowed to be publishers or printers. During the course of the 17th century, the quantity and the quality of Venetian Hebrew imprints declined and other centers of Hebrew printing gradually emerged.

In 1777, a new Ricondotta (regulation) aggravated the position of the Jews. The many trading and commercial restrictions reduced the majority to dealing only in rags and second-hand goods. During the same period, serious fires broke out in the ghetto, which further exacerbated the Jewish population’s difficulties and suffering.

The occupation of Venice by the French in 1797 marked the abolition of the old restrictions, the elimination of the "banks for the poor", and broke down the gates of the ghetto. However, the Jews lost many of their newly obtained rights when the city was ceded to Austria at the end of the same year.

The continuous changes in the fortunes of Venice in the 19th century greatly affected the Jewish population of the city. Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy (1805-1814) gave them back their rights. During the 1848-49 revolution, Daniele Manin, a citizen of Jewish origin, headed the government; two of the ministers assisting him were also Jews. However, it was only after Venice became a part of the emerging Kingdom of Italy in 1866 were the Jews granted complete emancipation. Despite this, from that point forward, the Jewish community of Venice declined, as the medium-sized and minor Jewish centers lost their importance and special characteristics as a result of emigration and intermarriage. In 1931, 1,814 Jews lived in Venice and in 1938, about 2,000.

THE HOLOCAUST

With the enactment of the racial laws of September 1938 and up to the summer of 1944, the Jewish community of Venice experienced exclusion and racial discrimination. The German occupation of Mestre and Venice on September 9-10, 1943, signaled the beginning of the actual Holocaust in the region. On September 17, Professor Giuseppe Jonah, who had been governing Venice from June 1940, committed suicide rather than deliver to the Germans the membership list of the Jewish community.

The political manifesto of the Italian Social Republic (the so-called Republic of Salo) on November 14, 1943, and the subsequent decrees at the end of that month declared that all Jews were enemy aliens, and ordered their arrest and confiscation of their property. Some of the Jews were able to escape to Switzerland or to Allied-occupied areas in southern Italy. Some young people joined the armed resistance; most of the others were rounded up by the Italian police and Fascist militia, and held in special assembly points, such as the prison of Santa Maria Maggiore, the women's prison on the island of Giudecca, and the Lieco M. Foscarini. From there, until July 1944, they were sent to Fossoli. After that, they were sent to a camp at Bolzano or to the prison of Risiera di san Sabba in Trieste. Nearly all were deported from those camps to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Most arrests and deportation of Jews in Venice occurred between the major roundup on December 5, 1943, and the late summer of 1944. Particularly hateful was the arrest of 21 patients at a recovery house on August 17, 1944. Among the victims there was the elderly Rabbi Adolfo Ottolenghi, who chose to share his fate with his fellow Jews. All of these victims were deported, most of them to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Nazi-Fascist persecution of Jews in Venice lasted 18 months, during which time, despite the dangers, Jewish life in the former ghetto and religious services at the synagogue continued. There was also some help from non-Jews and from the church. Some 246 Venetian Jews were captured and deported during this period.

POSTWAR

At the time of the liberation in 1945, there were 1,050 Jews in the community in Venice. The number dropped throughout the second half of the 20th century, due to aging as well as progressive abandonment of the historical city center in favor of settlement on the mainland in the region of Mestre. 844 Jews made up 0.2% of the city’s total population in 1965.

Cairo

In Arabic: القاهرة‎ 

Capital of Egypt

It is almost certain that Jews settled in Fostat at the time of its establishment in 641 by Arab occupation, and they built their synagogue in the ancient byzantine citadel. In the 10th century Jews arrived from Babylon and founded two communities - the Babylonian and the Palestinian. After the Fatimids established the new city of Cairo (969), north of Fostat, the local Jewish community became the most famous in Egypt. Jews continued to dwell in Fostat (old Cairo) until it was burned by the Egyptians (1169) in an effort to prevent its capture by the crusaders; the famous "genizah" was found in the ancient synagogue of Fostat at the end of the 19th century.

Maimonides, his son Abraham, and his grandson David lived in Fostat. The heads of the Palestinian community in the b. Moses ha-Levi, and his brother Sar Shalom ha-Levi. Persecutions took place during the rule of the Mamluks (1250-1517), who persecuted non-Muslim communities in general and the large Christian Coptic minority in particular. Synagogues and churches were destroyed and closed and fanatical Muslims plotted against Jews for many reasons. It is said that Sultan Baybars gathered the Jews and the Christians under the citadel walls and threatened to burn them alive unless they agreed to pay a large sum of money (13th century). Mamluk rule forbade Jews to trade in spices and other imports from the Far East, and their economic situation worsened. Most of them were tradesmen and manufacturers and a privileged group still continued to deal in money and banking.

Meshullam of Volterra reports 800 Jewish households in Cairo in 1481 as well as 150 Karaite and 50 Samaritan families. According to an Arab historian, there were five synagogues in Cairo. In the beginning of the 16th century, many refugees from Spain came to Cairo. There were two distinct groups of Jews: maghrebim (Jews of North African origin), and Sephardim, each with its own bet din and charitable institutions; and there was occasional conflict between them. The Sephardim surpassed the other communities and were appointed as rabbis for the musta'rabs, who adopted the customs of the Spanish Jews in their prayers. The descendants of the exiles assimilated with the Jewish majority and forgot their Spanish language. Among the great Spanish scholars of the 16th century were R. David b. Solomon ibn Abi Zimra, R. Moses b. Isaac Alashkar, R. Jacob Berab, R. Bezalel Ashkenazi, R. Jacob Castro, and R. Solomon di Trani.

The Turks, who conquered Egypt in 1517, did not interfere in Jewish religious affairs. They badly treated the rich Jews, however, most of whom occupied official appointments, such as the operation of the mint and the collection of taxes; many of them were condemned to death on various pretexts. In 1524 the governor Ahmed Pasha extorted a vast sum of money from the director of the mint - Abraham Castro - by threatening to slaughter all the Jews. However on the day of payment Ahmed Pasha was murdered by a group of his own soldiers and the danger was averted. This day of salvation was commemorated as an annual Purim Mitzrayim (Purim of Egypt). The extortion and tyranny worsened in the 17th and 18th centuries with the decline of Ottoman rule.

Among the sages of the Jewish community of Cairo a special mention should be made of Chayyim Vital from the kabbalists of Safed, Mordecai ha- Levi, Solomon Algazi; and in the 19th century Moses Algazi, Elijah Israel, and Raphael Aaron b. Simeon.

A new era for the Jewish community in Cairo started with the rise of Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) to Egyptian rule (1805). Moses Montefiore, Adolphe Cremieux, and Solomon Monk (the secretary of the Jewish consistoire of France) visited Cairo, and founded modern schools; and after the economic development of Egypt Jews from other Mediterranean countries settled in Cairo. In 1882 there were 5,000 Jews in Cairo and after 15 years, 11,500, including 1,000 Karaites. In 1917 the Jewish community numbered 25,000, among them many refugees from eastern Europe. Jews prospered in commerce and banking and even took part in public affairs and government institutions. R. Yom Tov Israel was appointed to the legislative assembly and Jacob Cattaui became the chief revenue officer of Egypt; his son Joseph was minister of finance (1923) and another son Moses was president of the Cairo community for 40 years. In 1925 Chief Rabbi Haim Nahoum joined the Egyptian Academy of Science.

During early 20th century there were a number of Jewish newspapers in Cairo, among them Mitzrayim (Ladino, 1900), Die Zeit (Yiddish, 1907-08), and the weekly magazines l'Aurore (French, 1908), and Israel (French, 1919). In 1934 there was an Arabic weekly magazine, Al-Shams. The Karaites also published a weekly magazine of their own called Al-Kalim.

In 1947, 41,860 Jews (64% of Egyptian Jewry) lived in Cairo, 58.8% of whom were merchants, and 17.9% worked in industry. Although it contained a few wealthy Jews, the Cairo community was poorer than Alexandria. After the arrests of Jews in 1948-49 and the persecutions of 1956-57, only 5,587 Jews were left. After the Six-Day War this number decreased to about 1,500, and by 1970 only a few hundred remained, especially in the new mixed quarter of Heliopolis. Massive arrests began in June-July 1954; about 100 Jews were concentrated in two camps and fifteen of them brought to trial. In the spy case which ended in 1955, Moses Marzouk and Samuel 'Azar were condemned to death by hanging and others received life sentences. (They were released and sent back to Israel after the Six-Day War.) In 1956 the head of the community Salvador Cicurel left Egypt and was succeeded by Albert Romano. In November 1956 the government confiscated the hospital. After the death of R. Haim Nahoum, Chayyim was elected as chief rabbi in 1960; he left Egypt in 1972.

In 1997 there were 100 Jews living in Egypt, most them in Cairo.

Tunis

In Arabic:  تونس

Capital of Tunisia and its largest city. Located in the northeast of Tunisia.

Jews probably lived in Punic Carthage (which was destroyed in 146 BCE), though there is no hard evidence that can positively prove their presence there. Nonetheless, the Septuagint and the Aramaic Targum of the prophets identifies the "Tarshish" mentioned in the Bible as "Carthage." The province of Africa under Roman rule did include a number of Jewish communities for which there is ample archeological and textual evidence. Jews of the Roman province in Africa during the first centuries CE enjoyed a level of tolerance and freedom that allowed them to both practice their religion, and flourish economically. The Jews of Carthage were particularly wealthy and engaged in maritime trade or agriculture.

Things began to change, however, during the fourth century when Christianity began to dominate religious and political life. Jews were subject to various discriminatory laws that impacted their economic and religious lives. Later, with the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 8th century, the Jews coexisted peacefully with their Muslim neighbors, and both communities maintained friendly intellectual, social, and business relationships with each other. A major intellectual center of North African Jewry emerged in the city of Kairouan in the northeast of Tunisia. Kairouan had a number of famous yeshivot, led by prominent scholars who maintained close relationships with the geonim of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Palestine. Though Tunis had been chosen in 698 to replace the fallen capital of Carthage, it would not become as important as Kairouan for many years.

In 1159 the Almohad Dynasty invaded Tunisia and conquered Tunis. They killed the inhabitants of the town who refused to convert to Islam. Many Jews converted, while others fled. The situation of the Jews improved considerably, however, under the Hefsid Dynasty (1228-1574). Tunis became the capital city, and many Jews who had been forced to convert returned to Judaism. The synagogues, which had been closed under the Almohads, were reopened and the Jews no longer had to live in fear. Though the community did not enjoy the same level of wealth that it had before the reigns of the Almohads, it was nonetheless able to reestablish profitable business enterprises and some individual members were appointed to important positions within the empire. At the same time, it is important to note that Jews under Hafsid rule were legally classified as "dhimmi," tolerated and protected as "people of the Book," but seen as inferior to Muslims. This meant that the Jews, along with other dhimmi, were required to pay special taxes, and had to wear distinctive badges or clothing that would distinguish them from Muslims. The Jews of Tunis wore special clothing and displayed a piece of yellow cloth on their heads or necks as late as 1470.

In spite of the restrictions imposed on them, the Jews of Tunis were allowed full property rights and could buy and sell property without any special restrictions. The Jewish community was also officially recognized by the government and enjoyed administrative and cultural autonomy. The communities were led by "gedolei ha-kahal," essentially the wealthiest businessmen, and were not elected by the community. These gedolei hakahal were responsible for managing charitable funds, while other community leaders administered the synagogues and religious funds.

During the period of Ottoman rule (1574-1881), the city of Tunis became the cultural and economic center for the Jews of Tunisia and North African Jews more generally. During this period the Jews of Tunis worked as traders, artisans, craftsmen, goldsmiths, jewelers, tailors, shoemakers, and carpenters. They were also appointed to various government positions.

Tunisian Jewry began to flourish economically in the 16th century with the arrival of Jews from Livorno, Italy. The Jews of Livorno turned the "Shuq-el-Grana" into the economic center of the town, and opened three synagogues and two payer houses. Most of what was produced there was sent to Livorno or Marseilles. There was, however, tension between the Jews who were native to Tunisia and those who arrived more recently from Livorno. Ultimately the two communities split in 1710, and the "Grana" (those Jews who had arrived from Livorno) established an independent community, including a cemetery, slaughterhouses, rabbinical court, dayyanim, and chief rabbi. This state of affairs lasted officially until 1899, when the authorities called for the two communities to merge; however, in reality the communities maintained distinctions and distances between them, prompting the authorities to once again intervene and decree that the communities merge in 1944.

The leadership structure of the Tunisian Jewish community remained unchanged for centuries. The community was led by a qa'id, who had considerable authority over the community and was mainly responsible for collecting taxes. The qa'id was usually a member of the native Tunisian community, as opposed to the Livorno community, giving the former considerable power over the community. Additionally, rabbinic leaders tended to be from native Tunisian families, with the exception of Rabbi Isaac Lombroso who was nonetheless a student of prominent rabbis from the native Tunisian community, most notably Rabbi Zemah Sefarti and Rabbi Abraham Tayeb, the well-known "Baba Sidi."

A number of Jewish works were written by the distinguished rabbis of Tunis. The Baba Sidi's grandson, Rabbi Abraham, wrote a commentary on the Talmud and the major commentators Alfasi, Rashi, and Maimonides, called "Chayyei Avraham." His son wrote "Derekh Hayyim." Rabbi Isaac Tayeb also wrote a number of works. Rabbi Uzziel Alhayk was the author of Mishkenot HaRo'im, an encyclopedic rabbinic code that dealt with the internal and public issues faced by Tunisian Jews during the 17th and 18th centuries. Starting in the 17th century Tunis became an important center of Jewish learning, particularly for Talmud and the Kabbalah.

During the 17th century until the beginning of the 19th century, the Jews of Tunis chiefly worked as manufacturers of wool or silk shawls. More than half of the shawls they produced were actually tallitot; during this period Polish Jews could very well have put on a tallit that was originally produced in Tunis.

The population density of the Jewish quarter increased during the 18th century, and the rising cost of housing caused many Jews to leave the city. Modernization, however, brought many Jews from small villages to the city; the Jewish community of Tunis was the first to embrace European emancipation and modernization, especially after the French conquered Tunisia in 1881. In 1878 the first Alliance Israelite Universelle school was founded in the city; this school offered religious studies along with Hebrew, French, and general subjects and served to further promote French influence within the community. On the other end of the modernity spectrum, Talmud Torah and other traditional yeshivahs continued to act as bulwarks against the exposure of the community's youth to the influence of French culture. In 1908 there were 400 children enrolled in the Alliance school, with 800 in the Katab (the traditional local cheder where pupils were taught only in Hebrew and Arabic). The influence of Eastern European maskilim (proponents of the Jewish Enlightenment) was also felt within the city. There were a number of maskilic newspapers and books from Eastern Europe that were published in Tunis in Judeo-Arabic.

After the French established a protectorate in Tunisia, they established a new institution, L'Assemblee des Notables, to lead the Jewish community. The chief rabbi of Tunis would represent all of the Jews of the community, and the French government paid his salary. Later, in 1921, the French decided instead to create the Conseil de la Communaute Israelite. Members of this council were elected; any man who paid his taxes to the community was eligible to vote. Zionist groups, the La Justice party (which sought to promote French influence within the community), and other ideologies sought to exert their influence over the community through the council.

Zionism was a particularly active ideology within Tunisia, in spite of the fact that French authorities forbade any political Zionist activism (cultural Zionist activities were allowed). The first Zionist organization established in the community was Agudat Zion, in 1910. Agudat Zion would publish a Zionist newspaper, "Kol Zion," contribute to Keren Kayemet, and send a representative to the Tenth Zionist Congress. After World War I, Tunisian Zionists established the Tunisian Zionist Federation as an umbrella organization for the city's Zionist activities. Though the Federation was not a strong organization, it nonetheless dealt with the various organizational requirements necessary in helping to spread Zionist ideology to the Jews of Tunisia. The Alliance Israelite Universelle proved to be an opponent of Zionism, instead wanting to see an integration of the Jews into French society. While the Zionists called on alliance schools to teach Jewish history and modern Hebrew, the Alliance emphasized a deep attachment to French culture. In 1921 elections were held for the community assembly. Sixty delegates were elected, among them 14 Zionists. The assembly also elected a board of 12 members with a proportional representation between the Livornoses and the Tunisians.

A number of Zionist youth movements arose during the twenties and thirties. In addition to the Beitar movement, which was the largest of the Zionist youth groups, there was also the Eclaireurs Israelites de France (EIF), the Union Universelle de Jeunese Juive (UUJJ), and HaShomer HaZair.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were 24,000 Jews living in Tunis. By the eve of the World War II their number had increased to nearly 30,000 (30% of the total population).

THE HOLOCAUST

The anti-Jewish legislation imposed by the Vichy government during World War II included the Jews of Tunisia. Jews were removed from public services, forbidden to work in professions such as medicine and law, and many were forced out of their businesses.

The Germans invaded Tunisia on November 8, 1942 and the country remained under German and Italian control until 1943. During the occupation, the Germans established a Judenrat-like committee in Tunis led by Paul Ghez. The Jewish community went through aerial bombardments, both from Allied and German forces. Approximately 4,000-5,000 young Jews were sent to forced labor near the front line, and they were interned in about 30 military camps located along the battlefields. Jewish property was confiscated, buildings such as the Alliance school and the Great Synagogue were closed down and repurposed, and the community was forced to pay a 53 million franc fine. Ultimately the failure of the French government to protect them led the Jews of Tunis, and Tunisia, to feel alienated from France and French culture.

POSTWAR

After the Allies liberated Tunisia, waves of emigration began. The first took place in 1947-48, in spite of the fact that Jews could not legally immigrate to Mandate Palestine. With the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 came more waves of emigration from Tunis, chiefly arranged through the Jewish Agency and Aliyat HaNoar. In 1946 the Jewish community in Tunis numbered 34,200; by 1953 about 15,000 Jews had emigrated from Tunisia.

On March 20, 1956, Tunisia achieved independence. The newly independent country favored allowing its Jews to fully integrate into Tunisian society. All Tunisians, including the Jews, were allowed to vote in elections for the Constituent Assembly, ten Jewish judges were appointed to the country's courts to decide cases dealing with Jewish litigants, and an Interim Committee for the Management of the Affairs of the Jewish Community was established. At the same time, however, in Tunis the Jewish Quarter was destroyed, and the old Jewish cemetery was turned into a public park and the remains were transferred elsewhere. Later, in 1961, Yom Kippur was declared an official holiday, thereby allowing Jews to take the day off from work. Emigration to Israel temporarily decreased.

Nonetheless, the difficult economic situation, and increasing tensions stemming from the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Jewish community of Tunis, and of Tunisia, redoubled their efforts to leave the country. Anti-Jewish riots took place in Tunis in 1967, after the Six Day War. It was at this time that Tunisia underwent a period of Arabization, a development that negatively impacted the Jewish community. In 1971 Rabbi Mazliach Mazuz, who established the Kisei Rachamim yeshiva in Tunis, was murdered on his way home from his morning prayers.

The Jewish population of Tunis continued to decrease. In 1979 there were 3,000 Jews left of the city, most of whom were elderly and had moved from other communities whose Jewish communities were gone, as well as a few rich families who could not, or would not, leave their property behind.

By 2005 there were 1,500 Jews in Tunisia, most of whom lived in Tunis and Djerba.

Livorno

Livorno (Leghorn) is the main port of the region of Tuscany on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast, in central Italy.

In the middle of the 16th century, when Livorno was a miserable, malaria-infested village, its rulers, the Medici family, decided to turn it into an important port and to attract immigrants, especially Jewish Marranos (crypto-Jews) from Spain and Portugal, to settle there. An invitation was accordingly issued by Cosimo I in 1548, but although of benefit to fugitive Crypt-Jews who could have found asylum there, his project met with little success. After 1590 Ferdinand I issued new invitations with more attractive promises. The official invitation issued on June 10, 1593, addressed to the ‘Levantines’ (westerners, Spaniards, Portuguese, Germans, and Italians) was mainly directed at the Jews of the countries concerned. The charter, known as ‘the Livornina’ guaranteed full religious liberty, amnesty for crimes previously committed, the opportunity for Marranos to return to Judaism unmolested, and the right to receive Tuscan citizenship, subject to the approval of the heads of the community (Massari) who were also permitted to exercise full civil jurisdiction among the Jews, and partly also criminal jurisdiction. Settlers were permitted to own houses, were exempted from wearing the Jewish badge, and from other restrictions. The community also had the right to inherit property left by Jews who died without direct heirs. Jews were also allowed to purchase land for a synagogue and a cemetery.

The Medicis went ahead energetically with improvements to the town and harbor, which in 1675 received the status of a free port. Livorno thus became an important port for the trade between the Atlantic and North Sea ports and those of the Mediterranean and the near east. Both international and internal commerce was transacted mainly by the foreign communities or ‘nations’ living in Livorno, of which the ‘Jewish nation’ soon became the largest and most influential. During the first few years the Jews were slow to arrive, but subsequently their numbers increased rapidly. There were 114 Jews in Livorno in 1601; 711 in 1622, 1,175 in 1642; and approximately 3,000 in 1689. The new settlers were either of Spanish origin who had arrived via North Africa or Turkey, or Crypto-Jews, mainly from Portugal; relatively few Jews came from the Italian states. Thus Portuguese and Spanish became the only languages used officially by the Jews in Livorno.

In 1614, the Livorno Jewish community separated from the community of Pisa, on which it had until then been dependent, and subsequently became far more important. The Jews continued to enjoy the protection of the Medicis, and the original promises given were adhered to, or only slightly revised. Even under the bigoted Cosimo III (d. 1723), the restrictions imposed upon the Jews in Livorno were not severe, mainly relating to the employment of Christian wet-nurses and Turkish slaves, and sexual relations with Christian women. When the sovereignty of Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine in 1737, these privileges did not change. The Jews benefited from the enlightened reforms of Leopold I (1745--1790), and in 1780 obtained, among others, the right to a representative on the municipal council.

The number of Jews living in Livorno increased from 3,476 in 1738 to 4,327 in 1784, and to approximately 5,000 at the end of the 18th century, amounting to one-eighth of the total population. Among the larger Italian communities, Livorno Jews were the only ones not forced to live in a closed ghetto. Jewish residence was limited to a single, fairly large, open quarter, though Christians were not permitted to reside in the same quarter.

At first, Jews in Livorno specialized in certain industries, such as coral, which they exported as far as Russia and India, and soap and paper manufacture. Later, they utilized their family and commercial connections in various ports of the Mediterranean to develop widespread bilateral trade. To facilitate this exchange, the Jews in Livorno sent members of their families to Tripoli, Tunis, and Smyrna, from where others moved to Livorno. Jews from Livorno lived in separate communities in Tunis in 1685, and elsewere, calling themselves ‘Gorni’ (“from Ligorno” or Leghorn). This family and business exchange developed at the end of the 18th century, and even more so in the 19th century, particularly with Egypt.

In 1738, about 150 Jews owned houses in Livorno, and in 1765 one-third of Livorno`s 150 commercial houses were Jewish-owned. Jews also owned shops of all types in the town, and were generally prosperous. This situation deteriorated after the occupation of Livorno by the French. Not only was the port badly hit by the English blockade, but since parity was conceded to all by the French, the special privileges formerly held by the Jews were abrogated. They were partly restored in 1814, on the return of the Grand Dukes of Lorraine. However, after a few decades of recovery, the commercial importance of Livorno began to wane when Tuscany was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1859, and other ports began to show competition. These events were reflected in the fluctuations of the Jewish population. It dwindled to 3,500 in 1838 and rose to 4,543 in 1852, after a temporary influx from other Italian towns; by the end of the 19th century, the number had diminished to 2,500.

The golden age of Jewish Livorno left many traces. Construction of a new synagogue began towards the end of the 16th century, but its enlargement and embellishment continued until 1789. The Livorno synagogue became the most admired in Italy, and was visited by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and foreign sovereigns.

The community in Livorno maintained a varied and efficient network of institutions, including a considerable number for charitable or educational purposes. Most important were the institutions providing for the ransom of Jewish prisoners, assistance to the poor in the Holy Land, and dowries for poor girls. There were also a number of yeshivot in Livorno.

Some of the most eminent rabbis of their time taught in the yeshivot and synagogues; many of them inclined to Kabbalism. Among them were Joseph Ergas, Malachi B. Jacob Ha-Kohen, Hezekiah da Silva, Immanuel Chay Ricchi, and Chayyim Joseph David Azulai, who spent the last 30 years of his life in Livorno. The family of Sir Moses Montefiore originated from Livorno, and Sabato Morais, founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, was born there. The famous painter, Amadeo Modiglani, was also born in Livorno.


In the second half of the 19th century, the dominant figure in Jewish scholarship in Livorno was the Kabbalist, Elijah Benamozegh.

Livorno also became a center of Hebrew printing. The first Hebrew press was set up by Jedidiah Gabbai (1650). Some 80 years later, Abraham B. Raphael Meldola, followed by his son Raphael, both with various partners, were active as Hebrew printers (1640--57). Sixteen other printers worked in Livorno between 1763 and 1870, the most important being the house of Solomon Belforte (established in 1838) which supplied the North African and Levantine market with liturgical books until the outbreak of World War II.

Distinct customs, dress and language were found among the Jews of Livorno. The dialect Baggito developed from Spanish, Hebrew and a Livornese dialect. Baggito did not become a literary language. One famous Jewish writer from Livorno, Guido Bedarida (1900-1962) wrote in the Livornese dialect.

Due to the large number of immigrant communities in Livorno, a special type of cuisine developed. Many Jewish recipes are currently part of mainstream Livornese and Tuscan dishes. Tomato cooking was brought to Italy through Livorno in the 16th century by Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal (originally brought to these countries from central America). Jewish cuisine was also strongly influenced by North African, Tunisian, Egyptian, Turkish and Greek cuisine. The first coffee shop was set up in Livorno by Jewish immigrants in 1632, before Venice (1646) and Vienna (1683).

In 1938 there were 2,332 Jews in Livorno. During World War II at least 90 Jews were sent to extermination camps from November 12, 1943. Others were killed in the surrounding mountains, where the German army was very active. The well-known synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis.

At the end of the war 1,000 Jews were living in Livorno. Owing to emigration and rapid demographic decline, their number in 1965 was reduced to about 600 out of a total of 170,000 inhabitants.

In 1967 after the Six Day War in Israel, a few hundred Jews from Libya and other Arab countries arrived in Livorno, partly attracted by the presence of a number of Jews from Tripoli. Today (2006) there are around 700 Jewish members in the Jewish community of Livorno.

In 1962 a new synagogue was built on the site of the old one. It is of modern architecture. Next to it there are the community center, a library, and the Jewish archive. There is also a Jewish museum in Livorno, holding ancient Jewish Livornese relics and in its courtyard some marble pieces from the old cemetery stones.

There are three Jewish cemeteries in Livorno. The first opened in 1648, the second in 1738 and the third, still in use was opened in 1837. Old headstones from the old Jewish burial sites from the mid 16th century and from the Jewish cemetery of Portoferrario on the Isle of Elba, dating back to the 16th and 17th century, are also collected there. At the entrance there are two marble plaques. One commemorates the dead from World War I and the other commemorates victims of the Holocaust.

Izmir

Also known as Smyrna

Early History

Izmir (historically Smyrna) is the principal seaport of Western Anatolia on the coast of the Aegean Sea and provincial capital of the Turkish Vilayet (province) of Aydin, the third largest city in the Republic of Turkey.

The city had a Jewish population in the antiquity, as mentioned in the New Testament (Rev. 1:11; 2:8). Apparently, the Jews had some influence on the local pagan population with some of them converted to Judaism; however, the appearance of Christianity had reduced the power of the Jewish community, although only a minority of the local Jews accepted the new religion. A Jewish community in Smyrna is mentioned again in Christian sources narrating the martyrdom of Polycarp in the second century. Additional archeological evidence of Greek inscriptions from the second and the third century C.E. indicate that the community had the authority to punish any person who displayed disrespect toward it. Another inscription mentions Rufina, a woman described as the "Mother of the Synagogue". A depiction of a menorah similar to the one represented on the Triumphal Arch of the Roman Emperor Titus in Rome appears on a seal discovered in the proximity of Izmir. There are almost no mentions of a
Jewish settlement in Smyrna during the Byzantine times and it is possible that the local Jewish community disappeared for most of the medieval epoch, although Jewish communities continued to subsist in a number of neighboring towns. Smyrna, at the time an unimportant town, became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1424, following its capture from the Byzantines. Testimonies of Sephardi Jews arriving in Smyrna during the 16th century suggest the existence of a local small Romaniot Jewish community. The first Jews arrived in Izmir in the 1530s, following their expulsion (surgun, in Turkish) by the Ottomans from Belgrad, Serbia, in 1521, and Buda, Hungary, in 1524. Gravestones with Jewish motifs dating from 1540 and 1565 and found in Izmir indicate a Jewish presence in the city during the 16th century. It appears that a Jewish Sephardi-Portuguese community made up of Jewish immigrants from other cities in Asia as well as from Northern Africa and Venice was established in 1569, although
there is no evidence of its existence or of any other organized Jewish community in contemporary Ottoman documents. The great wave of Sephardi immigration into the Ottoman Empire skipped over Izmir for most of the 16th century; they began to settle in any significant numbers only towards the end of the 16th century, when gradually Izmir turned into a major Ottoman seaport.


The Golden Age of the 17th Century

The development of the Jewish community of Izmir started in the early 17th century corresponding with the increased economic status of the city as a major transit seaport, especially for the commerce with Anatolia and the countries beyond the eastern border of the Ottoman Empire. At the time, Izmir was included into the Sanjak (province) of Sigala, one of the most prosperous in the empire. The new Jewish settlers came mainly from among Sephardi refugees, although the great majority arrived in Izmir after first settling in other cities in the Ottoman Empire. A major group of settlers came from Istanbul; they were joined by Jewish immigrants from small Jewish communities in Western Anatolia as well as from Crete, Corfu, Janina (now in Greece), Ankara, and especially Salonika. Etz Hayim, Portugal, and Gerush, were among the first congregations to have been established in Izmir in the early 17th century, possibly consisting of descendants of 16th cent. settlers. The majority of Jewish
inhabitants were Ottoman subjects and according to the Muslim law were considered ahl al-dhimma - protected non-Muslims, an inferior status in the Muslim society. Jews enjoyed relative religious freedom and were able to administer separate educational and judiciary institutions. The community, known in Turkish law as taifa or kamat, and after mid 19th century, as millet, was free to collect taxes from its members in order to support its activity. Resulting from their status as dhimmis, Jews were compelled to pay a special tax – jizya (cizye or harac, in Turkish) – to the Ottoman authorities that promised them protection of their lives and property. For practical reasons, the community paid the jizya in one inclusive sum for all its members. However, the Muslim law was not strictly enforced and the Jews of Izmir were allowed to build new synagogues, of which there were already six by the mid years of the 17th century, despite a regulation permitting only renovation of exiting
synagogues and forbidding the building of new ones.

Jewish merchants of Portuguese extraction including many former conversos who returned to Judaism and settled in Italy and other European countries before immigrating to the Ottoman Empire, were called Francos and formed a distinct group within the Jewish community. During the 17th century the Francos of Izmir generally enjoyed the protection of European powers, for instance they were under the protection of France until 1693, and then for short periods under that of the Dutch consul. The Ottoman authorities regarded the Francos as musta'min – foreigners living in a Muslim country, and tended to turn them into dhimmis, especially after 1696. The Jewish community did not recognize and difference in the status of the Francos, although they tried to evade some of their obligations towards the community.

R. Yitzhak Meir HaLevy (d.1634) of Constantinople was the first rabbi in Izmir in 1606. The 1620s saw the influx of many new Jewish settlers from Salonika. Rabbi Joseph Escapa of Salonika (d.1662) was appointed the first rabbi of the Salonikan Jews, in c1620. After 1631, there was in Izmir a chief rabbi over all local congregations, whose number grew to six by 1644. They were mostly of Sephardi origin, but the city also had a small Ashkenazi congregation. Following the death of R.Y. Meir HaLevy in 1634, another rabbi from Salonika, Azariah Joshua Ashkenazi (d.1647), came to Izmir and was elected a colleague to R. J. Escapa, the chief rabbi. Following a bitter controversy that arose between the two rabbis, the community split into two factions, each supporting one rabbi. The dispute reflected differences in the way Salonikan Jews interpreted and practiced certain Jewish traditions concerning dietary laws, mourning practices, the counting of the Omer, ritual slaughter and Tisha Be-Av,
among others, as opposed by the traditions of the immigrants from Istanbul. It was only after the death of R. A.J. Ashkenazi in 1647 and the intervention of the chief rabbi in Constantinople that all congregations in Izmir once again recognized R. Escapa’s authority. The fingerprint of R. Escapa's administrative activities was evident for many generations thanks to the takkanot concerning taxes that he issued and that were respected by the Jews of Izmir and the surrounding towns. He was instrumental in consolidating Jews of various backgrounds and traditions into a common community. R. Escapa's achievements were pursued by a series of distinguished rabbis including R. Aaron Lapapa (d.1667), R. Solomon Algazi, and R. Hayim Benveniste (1603-1673) that helped transform the Jewish community into a major Jewish center of the 17th century. Its significance became evident in the important halakhic studies composed by local rabbis, especially Knesset Ha-Gedolah ("Great Assembly"), a
commentary by R. Hayim Benveniste on the Shulkhan Aruch, and the ethics treatise Shevet Musar ("Staff of Reproof") by R. Eliyah HaKohen (d.1729) of Izmir. The community comprised many affluent members that supported large yeshivot and Jewish schools. It also excelled as a center of Jewish learning: the prestige of its religious leaders having been recognized by many other Jewish communities in Anatolia, a Hebrew printing press established in 1657 and several celebrated physicians contributed to the fame of the Izmir community. Izmir was the birthplace of Shabbetai Zvi (1626-1676), the false messiah who received the support of large sections of the Jewish people all over the Diaspora. A student of R. Joseph Escapa, Shabbetai Zvi traveled to a number of Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire. His return to Izmir in September 1665 caused a great furor in the community when a majority of the local Jews converted to his teachings – ma'aminim ("believers") in the Shabbatean terminology.
They included R. Hayim Benveniste, one of the chief rabbis of Izmir. The opponents of Shabbetai Zvi grouped around R. Aaron Lapapa, the other chief rabbi, who was subsequently expulsed from Izmir leaving R. Benveniste the sole chief rabbi of the city. Throughout the four months of Shabbetai Zvi's sojourn in Izmir during the fall of 1665, the city became a centre of Messianic enthusiasm counting at least 150 "prophets", with the regular economic activities interrupted by a succession of festive days of dancing and processions intermingled with days of collective penitence. Whoever opposed the Shabbatean movement was persecuted and some had to flee the city, as did Solomon Algazi, himself an important scholar and renowned kabbalist, who was forced to take refuge in the nearby community of Magnesia. Following Shabbetai Zvi's apostasy, it took some time for the Jewish community of Izmir to settle down the virulent conflicts brought about by the false messiah.

Most Jews in Izmir were active as traders, agents, translators, and artisans. Their commercial ties extended from Persia and Syria in the East, to the countries of Western Europe, and especially to the main seaports of the Mediterranean that used to have important Jewish communities of their own. In 1688, an earthquake destroyed Izmir and killed some 400 Jews, among them the chief rabbi Aaron ben Hayim.


The 18th and 19th Centuries

During the 18th and the 19th centuries, the Jewish community of Izmir continued to flourish as its economic activity moved to the manufacture, especially of wool from goat's fleece, and of carpets. The European trade of the local Jews flourished after 1774, with many acting as exporters of cereals, figs, oil, raisins, carpets, licorice and beans. Jews also acted as dragomans (translators and local agents) for European merchants, banking houses and consulates. A special mention should be made of Moshe Soncino who was controller of the customhouse in 1718 and Moshe Arditi, a governmental treasurer in 1812. During the 19th century, especially after the liberal reforms known as Tanzimat were introduced in the Ottoman Empire bringing about an end to the formal discrimination against the dhimmis, an increasing number of Jews held various positions in the local municipal government and judicial court. There had also been numerous Jewish physicians and surgeons in the Jewish community of
Izmir, some of them plague specialists. However, the fortunes of the Jewish community of Izmir were impaired by frequent disasters: great fires (1743, 1772, 1841, and 1881), at least eleven epidemics of cholera between 1770 and 1892, and a number of powerful earthquakes. The great fire of 1772 was particularly destructive leaving the community for 28 years with no standing synagogue, until the Ottoman authorities issued authorizations for new buildings. During this long period, the Jews of Izmir were constrained to pray in specially adapted private houses.

The intellectual life of the community was bolstered with the establishment of a printing house in 1657 by Abraham ben Jedidiah Gabbai, an immigrant from Livorno, Italy. Rosh Yosef by R. J. Escapa was the first book published in Izmir. In addition to several Hebrew books, Gabbai printed a second edition of Mikve Yisrael – Esperanza de Israel ("The Hope of Israel") by R. Manassh Ben Israel and Apologia por la noble nacion de los Judios, by Eduardo Nicholas, both books in Spanish with Latin characters, the last one being a translation from English by R. Manasseh. Izmir became the third printing center in the Ottoman Empire, after Constantinople and Salonika. More than 400 titles, mostly of rabbinical literature were printed in the Izmir from the 18th until the early 20th century by twelve various printers, Ben Senior (1913-1922) being the last one. Local rabbis were the authors of many of the works printed in Izmir. R. Joseph ben Elijah Chazzan's commentaries Ein Yosef were published
in Izmir already in 1675, it was followed by R. Aaron Alfandari's Yad Aharon (Izmir, 1735), and R. Abraham ibn Ezra's Battei Knessiyot (Salonika, 1806). Other important authors include R. Isaac B. Moshe Nunez Belmonte and R. Isaac Di Mayo (d.1810), who both composed commentaries on Maimonides' Yad Hazaka: Sha'ar ha- Melekh (Salonika, 1801) and Shorashei Ha-Yam (Salonika, 1807), respectively. R. Hayim Palaggi (Palache) (1788-1868), chief rabbi of Izmir and of another six neighboring communities after 1855 and appointed Hakham Bashi of Izmir by the Ottoman authorities in 1856, is the author of over more than 70 works, most of them have been published. R. Joseph Hazzan's (1741-1820) seven-volume collection of response Chikrei Lev (Salonika, 1806) and R. Nissim Abraham Ashkenazi's Nechmad le-Mareh commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud (Salonika, 1832) are additional important works composed by the Izmir rabbis. Several important rabbis of Izmir emigrated to the Land of Israel: R. Hayim b.
Jacob Abulafia (d. 1744), a native of Tiberias, was chief rabbi of Izmir from 1720 to 1740, when he returned to Tiberias along with his disciples and restored the Jewish settlement in that city, having received the assistance of the Istanbul Committee Officials of the Land of Israel that were in charge of organizing immigration and pilgrimages to the Land of Israel. Other rabbis of Izmir who settled in the Land of Israel include R. Hayim Moda'i (d. 1794), a Safed-born chief rabbi of Izmir from 1776 till 1793, when he returned to Safed, and R. Joseph Hazzan (1741- 1820) who settled in Hebron in 1813 and then in Jerusalem, where he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel.

There were numerous synagogues in Izmir. Bikkur Holim, one of the earliest, was founded in 1690 by Solomon de Ciaves, a Dutch merchant who settled in Izmir. The Shalom or Ayndilis synagogue, also known as Shabbetai Zvi synagogue or Kahal de abacho, is thought to have been founded in the 17th century. The Portuguese synagogue was established in 1710, The Mahazikei Torah in 1722, the Algazi also known as Kahal de ariva, in 1728. The Segnora (Geveret) synagogue was named after Dona Gracia Mendes and believed to have been founded by her. However, the natural catastrophes that repeatedly hit the city destroyed the original buildings. New synagogues were established in the 19th century, among them the Shalom synagogue (1800), the Forasteros, and Beth Levi (1898). Many of the old synagogues of Izmir are distinguished by a unique architectural style. Their praying hall is either rectangular or square and divided into nine equal sections by four ceiling supporting columns situated in the
center. The interior decorations are generally of wood and reflect local decorating traditions common to Western Anatolia and the adjacent Greek islands of eastern Aegean Sea. It should pointed out that the building of the Mahazikei Torah synagogue, also known as the Sonsino synagogue, provoked the anger of the local Turkish authorities who subsequently ordered its demolition because of its alleged resemblance to the local Hisar Cami mosque. It took the community many efforts to cancel this edict. By the end of the 19th century in the Shalom, Talmud Torah and other synagogues belonging to this architectural style, the tevah was been moved towards the western wall reflecting an Italian influence. Beth El synagogue, the largest and most elegant in Izmir, was built by specially employed Italian artisans in the 1900s. It shows modern European influences, notably by the location of the tevah close to the Holy Ark towards the eastern wall. By the end of the 19th century, there were in
Izmir a total of ten synagogues and eight prayer-houses.

During the 19th century, the cultural activity diversified with the publication of the first Jewish newspaper - Puerta del Oriente - founded by Pincherle in 1846. It was followed in the 19th century by at least other five periodicals, among them La Buena Esperanza (1871-1910), El Novelista (1889-1922), and El Messerret (1897-1922), all published in Ladino, the language of the local Jews. After 1838, more than 110 books were published in Ladino, and by the end of the 19th century, many were volumes of poetry, novels, and stories, besides religious works. The Jewish traditional education and learning declined with fewer yeshivot and students; however, in 1847 Abraham Enriquez founded a new Talmud Torah that was subsequently enlarged in 1871. The first Alliance Israelite Universelle school for boys of was opened in 1878 followed a year later by a school for girls. A second vocational school for girls with 34 students was opened in 1884. By 1895 there were in Izmir four Jewish schools
for boys with about 2,500 students and two Jewish schools for girls with some 500 students

The first Jewish hospital was opened in 1805; after 1840, the Rothschild family of Vienna enlarged and financed it for some years. The Rothschild hospital was closed in 1911, but three years later, a new Jewish hospital was opened in the Karatas district. During the 19th century, several charitable volunteer associations fulfilled many of the social and welfare activities of the community. Bikkur Holim and Bikkur Holim shel Nashim served as a Hevra Kadisha, while Hevra Kedosha shel Gvarim was responsible with the maintenance of the cemeteries. The needy families received financial support from Ozer Dalim association, and Hachnasat Orchim was in charge of foreign Jewish visitors to Izmir. There were additional associations who carried for orphans, underprivileged brides and needy patients. Part of the expenses of the Talmud Torah and the Jewish hospital were met from the revenues generated by a lottery organized by Gemillut Hassadim association. In addition, the community received
substantial financial support from a number of donors: a new cemetery in the neighborhood of Burnabat was purchased with the help of Alexander Sidi while Nissim Crispin dedicated his efforts to the benefit of the Alliance schools. The Barons Edmond de Rothschild and Maurice de Hirsch, too, contributed to the welfare of the Jewish community of Izmir.

The leadership of the community consisted of two main bodies: the Beth Din who acted as a legal court and dealt with the civil and commercial disputes among Jews and sometimes also with disputes between Jews and non-Jews. It generally had between three to seven members and sometimes was headed by the chief rabbi of Izmir. The Community Council, on the other hand, had twelve members elected annually. The Council was responsible with the administrative functions of the community, including collecting the taxes. In the second half of the 19th century, the community adopted new and more democratic methods of governing. They lead to an increased participation of the community members in the decision making process and on the other hand to the introduction of some limits to the authority of the chief rabbi.

The earliest Jewish cemetery located in Barhi Baba had been in use since the 17th century until the early 19th century, it was destroyed in early 20th century to make room for the new urban developments. In addition to the Burnabat cemetery, the Gurt Cesme cemetery was used between the end of the 19th century until the 1930s. The new cemetery still in use opened in the 1930s.

The 19th century saw a degradation of the general relations between the Jewish community and the Greek population of Izmir. Already in the late 18th century anti Jewish accusations had been vociferated by some sections of the Greek population; during the second half of the 19th century there was an upsurge in blood-label accusations with six cases between 1864 and 1901. The Ottoman police interfered to protect the Jewish population, most notably in 1872, when two Jews were murdered because of the Greek attacks, and in 1901, when the Greek mob threatened to storm the Jewish neighborhoods.

During the 19th century some Jews managed to obtain the protection of European powers, especially there was a significant number of families who became Italian nationals, followed by small numbers of French citizens while others, like the Palache and the Leon families, acquired the protection of the Netherlands.


The 20th Century

The Jewish population of Izmir has been since the middle of the 19th century in a steadily decline. Out of about 40,000 Jews in 1868, making Izmir the third largest Jewish community in the Ottoman Empire, after Salonika and Istanbul, there remained only 25,000 in the early years of the 20th century. The second number included a small Ashkenazi community founded by Jewish refugees from Russia in 1905. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the ensuing Turko-Greek war (1919-1921) that had ravaged the region of Izmir and badly damaged the city, brought about a renewed exodus of the local Jews with many moving to Greece or emigrating to France, the United States, and Argentina. In 1927, there were about 17,000 Jews in Izmir, and twenty years later approximately 15,000. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, some 10,000 Jews of Izmir made aliyah. In the early 1960s, there were less than 2,000 Jews in Izmir, but later their number grew to about 3,000 in the 1970s. There are
now about 2,400 Jews in Izmir out of a total population of 2,300,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest Jewish community in Turkey, after Istanbul.

There were a number of volunteer associations active in the Jewish community of Izmir: Liga de Pas ("The Association of Peace and Solidarity"), known after 1925 by its Turkish name – Yardim ve Kardeslik Cemiyeti ("The Brotherhood Association of Assistance"), was founded in 1909 and devoted its activities to the modernization of the community.

During the Second World War (1939-1945), the Jewish community of Izmir was instrumental in rescuing about one thousand Jews from the German occupied Greek Aegean islands. After December 1943, with the help of Greek partisans, groups of Greek Jews had been smuggled to Turkey in small boats. The Jewish community of Izmir offered to shelter them until the British authorities in Istanbul issued them the necessary authorizations to emigrate to Palestine.

The dramatic decline in population during the early 1950s caused the shutting down of several community institutions, among them the Alliance Israelite Universelle school, though it was opened again in 1959. In the 1960s there functioned only one Jewish school and two synagogues, the community still maintained a hospital and a rabbinical court headed by Chief Rabbi Moreno Siegora until his death in 1966. In 1970, there were still some organized youth activities.

Most of the Jews who remained in Izmir during the last decades of the 20th century were active as merchants, some of them exporters and industrialists. The general economic situation of the community was good and they enjoyed good relations with the local Turkish population, except for some attacks on Jewish shops during the demonstrations connected with the problem of Cyprus in September 1955.

The current religious life of the Izmir community is concentrated mainly around two synagogues: the Beth El synagogue and Shaar Hashamaym, a new synagogue located in the modern district of Alsancak that also houses the offices of the local rabbinate and community. The cultural activities are promoted by the Liga benevolent association established in 1990. However, the veteran Talmud Torah school was closed in 1998 and the remaining students transferred to the local American school. Some 150 children attend a Jewish elementary school with Turkish as the language of instruction and Hebrew taught for 15 hours a week. The Jewish hospital in Karatas now admits non-Jewish patients as well. An old age home is located in an adjoining building.

Gallipoli

In Turkish: Gelibolu

A port in European Turkey, on the south coast of the Gallipoli peninsula.

Benjamin of Tudela, the 12th-century traveler, found 200 Jews in Gallipoli; they are also mentioned during the reign of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261. In 1354 Gallipoli came under Turkish rule. The number of Jews increased at the end of the 15th century, when the Romaniot Jews were joined by refugees from Spain and Portugal. in 1576, during a period of prosperity, a conflict broke out between the Romaniots and the Sephardim over the division of taxes. In 1666 the pseudo-messiah Shabbetai Ttzevi was confined to the fortress of Abydos, called by the Jews Migdal Oz, "tower of strength", in the vicinity of Gallipoli; his prison became a center of Shabbatean activity.

During the 19th century the Jewish community prospered. Among the Jews were merchants, artisans, and civil servants. in 1912 there were 2,500 Jews in Gallipoli. The earthquake in the same year destroyed the Jewish quarter, but no Jews were killed. During the Balkan Wars (1912-13) refugees, including Jews, streamed into Gallipoli. The va'ad ha-hatztzalah ("rescue committee"), founded then, aided the refugees, as well as the Jewish soldiers from Syria and Iraq. In 1915 the Zion Mule Corps, as part of the British army, fought the Turks on the Gallipoli peninsula. from 1933 all religious and administrative affairs of the Gallipoli community were subordinated to the district rabbinate of Canakkale. as a result of emigration to Istanbul and the United States between the two world wars and subsequently to Israel, the number of Jews in Gallipoli decreased. in 1948 there were about 400 Jews in Gallipoli, and in 1951 about 200. By 1970 the few remaining families in Gallipoli were mainly engaged in commerce.

Istanbul

Until 1453 Constantinople (Kushta, Costandina, Costantina).
City in Turkey, on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance on the sea of Marmara.

There were 1,743,000 inhabitants in 1965 and 20,000 Jews in 1976, with a general community council comprising 60 men, including some of the Ashkenazi community. It elects the head of the community, administration, and religious committees. The chief rabbi was officially recognized in 1953. The community organized the Or-Chayyim hospital (built 1885), an orphanage, the "tzedakah u-marpe" charitable organization (founded 1918) for underprivileged students, "machzikei torah" for training cantors and mohalim, and an old age home. The community had three elementary schools and a high school, the 1,000 students being mainly poor - wealthy children attended foreign schools. Among the youth groups were "Kardeslik" and "Amical" which provided some Hebrew education. The level of education improved under the Alliance Israelite Universelle. Jews were well represented in commerce but very few were in the civil service.

In the Byzantine period, the Jewish area changed five times, and in the Turkish invasion, 1453. Jews worked in copper, tanning, dyeing, silk weaving, and - despite church opposition - Jewish doctors served at court. In the 11th and 12th centuries Jews were compelled to work as executioners. They were politically active in the circus parties, the blues and greens. Leo III gave the Jews the choice of leaving the town or being baptized (721), but the community continued to exist, as shown by the poet Shephatiah Ben Amittai, Benjamin of Tudela, and Judah Aharizi. Messianic fervor arose due to the first crusade (1095-1099). Many Jews were killed in riots against western merchants at the end of the 12th century. An important Karaite community of Jews from Venice and Genoa existed from the 11th century until the Turkish conquest.

With the Ottoman conquest the armies of Muhammad II totally massacred the inhabitants of Istanbul except the Jews, seemingly because of their support. Muhammad II brought residents of Anatolia and the Balkans to repopulate Istanbul - among them Jews and Karaites engaged as craftsmen and the Romanids (Gregos), formerly of Greece and Byzantium, Ashkenazim, Italians, and Sephardim. The Jews of Istanbul, as in all the Ottoman Empire, constituted an autonomous religious-administrative unit, first led by rabbi Moses Capsali, who represented the community before the government and collected the Jewish taxes; after him was rabbi Elijah Mizrachi. The Ashkenazim from Bavaria and Hungary enjoyed an independent status for many years and among its distinguished personalities were Elijah Ha-Levi Ha-Zaken, and the court physician Solomon Tedesci. Relations continued with their countries of origin but in time they assimilated with the Sephardim. When Jews from Spain and Portugal settled in Istanbul ( approximately 40,000 from Spain) they included rabbis, judges, and heads of yeshivot including Joseph Ibn Lev, Joseph Taitatzak, Abraham Jerusalmi, rabbi Isaac Caro, and rabbi Elijah Ben Chayyim. They founded large yeshivot which raised the spiritual and cultural level of local Jewry. Their financial status and numerical superiority gave them a prestigious place in the community.

The Sultans appreciated the Jewish contribution to commercial life, crafts, medicine, and the manufacture of firearms, and 16th century Istanbul was one of the world's most important Jewish centers. Among notables in the community were the family of doctors Hamon, and prominent bankers and capitalists, holders of central financial positions in the empire whose position in court was beneficial to the rest of the community; for example, the Mendes family from Portugal, his widow Gracia and her nephew Don Joseph Nasi who rebuilt Tiberias, and the families of Solomon Ibn Ya'ish and Jacob Ankawa. The magnificence and exhibitionism of wealthy Jews angered the inhabitants who forbade lavish clothing and jewelry. As the Ottoman Empire declined culturally and economically, so did the Jewish community. When a number of Jewish quarters were destroyed by fire the structure of the "Kehalim" changed. During the reign of Murad IV Jews were accused of murdering a Turkish child for ritual purposes (1633). Many Jews were captured by the Cossacks, Turks, and Ukrainians in the massacres of 1648-49, and sold as slaves in Istanbul where local Jewry redeemed them at great expense. In 1666 Shabbetai Tzevi arrived in Istanbul and many followed him. His opponents had him arrested and with the movement's failure the Jewish community declined. Great fires destroyed the Jewish quarters in the 17th and 18th centuries - the greatest in 1740 - after which the Jews, forbidden to rebuild, moved to other areas of the town. At this time the "treasurers for Israel" were active, collecting contributions for the inhabitants of Eretz Israel. In 1727 a weekly tax was imposed for the benefit of Jerusalem - obliging all Jews in the empire and Italy. The money went for the upkeep of the holy cities of Israel.

Until the end of the 18th century Istanbul was a major center for Hebrew publishing.

In the 18th and 19th centuries the standard of Hebrew learning reached such a low point that the majority could not read the bible. Books were published in Spanish and Ladino. Among the great writers were rabbi Jacob Culi of Safed, author of Ma'am Loas, who settled in Istanbul in the mid- 18th century, and rabbi Abraham Ben Isaac Assa, "the father of Ladino literature", who translated the bible, religious works, science, and the Shulchan Arukh. Distinguished families included the Kimitti, Rosanes, and Navon families. rabbi Chayyim Kimchi headed a yeshivah, and rabbi Judah Rosens published against the Shabbatean movement. Isaiah Adsiman, Bekhor Isaac Carmona, Ezekiel Gabbai, and Abraham de Camondo, all men of great power, were influential in government circles in the 19th century. De Camondo founded a modern school and guaranteed half its expenses. A "va'ad perkidim" was founded, composed of wealthy men and progressive intellectuals. Splits occurred between the latter and the conservatives led by the Chakham Bashi (chief rabbi). During the reign of Abdu-l-Mejid I (1839- 61), Jews were accepted into the military school of medicine and poll tax was abolished. The secular leadership strengthened, and in the days of the Sultan Abul Zziz, the Jews published chief rabbi, a secular council containing Jewish government officials, and a rabbinical council. The two councils were elected for three years. Each quarter had a local rabbi with a secretary whose duty it was to send reports of births and deaths to the government. Three Battei Din dealt with matrimonial matters, and other affairs went before a municipal tribunal. These ordinances remained in effect until the establishment of the republic in 1923. In the second half of the 19th century Jews received decorations and held high government administrative posts. Newspapers and periodicals began to appear in Ladino (the first, Or Israel, was edited by Chayyim de Castro in 1853). Jewish population grew to 100,000 at the start of the 20th century due to Russian emigration from the 1905 revolution.

With the establishment of the republic the community was forbidden to levy its own taxes and personal status came under civil jurisdiction. Turkish replaced French as the language of instruction (used in Alliance schools throughout the Middle East and North Africa) and affiliation with foreign organizations, such as the World Jewish Congress and the World Zionist Organization, was prohibited. In 1932 all schools were secularized and religious education forbidden. Like other non-Muslim subjects, the Jews of Istanbul were most severely affected by the imposition of the capital levy of 1942. Many of those who could not meet these levy payments were compelled to sell their property. In 1949 Jews received autonomy, proposed by Solomon Adato, a delegate in the house of representatives. Religious instruction was again permitted in public schools, and many young Jews went to universities. The number of Jews in Istanbul, estimated at 55,000 in 1948, dropped to 32,946 and 30,831 in the 1955 and 1965 censuses as a result of the large-scale emigration to the state of Israel. In 1970 an estimated 30,000 Jews lived in Balat, Haskoy, Ortakoy, and other quarters. The wealthy lived in the Pera and Sisli neighborhoods.

In 1997 there were 20,000 Jews living in Turkey; about 17,000 of them - in Istanbul.

Rhodes

In Greek: Ρόδος

A Greek island in the Aegean sea, with city of the same name. Although it is uncertain when the first Jews settled in Rhodes, it appears that a Jewish community existed on the island at least toward the end of the Hellenistic period. Rhodes is listed in a Roman decree among those areas notified of the renewal of the pact of friendship between the Roman senate and the Jewish nation under the high priest Simeon (142 B.C.E.), and numerous scholars have concluded from this document that a Jewish community existed on Rhodes at the time (cf. Suetonius, Tiberius 32, where a " diogenes grammaticus" is mentioned who used to dispute on the Sabbath; cf. Also ig, XII, "Menippus of Jerusalem"; cf. Corrigenda, p. 206).

Herod the Great had occasion to visit the island a number of times. His first visit was in 40 B.C.E. when, having set sail for Pamphylia on his way to Rome, he was nearly shipwrecked and with difficulty made his way to Rhodes.

Against Cassius and "did not hesitate to help it even though he was in need of funds, but actually exceeded his means in restoring it". It is probable that he thereby intended also to benefit the local Jewish population.

Following the battle of Actium (31 B.C.E.) Rhodes was the scene of a meeting between Herod and the victorious Octavian. On this occasion Herod proclaimed his loyalty and friendship to the new Roman emperor. Josephus states that Herod continued to offer economic shipbuilding, and when their Pythian temple burnt down he rebuilt it on a grander scale at his own expense". Jews are again mentioned in Rhodes at the time of the Arab conquest in the seventh century C.E. in 653 the Arab conqueror, Mu'awiya, ordered the destruction of the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes. It was sold to a Jew from Edessa who carried away 90 camel loads of bronze.

Benjamin of Tudela, the 12th- century traveler, found some 400 Jews in the city of Rhodes. Some Jews, upon fleeing Aragonese territory during the 1280 persecutions, went to Rhodes, then still under Arab rule. During the rule of the knights of hospitalers of St. John of Jerusalem (1309-1522), the Jewish quarter (Vicus Judeorum) was next to the city wall near the port. During the 38-day siege of the city by the Turks in 1480, the Jews fought valiantly in defense of the city. Their houses were torn down to reinforce the wall, and the fighting reached the synagogue before the Turks were forced to retreat. The grand master of the order, Pierre D'aubusson, erected two churches on the site to commemorate the event and the synagogue had to be abandoned. In recognition of their bravery, the Jews were later allowed to rebuild it. Meshullam of Volterra and Obadiah of Bertinoro visited Rhodes in 1481 and 1488, respectively. The latter found only 22 Jewish families, the others having left after the 1481/82 earthquakes which again destroyed the Jewish quarter. The remnant was living in poverty, mainly on its womenfolk's earnings, but some men worked in tanning. After a plague (1498-1500), the order decided to expel within 40 days all Jews who would not become baptized. They could leave with their belongings but had to sail for Nice, in order not to settle in Turkish territories. In the next two decades from 2,000 to 3,000 Jews captured by the order's ships, were brought to Rhodes, and kept there as slaves to work on fortifications.

In 1522 these captives helped the Turks conquer the fortress of Rhodes. Under the benevolent Ottoman rule Rhodes became an important Sephardi center, the Jews outnumbering the Turkish population. Rhodes became known as the "small Jerusalem". The Jews of Rhodes were merchants, manufacturers of arms, moneychangers, tax farmers, and physicians; the goldsmiths, and bookbinders, and others made a well-known wine, silk clothes, and wove cloth. The wealthier Jews were merchants in cloth, silk, sulfur, and resins, and the rest were small shopkeepers and artisans, ambulant vendors, and fishermen. The community was governed by a council of seven Memunim ("officials").

The council decided on taxes to be levied, and together with the rabbi it gave Askamot ("decisions") on current matters. Government taxes were collected by a Jew who was appointed by the Turkish governor. The rabbi was recognized by the authorities as the judicial authority in all questions concerning marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc. The Kahal Gadol synagogue was built under knights hospitalers' rule, and the Kahal Shalom synagogue in 1593; there were also two small synagogues, Kahal Kamondo (from 1865) and Kahak Tikkun Chatztzot, called also Keila de los Vicos ("the synagogue of the rich"). There were many yeshivot used as meeting places for prayer and study, and many smaller prayer rooms called Midrashim. The Israel yeshivah dated from the 17th century and Moses Menashe founded the Menashe yeshivah in 1850. His son Boaz "Effendi" was a Turkish judge. The education of boys was given over to private teachers, usually employed by a group of families. In the 1900s the Alliance Israelite Universelle opened separate boys' and girls' schools. Life under Turkish rule was easy, except in 1840 when in the wake of the Damascus blood libel the rabbi and the leading members of the community were arrested and held until the innocence of the Damascus Jews was proven. According to various reports, the number of Jews during the 19th century was between 2,000 and 4,000.

The Mahzor Sefarad was used by all; parts of prayers and especially Piyyutim were recited in Ladino. Before marriages, the dowry was assessed and the amount inscribed in a register and later in the Ketubbah; the dowry was exhibited on carts in the Jewish quarter. On the Sabbath after the marriage the groom was called to the Tevah and recited Abraham's order to his servant to find a bride for his son isaac in Mesopotamia (Gen. 24); the congregation sang each verse in the Aramaic targum. Those who recovered from serious illness or grave danger would offer a sacrifice - a cow or sheep - whose blood the shochet would smear on the door and the doorposts.

In 1912, after the Balkan Wars, Rhodes and other Dodecanese islands came under Italian rule. There were about 4,500 Jews in Rhodes at the time. Rhodes became the center of the Italian possessions in the Levant and Italian Jews settled on the island. An Italian rabbinical seminary was founded in 1927 to serve the Italian Levant; it was closed in 1938 when the fascist racial laws were promulgated. Jews who had arrived in Rhodes after 1919 (103 families from Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey) were expelled and most of them sailed for Tangier. Others later fled in the face of the discriminatory measures, mainly to the Belgian Congo and Rhodesia. After the capitulation of Italy to the allies in September 1943, the Germans occupied Rhodes, and on July 24, 1944, deported to Auschwitz all of the 1,700 Jews who were left on the island; only 161 survived. When Rhodes became a part of Greece in 1947, some 50 Jews lived there. In 1969 there were 32 Jews on Rhodes.

In 1997 there were 5,000 Jews in Greece, most of them in Athens and Salonika, and some were living in Rhodes.

Alexandria

Alexandria, الإسكندرية  - Al Iskandariyah, in Arabic

A city on the Mediterranean sea, northern Egypt.

Jews settled in Alexandria at the beginning of the third century b.c.e. (according to Josephus, already in the time of Alexander the great). Synagogues existed in every part of the city. The Jews of Alexandria engaged in various crafts and in commerce. They included some who were extremely wealthy (moneylenders, merchants, alabarchs), but the majority were artisans. From the legal aspect, the Jews formed an autonomous community at whose head stood at first its respected leaders, afterward - the Ethnarchs, and from the days of Augustus, a council of 71 elders. The Jews energetically began to seek citizenship rights, for only thus could they attain to the status of the privileged Greeks. The Alexandrians vehemently opposed the entry of the Jews into the ranks of the citizens. In 38 c.e., during the reign of Caligula, serious riots broke out against the Jews; anti-Semitic propaganda had paved the way for them. In 66 c.e., influenced by the outbreak of the war in Eretz Israel, the Jews of Alexandria rebelled against Rome. The revolt was crushed by Tiberius Julius Alexander and 50,000 rebellion of Jews in the Roman empire in 115-117 c.e. the Jews of Alexandria again suffered, the great synagogue going up in flames.

The Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria were familiar with the works of the ancient Greek poets and philosophers and acknowledged their universal appeal. They gave Judaism an interpretation of their own, turning the Jewish concept of God into an abstraction and his relationship to the world into a subject of metaphysical speculation. Alexandrian Jewish philosophers stressed the universal aspects of Jewish law and the prophets, de-emphasized the national Jewish aspects of Jewish religion, and sought to provide rational motives for Jewish religious practice. The basis of Jewish-Hellenistic literature was the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the bible, which was to become a cornerstone of a new world culture. The apologetic tendency of Jewish-Hellenism is clearly discernible in the Septuagint. Alexandrian Jewish literature sought to express the concepts of the Jewish-Hellenistic culture and to propagate these concepts among Jews and gentiles. Among these Jewish writers there were poets, playwrights, and historians; but it was the philosophers who made a lasting contribution. Philo of Alexandria was the greatest among them.

By the beginning of the Byzantine era, the Jewish population had again increased, but suffered from the persecutions of the Christian church. In 414 in the days of the patriarch Cyril, the Jews were expelled from the city but appear to have returned after some time since it contained an appreciable Jewish population when it was conquered by the Muslims.

According to Arabic sources, there were about 40,000 Jews in Alexandria at the time of its conquest by the Arabs (642), but 70,000 had left during the siege. These figures are certainly exaggerated, but they indicate that in the seventh century there was still a large Jewish community.

In this period the community of Alexandria maintained close relations with the Jews of Cairo and other cities of Egypt, to whom they applied frequently for help in ransoming Jews captured by pirates.

Under the rule of the Mamluk sultans (1250-1517), the Jewish population of Alexandria declined further, as did the general population. Meshullam of Volterra, who visited it in 1481, found 60 Jewish families, but reported that the old men remembered the time when the community numbered 4,000. Although this figure is doubtless an exaggeration, it nevertheless testifies to the numerical decrease of the community in the later middle ages. In 1488 Obadiah of Bertinoro found 25 Jewish families in Alexandria. Many Spanish exiles, including merchants, scholars, and rabbis settled there in the 14th-15th centuries. The historian Sambari (17th century) mentions among the rabbis of Alexandria at the end of the 16th century Moses Ben Sason, Joseph Sagish, and Baruch Ben Chabib. With the spread of the plague in 1602 most of the Jews left and did not return. In 1700 Jewish fishermen from Rosetta (Rashid), moved to Alexandria and formed a Jewish quarter near the seashore.

This Jewish quarter was destroyed by an earthquake. At the end of the 18th century the community was very small and it suffered greatly during the French conquest. Napoleon imposed heavy fines on the Jews and ordered the ancient synagogue, associated with the prophet Elijah, to be destroyed. In the first half of the 19th century under the rule of Muhammad Ali there was a new period of prosperity.

The development of commerce brought great wealth to the Jews, as to the other merchants in the town. The community was reorganized and established schools, hospitals, and various associations. During World War I many Jews from Palestine who were not Ottoman citizens were exiled to Alexandria. In 1915 their leaders decided, under the influence of Jabotinsky and trumpeldor, to form Jewish batallions to fight on the side of the allies; the Zion Mule Corps was also organized in Alexandria.

In 1937, 24,690 Jews were living in Alexandria and in 1947, 21,128. The latter figure included 243 Karaites, who, unlike those of Cairo, were members of the Jewish community council. According to the 1947 census, 59.1% of Alexandrian Jews were merchants, and 18.5% were artisans. Upon the outbreak of the Israel war of independence in 1948, several Jews were placed in detention camps, such as that at Abukir. Most of the detainees were released before 1950. There were several assaults on the Jewish community by the local population, including the throwing of a bomb into a synagogue in July 1951. With Nasser's accession to power in February 1954, many Jews were arrested on charges of Zionism, communism, and currency smuggling. After the Sinai campaign (1956), thousands of Jews were banished from the city, while others left voluntarily when the Alexandrian stock exchange ceased to function. The 1960 census showed that only 2,760 Jews remained. After the Six-Day War of 1967, about 350 Jews, including chief Rabbi Nafusi, were interned in the Abu Za'bal detention camp, known for its severe conditions. Some of them were released before the end of 1967. The numbers dwindled rapidly and by 1970 very few remained.

The first Hebrew press of Alexandria was founded in 1862 by Solomon Ottolenghi from Leghorn. In its first year it printed three books. A second attempt to found a Hebrew press in Alexandria was made in 1865. Nathan Amram, chief Rabbi of Alexandria, brought two printers from Jerusalem, Michael Cohen and Joel Moses Salomon, to print his own works. However, these printers only produced two books, returning to Jerusalem when the second was only half finished. A more successful Hebrew press was established in 1873 by Faraj Chayyim Mizrachi, who came from Persia; his press continued to operate until his death in 1913. A total of over 100 books for Jews were printed in Alexandria, most of them in Hebrew, the others in Judaic-Arabic and Ladino. Most of them were works by eminent Egyptian rabbis, prayer books, and textbooks.