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114-528: Boublil is a common Mizrahi Jewish surname. It may refer to: Alain Boublil , (born 1941), French musical theatre lyricist and librettist Alain Boublil (born 1947), discredited French commissioner and presidential aid Daniel Boublil, French lyricist in musical comedies Max Boublil (born 1979), French comedian, singer and film / TV actor Shon Boublil (born 1993), Canadian guitarist Topics referred to by

228-726: A Jewish diaspora population associated with the Iberian Peninsula ( Spain and Portugal ). The term, which is derived from the Hebrew Sepharad ( lit.   ' Spain ' ), can also refer to the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa , who were also heavily influenced by Sephardic law and customs . Many Iberian Jewish exiled families also later sought refuge in those Jewish communities, resulting in ethnic and cultural integration with those communities over

342-715: A "rival" to the Ashkenazim and help them push the Mizrahim below in the social-economic ladder and behind them, so they won't ever be in line with the Israeli elites of European Jewish descent. He also speaks against the Mapai manner of labeling all the Oriental Jews as "one folk" and erasing their unique and individual history as separated communities; he says that he wonders why the real Easterners of his time who were

456-579: A Biblical location. The location of the Biblical Sepharad points to the Iberian peninsula, then the westernmost outpost of Phoenician maritime trade. Jewish presence in Iberia is believed to have started during the reign of King Solomon , whose excise imposed taxes on Iberian exiles. Although the first date of arrival of Jews in Iberia is the subject of ongoing archaeological research, there

570-524: A broad sense and including Mizrahi Jews, North African Jews as well as Sephardim proper. From the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel . Sami Michael rejects the terms Mizrahim and Edot HaMizrach , claiming it is a fictitious identity advanced by Mapai to preserve

684-543: A conflation of terms, particularly in official Israeli ethnic and religious terminology, with Sephardi being used in a broad sense to include Middle Eastern and North African Jews, as well as Sephardim proper from Southern Europe around the Mediterranean Basin . The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has placed rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi chief rabbis. Following

798-636: A connection to the Jewish communities of Europe and North Africa in their paternal gene pool, suggesting a common Middle Eastern origin between them. In autosomal analyses, the Iraqi Jews , Iranian Jews , Bukharian Jews , Kurdish Jews , Mountain Jews , and Georgian Jews form a cluster. When examined at a more detailed level, the groups can be separated from each other. This cluster plots between Levantine and Northern West Asian populations. Syrian and North African Jews are separate from it and closer to

912-659: A few years. The Jewish community in Portugal was perhaps then some 15% of that country's population. They were declared Christians by Royal decree unless they left, but the King hindered their departure, needing their artisanship and working population for Portugal's overseas enterprises and territories. Later Sephardic Jews settled in many trade areas controlled by the Empire of Philip II and others. With various countries in Europe also

1026-403: A form of Orientalism towards the Oriental Jews, similar to the ways in which Westjuden had labeled Ostjuden as "second class" and excluded them from possible positions of power. The usage of the term Mizrahim or Edot Hamizraḥ ( עדות־המזרח ), Oriental communities, grew in Israel under the circumstances of the meeting of waves of Jewish immigrants from Europe, North Africa,

1140-614: A misunderstanding of the initials ס"ט "Samekh Tet" traditionally used with some proper names (which stand for sofo tov , "may his end be good" or "sin v'tin", "mire and mud" has in recent times been used in some quarters to distinguish Sephardim proper, "who trace their lineage back to the Iberian/Spanish population", from Sephardim in the broader religious sense. This distinction has also been made in reference to 21st-century genetic findings in research on 'Pure Sephardim', in contrast to other communities of Jews today who are part of

1254-620: A notary public in Spain. In the case of Portugal, the nationality law was modified in 2022 with very stringent requirements for new Sephardic applicants, effectively ending the possibility of successful applications without evidence of a personal travel history to Portugal —which is tantamount to prior permanent residence— or ownership of inherited property or concerns on Portuguese soil. The name Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic", derived from Sepharad ( Hebrew : סְפָרַד , Modern :   Sfarád , Tiberian :   Səp̄āráḏ ),

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1368-779: A singular identifiable division during World War II , when they were distinctly outlined in the One Million Plan of the Jewish Agency for Israel , which detailed the methods by which Jews of the diaspora were to be returned to the Land of Israel (then under the British Mandate for Palestine ) after the Holocaust . An earlier cultural community of southern and eastern Jews were the Sephardi Jews . Before

1482-500: A stifling effect, the disintegration of the caliphate expanded the opportunities to Jewish and other professionals. The services of Jewish scientists, doctors, traders, poets, and scholars were generally valued by Christian and Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as order was restored in recently conquered towns. Rabbi Samuel ha-Nagid (ibn Naghrela) was the Vizier of Granada . He was succeeded by his son Joseph ibn Naghrela who

1596-475: A survey by the Adva Center, the average income of Ashkenazim was 36 percent higher than that of Mizrahim in 2004. In 2023, journalist Shany Littman believes the dynamics of inequality have reversed, with most Israeli cabinet ministers and City mayors being Mizrahi Jews; also she stated that middle-class Mizrahi women earned more than their Ashkenazi counterparts. The Middle Eastern Jewish populations have

1710-675: A synagogue, a mikveh and a yeshiva as well. However, during the time he was a rabbi in Pernambuco, the Portuguese re-occupied the place again in 1654, after a struggle of nine years. Aboab da Fonseca managed to return to Amsterdam after the occupation of the Portuguese. Members of his community immigrated to North America and were among the founders of New York City , but some Jews took refuge in Seridó . The Sephardic kehilla in Zamość in

1824-461: A tradition passed down by Rabbi Berekiah and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai , quoting second-century tanna Rabbi Meir , states: "Do not fear, O Israel, for I help you from remote lands, and your seed from the land of their captivity, from Gaul , from Spain, and from their neighbors." Medieval legends often traced the arrival of Jews in Spain to the First Temple period , with some associating

1938-560: Is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish that was spoken by the eastern Sephardic Jews who settled in the Eastern Mediterranean after their expulsion from Spain in 1492; Haketia (also known as " Tetuani Ladino " in Algeria), an Arabic -influenced variety of Judaeo-Spanish, was spoken by North African Sephardic Jews who settled in the region after the 1492 Spanish expulsion. In 2015, more than five centuries after

2052-628: Is a variant of Aramaic. As spoken by the Kurdish Jews , Judeo-Aramaic languages are Neo-Aramaic languages descended from Jewish Babylonian Aramaic . They are related to the Christian Aramaic dialects spoken by Assyrian people , which are Syriac Christians who claim descent from Assyria , one of the oldest civilizations in the world, dating back to 2500 BC in ancient Mesopotamia . Among other languages associated with Mizrahim are Judeo-Iranian languages such as Judeo-Persian ,

2166-500: Is also common in Jewish religious circles. During the past century, the Sephardi rite absorbed part of the unique rite of the Yemenite Jews , and lately, Beta Israel religious leaders in Israel have also joined Sefardi rite collectivities, especially following rejection of their Jewishness by some Ashkenazi circles. The reason for this classification of all Mizrahim under Sephardi rite is that most Mizrahi communities use much

2280-538: Is always referred to as "Ethnic", while European Jews' work, even if historic in theme, is not, as a result of racism. Most of the "Mizrahi" activists actually originated from North African Jewish communities, traditionally called "Westerners" ( Maghrebi ), rather than "Easterners" ( Mashreqi ). The Jews who emigrated to Palestine from North Africa in the 19th Century and prior started their own political and religious organization in 1860 which operated in Jerusalem

2394-715: Is considerable as Samuel Abravanel (or "Abrabanel"—financial councilor to the viceroy of Naples ) or Moses Curiel (or "Jeromino Nunes da Costa"-serving as Agent to the Crown of Portugal in the United Provinces ). Among other names mentioned are those of Belmonte, Nasi , Francisco Pacheco , Blas, Pedro de Herrera , Palache , Pimentel , Azevedo , Sagaste, Salvador , Sasportas , Costa , Curiel , Cansino , Schönenberg , Sapoznik (Zapatero), Toledo , Miranda, Toledano , Pereira , and Teixeira . The Sephardim distinguished themselves as physicians and statesmen, and won

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2508-511: Is defined by a liturgical tradition's choice of prayers, order of prayers, text of prayers and melodies used in the singing of prayers. Sephardim traditionally pray using Minhag Sefarad. The term Nusach Sefard or Nusach Sfarad does not refer to the liturgy generally recited by Sephardim proper or even Sephardi in a broader sense, but rather to an alternative Eastern European liturgy used by many Hasidim , who are Ashkenazi . Additionally, Ethiopian Jews , whose branch of practiced Judaism

2622-656: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Mizrahi Jewish The term Mizrahi is almost exclusively applied to descendants of Jewish communities from North Africa and Asia ; including Yemenite Jews , Kurdish Jews , Turkish Jews , Egyptian Jews , Syrian Jews , Lebanese Jews , Iraqi Jews , Jordanian Jews , Saudi Arabian Jews , Emirati Jews , Kuwaiti Jews , Bahraini Jews , Qatari Jews , Omani Jews , Algerian Jews , Libyan Jews , Moroccan Jews , Tunisian Jews , Iranian Jews , Bukharian Jews , Afghan Jews , and Mountain Jews . Georgian Jews also fall under

2736-948: Is evidence of established Jewish communities as early as the 1st century CE . Modern transliteration of Hebrew romanizes the consonant פ ( pe without a dagesh dot placed in its center) as the digraph ph , in order to represent fe or the single phoneme /f/ , the English sound that is voiceless labiodental fricative. In other languages and scripts, "Sephardi" may be translated as plural Hebrew : סְפָרַדִּים , Modern :   Sfaraddim , Tiberian :   Səp̄āraddîm ; Spanish : Sefardíes ; Portuguese : Sefarditas ; Catalan : Sefardites ; Aragonese : Safardís ; Basque : Sefardiak ; French : Séfarades ; Galician : Sefardís ; Italian : Sefarditi ; Greek : Σεφαρδίτες , Sephardites ; Serbo-Croatian : Сефарди, Sefardi ; Judaeo-Spanish : Sefaradies/Sefaradim ; and Arabic : سفارديون , Safārdiyyūn . In

2850-576: Is known as Haymanot , have been included under the oversight of Israel's already broad Sephardic Chief Rabbinate . The earliest significant Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula is typically traced back to the Roman period , during the first centuries CE. Evidence includes an amphora discovered in Ibiza , stamped with two Hebrew letters in relief, indicating possible trade between Judaea and

2964-507: Is most often used in this wider sense. It encompasses most non-Ashkenazi Jews who are not ethnically Sephardi, but are in most instances of West Asian or North African origin. They are classified as Sephardi because they commonly use a Sephardic style of liturgy; this constitutes a majority of Mizrahi Jews in the 21st century. The term Sephardi in the broad sense, describes the nusach ( Hebrew language , "liturgical tradition") used by Sephardi Jews in their Siddur (prayer book). A nusach

3078-554: Is the interpretive work of Sam Philipe, a fifth generation Jerusalemite. Refuge in Israel was not without its tragedies: "In a generation or two, millennia of rooted Oriental civilization, unified even in its diversity", had been wiped out, writes Mizrahi scholar Ella Shohat . The trauma of rupture from their countries of origin was further complicated by the difficulty of the transition upon arrival in Israel; Mizrahi immigrants and refugees were placed in rudimentary and hastily erected tent cities ( ma'abarot ) often in development towns on

3192-628: Is used in modern Hebrew to refer to Spain. This has caused a long misunderstanding, since traditionally the entire Iberian Diaspora has been included in a single group. But the historiographical research reveals that that word, seen as homogeneous, was actually divided into distinct groups: the Sephardim, coming from the countries of the Castilian crown , Castilian language speakers, and the Katalanim  [ ca ] / Katalaní, originally from

3306-721: Is usually called amongst Spanish and Portuguese Jews, is the Amsterdam Esnoga —usually considered the "mother synagogue", and the historical center of the Amsterdam minhag . A sizable Sephardic community had settled in Morocco and other Northern African countries, which were colonized by France in the 19th century. Jews in Algeria were given French citizenship in 1870 by the décret Crémieux (previously Jews and Muslims could apply for French citizenship, but had to renounce

3420-647: The Balearics in the first century. Additionally, the Epistle to the Romans records Paul 's intent to visit Spain, hinting at a Jewish community in the region during the mid-first century CE. Josephus writes that Herod Antipas was deposed and exiled to Spain, possibly to Lugdunum Convenarum , in 39 CE. Rabbinic literature from the Amoraic era references Spain as a distant land with a Jewish presence. For example,

3534-821: The Bukhori dialect , Judeo-Tat , and Kurdish languages ; Georgian ; Judeo-Marathi and Judeo-Malayalam . Bukharian Jews from various countries in Central Asia and the Mountain Jews living in Azerbaijan are also widely fluent in Russian due to several of those countries' former status as republics of the Soviet Union . The Jewish diaspora in the Middle East outside the Land of Israel started in

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3648-477: The Crown of Aragon , Judeo-Catalan speakers. The modern Israeli Hebrew definition of Sephardi is a much broader , religious based, definition that generally excludes ethnic considerations. In its most basic form, this broad religious definition of a Sephardi refers to any Jew, of any ethnic background, who follows the customs and traditions of Sepharad. For religious purposes, and in modern Israel, "Sephardim"

3762-499: The First Arab–Israeli War , over 850,000 Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews were expelled or evacuated from Arab and Muslim-majority countries between 1948 and the early 1980s. A 2018 statistic found that 45% of Jewish Israelis identified as either Mizrahi or Sephardic . Mizrahi is literally translated as 'Oriental', 'Eastern', מזרח ‎ Mizraḥ , Hebrew for ' east '. In the past, the word Mizrahim , corresponding to

3876-510: The Kaddish . Traditionally, Aramaic has been a language of Talmudic debate in yeshivot , as many rabbinic texts are written in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic. The current Hebrew alphabet , known as "Assyrian lettering" or "the square script", was in fact borrowed from Aramaic. In Kurdistan , a region which includes parts of Turkey , Syria , Iraq and Iran , the language of the Mizrahim

3990-595: The Silk Road . Historically, the vernacular languages of the Sephardic Jews and their descendants have been variants of either Spanish, Portuguese , or Catalan , though they have also adopted and adapted other languages. The historical forms of Spanish that differing Sephardic communities spoke communally were related to the date of their departure from Iberia and their status at that time as either New Christians or Jews. Judaeo-Spanish , also called Ladino ,

4104-471: The Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa and launched a successful military campaign in the Iberian Peninsula. This conquest resulted in the establishment of Muslim rule over much of the region, which they referred to as " Al-Andalus ". The territory would remain under varying degrees of Muslim control for several centuries. The Jewish community, having faced persecution under Visigothic rule, largely welcomed

4218-647: The Visigothic Kingdom , following a period of significant instability caused by Barbarian invasions that led to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire . Initially, the Christian Visigoths practiced Arianism and, while they generally did not engage in the persecution of Jews, they did not extend particular favor to them either. It was not until the reign of Alaric II (484–507) that a Visigothic king concerned himself with

4332-577: The 17th century on account of their number, wealth, education, and influence, they established poetical academies after Spanish models; two of these were the Academia de Los Sitibundos and the Academia de Los Floridos . In the same city they also organized the first Jewish educational institution, with graduate classes in which, in addition to Talmudic studies, the instruction was given in the Hebrew language . The most important synagogue, or Esnoga , as it

4446-723: The 2009 Statistical Abstract of Israel, 50.2% of Israeli Jews are of Mizrahi or Sephardi origin. Anti-Jewish actions by Arab governments in the 1950s and 1960s, in the context of the founding of the State of Israel, led to the departure of large numbers of Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. The exodus of 25,000 Mizrahi Jews from Egypt after the 1956 Suez Crisis led to the overwhelming majority of Mizrahim leaving Arab countries. They became refugees . Most went to Israel. Many Moroccan and Algerian Jews went to France. Thousands of Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian Jews emigrated to

4560-603: The 6th century BCE, during the Babylonian captivity , which also caused some Jews to flee to Egypt. Other early diaspora areas in the Middle East and North Africa were Persia , Yemen and Cyrene . As Islam started to spread in the 7th century CE, Jews who were living under Muslim rule became dhimmis . Because Jews were seen as " People of the Book ", they were allowed to practice their own religion, but they had an inferior status in an Islamic society. Even though Jews in

4674-642: The Arab world saw themselves (including the ones with family background of converts) and were seen as fundamentally a part of the wider collective of the Jewish people, and they maintained their identity as the descendants of the ancient Israelite tribes. Some Mizrahim migrated to India , Central Asia , and the Caucasus . After the establishment of the State of Israel and subsequent 1948 Arab–Israeli War , most Mizrahim were either expelled by their Arab rulers or chose to leave and emigrated to Israel. According to

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4788-532: The Arabic word Mashriqiyyun ( Arabic : مشريقيون , 'Easterners'), referred to the natives of Turkey, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa ( Maghribiyyun ). In medieval and early modern times, the corresponding Hebrew word ma'arav ( מערב ) was used for North Africa. In Talmudic and Geonic times, however, this word ma'arav referred to the land of Israel, as contrasted with Babylonia . For this reason, many object to

4902-722: The Christian Reconquista . In 1492, the Alhambra Decree by the Catholic Monarchs expelled Jews from Spain, and in 1496, King Manuel I of Portugal issued a similar edict for Jews and Muslims. These actions led to migrations, mass conversions, and executions. By the late 15th century, Sephardic Jews had been largely expelled and dispersed across North Africa , Western Asia , Southern and Southeastern Europe , settling in established Jewish communities or pioneering new ones along trade routes like

5016-651: The Dutch and South America. They contributed to the establishment of the Dutch West Indies Company in 1621, and some were members of the directorate. The ambitious schemes of the Dutch for the conquest of Brazil were carried into effect through Francisco Ribeiro, a Portuguese captain, who is said to have had Jewish relations in the Netherlands . Some years afterward, when the Dutch in Brazil appealed to

5130-480: The Eastern European Jewish peasants from the villages weren't labeled as "Mizrahi" in Israel, despite fitting it more than the Oriental Jews who were labeled that way. Michael is also against the inclusion of Oriental Jewish communities who do not descend from Sepharadic Jews , as "Sepharadim" by the Israeli politicians, calling it "historically inaccurate". He also claims that his work as an author

5244-637: The Golden Age. Among the Sephardim were many who were the descendants, or heads, of wealthy families and who, as Marranos , had occupied prominent positions in the countries they had left. Some had been stated officials, others had held positions of dignity within the Church; many had been the heads of large banking-houses and mercantile establishments, and some were physicians or scholars who had officiated as teachers in high schools. Their Spanish or Portuguese

5358-486: The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS), Mizrahi Jews are less likely to pursue academic studies than Ashkenazi Jews. Israeli-born Ashkenazim are up to twice as likely to study in a university as Israeli-born Mizrahim. Furthermore, the percentage of Mizrahim who seek a university education remains low compared to second-generation immigrant groups of Ashkenazi origin, such as Russians. According to

5472-402: The Jewish sub-ethnicities, Israeli officials, who themselves were mostly Eastern European Jews, transferred the name to them, though most of these immigrants arrived from lands located further westward than Central Europe. Mizrahi is subsequently among the surnames most often changed by Israelis, and many scholars, including Avshalom Kor , claim that the transferring of the name Mizrahim was

5586-549: The Jews as dhimmis , life under Muslim rule was one of great opportunity and Jews flourished as they did not under the Christian Visigoths. Many Jews came to Iberia, seen as a land of tolerance and opportunity, from the Christian and Muslim worlds. Following initial Arab victories, and especially with the establishment of Umayyad rule by Abd al-Rahman I in 755, the native Jewish community was joined by Jews from

5700-513: The Jews from the Muslim south were not entirely secure in their northward migrations. Old prejudices were compounded by newer ones. Suspicions of complicity with the Muslims were alive and well as Jews immigrated, speaking Arabic. However, many of the newly arrived Jews of the north prospered during the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The majority of Latin documentation regarding Jews during this period refers to their landed property, fields, and vineyards. In many ways life had come full circle for

5814-448: The Jews under Byzantine rule, attesting to the fair treatment of the Christians of al-Andalus , and perhaps indicating that such was contingent on the treatment of Jews abroad. One notable contribution to Christian intellectualism is Ibn Gabirol 's neo-Platonic Fons Vitae ("The Source of Life;" "Mekor Hayyim"). Thought by many to have been written by a Christian, this work was admired by Christians and studied in monasteries throughout

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5928-503: The Jews, as evidenced by the publication of the Breviary of Alaric in 506, which incorporated Roman legal precedents into Visigothic law. The situation for Jews in Spain shifted dramatically after the conversion of the Visigothic monarchs to Catholicism under King Reccared in 587. As the Visigoths sought to unify the realm under their new religion, their policies towards Jews evolved from initial marginalization to increasingly aggressive measures aimed at their complete eradication from

6042-426: The Middle Ages, though the work of Solomon Munk in the 19th century proved that the author of Fons Vitae was the Jewish ibn Gabirol. In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as translators. Mainly in Toledo , texts were translated between Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. In translating the great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were instrumental in bringing

6156-427: The Middle East and North Africa formed strong attachments to the areas in which they lived, they were seen as a community which was clearly distinct from other communities. For example, while Musta'arabi Jews in the Arab world were influenced by the local culture, e.g. they started speaking variants of the Arabic language and ate their own versions of the same food, they did not adopt Arab identity. Instead, Jews in

6270-425: The Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, followers of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Temani (Yemenite) rites. In modern Israeli usage, it refers to all Jews from Central and West Asian countries, many of them Arabic-speaking Muslim-majority countries. The term came to be widely used more by Mizrahi activists in the early 1990s. Since then in Israel it has become an accepted semi-official and media designation. Before

6384-410: The Mizrahim retained culture, customs and language distinct from their Ashkenazi counterparts. The collective estimate for Mizrahim (circa 2018) is at 4,000,000. The cultural differences between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews impacted the degree and rate of assimilation into Israeli society, and sometimes the divide between Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews was quite sharp. Segregation, especially in

6498-455: The Netherlands for craftsmen of all kinds, many Jews went to Brazil. About 600 Jews left Amsterdam in 1642, accompanied by two distinguished scholars— Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and Moses Raphael de Aguilar . Jews supported the Dutch in the struggle between the Netherlands and Portugal for possession of Brazil. In 1642, Aboab da Fonseca was appointed rabbi at Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue in the Dutch colony of Pernambuco ( Recife ), Brazil. Most of

6612-502: The Ottoman Empire were mostly resettled in and around Thessalonica and to some extent in Constantinople and İzmir . This was followed by a great massacre of Jews in the city of Lisbon in 1506 and the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536. This caused the flight of the Portuguese Jewish community, which continued until the extinction of the Courts of Inquisition in 1821; by then there were very few Jews in Portugal. In Amsterdam , where Jews were especially prominent in

6726-407: The Sephardi Jews established commercial relations. In a letter dated 25 November 1622, King Christian IV of Denmark invites Jews of Amsterdam to settle in Glückstadt , where, among other privileges, the free exercise of their religion would be assured to them. Álvaro Caminha , in Cape Verde islands, who received the land as a grant from the crown, established a colony with Jews forced to stay on

6840-402: The Sephardi Jews exiled from Spain resettled in greater or lesser numbers in the Arab world , such as Syria and Morocco. In Syria, most eventually intermarried with, and assimilated into, the larger established communities of Musta'rabim and Mizrahim. In some North African countries, such as Morocco, Sephardi Jews came in greater numbers, and so largely contributed to the Jewish settlements that

6954-444: The Sephardi Jews. Yemenite Jews are distinct from other Jewish groups and cluster with the non-Jewish population of the Arabian Peninsula. Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews ( Hebrew : יְהוּדֵי סְפָרַד ‎ , romanized :  Yehudei Sfarad , transl.  'Jews of Spain ' ; Ladino : Djudios Sefaradis ), also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim , and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews , are

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7068-431: The Sephardic families also made them extremely well educated for the times , even well into the European Enlightenment . For a long time, the Sephardim took an active part in Spanish literature ; they wrote in prose and in rhyme, and were the authors of theological, philosophical, belletristic (aesthetic rather than content-based writing), pedagogic (teaching), and mathematical works. The rabbis, who, in common with all

7182-405: The Sephardim of al-Andalus . As conditions became more oppressive during the 12th and 13th centuries, Jews again looked to an outside culture for relief. Christian leaders of reconquered cities granted them extensive autonomy, and Jewish scholarship recovered somewhat and developed as communities grew in size and importance. However, the Reconquista Jews never reached the same heights as had those of

7296-449: The Sephardim, emphasized a pure and euphonious pronunciation of Hebrew, delivered their sermons in Spanish or in Portuguese. Several of these sermons have appeared in print. Their thirst for knowledge, together with the fact that they associated freely with the outer world, led the Sephardim to establish new educational systems. Wherever they settled, they founded schools that used Spanish as the medium of instruction. Theatre in Constantinople

7410-400: The State of Israel, over 850,000 Jews were forced from Arab Lands and Iran. The desperate refugees were welcomed by Israel. By Act of the Knesset: 30 Nov, annually, is the Departure and Expulsion Memorial Day. Memorial donated by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, With support from the World Sephardi Federation, City of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Foundation" The sculpture

7524-552: The United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and other countries in the Americas. Today, as many as 40,000 Mizrahim still remain in communities scattered throughout the non-Arab Muslim world , primarily in Iran, but also Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. There are few Maghrebim remaining in the Arab world. About 3,000 remain in Morocco and 1,100 in Tunisia. Other countries with remnants of ancient Jewish communities with official recognition, such as Lebanon, have 100 or fewer Jews. A trickle of emigration continues, mainly to Israel and

7638-405: The United States. 9 May 2021, the first physical memorialization in Israel of the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from Arab land and Iran was placed on the Sherover Promenade in Jerusalem. It is titled the Departure and Expulsion Memorial following the Knesset law for the annual recognition of the Jewish experience held annually on 30 November. The text on the Memorial reads; "With the birth of

7752-442: The anti- Rabbanite polemics of Karaites . The cultural and intellectual achievements of the Arabs, and much of the scientific and philosophical speculation of Ancient Greek culture , which had been best preserved by Arab scholars, was made available to the educated Jew. The meticulous regard the Arabs had for grammar and style also had the effect of stimulating an interest in philological matters in general among Jews. Arabic became

7866-525: The area of housing, limited integration possibilities over the years. Intermarriage between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim is increasingly common in Israel and by the late 1990s 28% of all Israeli children had multi-ethnic parents (up from 14% in the 1950s). It has been claimed that intermarriage does not tend to decrease ethnic differences in socio-economic status, however, that does not apply to the children of inter-ethnic marriages. Although social integration has increased, disparities persist. A study conducted by

7980-450: The biblical Tarshish with Tartessus and suggesting Jewish traders were active in Spain during the Phoenician and Carthaginian eras. One such legend from the 16th century claimed that a funeral inscription in Murviedro belonged to Adoniram , a commander of King Solomon , who had supposedly died in Spain while collecting tribute. Another legend spoke of a letter allegedly sent by the Jews of Toledo to Judaea in 30 CE, asking to prevent

8094-454: The breakdown of authority under the Umayyads, the services of Jews were employed by the victorious Christian leaders. Sephardic knowledge of the language and culture of the enemy, their skills as diplomats and professionals, as well as their desire for relief from intolerable conditions — the very same reasons that they had proved useful to the Arabs in the early stages of the Muslim invasion — made their services very valuable. However,

8208-601: The broad classification of Sephardi. Ethnic Sephardic Jews have had a presence in North Africa and various parts of the Mediterranean and Western Asia due to their expulsion from Spain. There have also been Sephardic communities in South America and India. Originally the Jews spoke of Sefarad referring to Al-Andalus and not the entire peninsula, nor as it is understood today, in which the term Sefarad

8322-577: The category of Mizrahi. Indian Jews are sometimes labeled as Mizrahi, though members of the community have identified themselves as a separate category. Mizrahi Jews of the Mashriq , consisting roughly of Egypt , Sudan , the Arabian Peninsula , and the Arab regions of the Levant , may be referred to as Mashriqi Jews. These various Jewish communities were first officially grouped into

8436-652: The completion of the Christian Reconquista , with the penetration and influence of the Almoravides , and then the Almohads , from North Africa. These more intolerant sects abhorred the liberality of the Islamic culture of al-Andalus , including the position of authority some dhimmis held over Muslims. When the Almohads gave the Jews a choice of either death or conversion to Islam, many Jews emigrated. Some, such as

8550-577: The country. In many conquered towns the garrison was left in the hands of the Jews before the Muslims proceeded further north. Both Muslim and Christian sources claim that Jews provided valuable aid to the Muslim conquerors. Once captured, the defense of Cordoba was left in the hands of Jews, and Granada , Malaga , Seville , and Toledo were left to a mixed army of Jews and Moors. Although in some towns Jews may have been helpful to Muslim success, because of

8664-455: The crucifixion of Jesus. These legends aimed to establish that Jews had settled in Spain well before the Roman period and to absolve them of any responsibility for the death of Jesus, a charge often leveled at them in later centuries. Rabbi and scholar Abraham ibn Daud wrote in 1161: "A tradition exists with the [Jewish] community of Granada that they are from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, of

8778-405: The descendants of Judah and Benjamin , rather than from the villages, the towns in the outlying districts [of Israel]." Elsewhere, he writes about his maternal grandfather's family and how they came to Spain after Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE: "When Titus prevailed over Jerusalem , his officer who was appointed over Hispania appeased him, requesting that he send to him captives made-up of

8892-429: The dominant Ashkenazi community. Furthermore, a policy of austerity was enforced at that time due to economic hardships. Mizrahi immigrants arrived speaking many languages: Mizrahim from elsewhere brought Georgian, Judaeo-Georgian and various other languages with them. Hebrew had historically been a language only of prayer for most Jews not living in Israel, including the Mizrahim. Thus, with their arrival in Israel,

9006-714: The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the various current communities of Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a distinctive Jewish subgroup, and many considered themselves Sephardis, as they largely followed the Sephardic customs and traditions of Judaism with local variations in minhagim . The original Sephardi Jewish community was formed in Spain and Portugal , and after their expulsion in 1492 , many Sephardim settled in areas where Mizrahi communities already existed. This complicated ethnography has resulted in

9120-461: The establishment of the state of Israel, Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate Jewish subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi , as they follow the customs and traditions of Sephardi Judaism (but with some differences among the minhag "customs" of particular communities). That has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel and in religious usage, with "Sephardi" being used in

9234-684: The ethnic as opposed to the religious sense. In some Arabic countries, such as Egypt and Syria, Sephardi Jews arrived via the Ottoman Empire would distinguish themselves from the already established Musta'rabim, while in others, such as Morocco and Algeria, the two communities largely intermarried, with the latter embracing Sephardi customs and thus forming a single community. In the Arab world (such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan), Mizrahim most often speak Arabic . Most of

9348-537: The expulsion, both Spain and Portugal enacted laws allowing Sephardic Jews who could prove their ancestral origins in those countries to apply for citizenship. The Spanish law that offered citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews expired in 2019, although subsequent extensions were granted by the Spanish government —due to the COVID-19 pandemic — in order to file pending documents and sign delayed declarations before

9462-554: The family of Maimonides , fled south and east to the more tolerant Muslim lands, while others went northward to settle in the growing Christian kingdoms. Meanwhile, the Reconquista continued in the north throughout the 12th century. As various Arab lands fell to the Christians, conditions for some Jews in the emerging Christian kingdoms became increasingly favorable. As had happened during the reconstruction of towns following

9576-400: The favor of rulers and princes, in both the Christian and the Islamic world. That the Sephardim were selected for prominent positions in every country where they settled was only in part due to the fact that Spanish had become a world-language through the expansion of Spain into the world-spanning Spanish Empire—the cosmopolitan cultural background after long associations with Islamic scholars of

9690-524: The fields of science and philosophy, which formed much of the basis of Renaissance learning, into the rest of Europe. In the early 11th century, centralized authority based at Cordoba broke down following the Berber invasion and the ousting of the Umayyads. In its stead arose the independent taifa principalities under the rule of local Muwallad , Arab, Berber, or Slavonic leaders. Rather than having

9804-564: The first independent Caliph of Cordoba , and in particular with the career of his Jewish councilor, Hasdai ibn Shaprut (882–942). Within this context of cultural patronage , studies in Hebrew, literature, and linguistics flourished. Hasdai benefitted world Jewry not only indirectly by creating a favorable environment for scholarly pursuits within Iberia, but also by using his influence to intervene on behalf of foreign Jews: in his letter to Byzantine Princess Helena , he requested protection for

9918-489: The heated correspondences sent between Bodo Eleazar , a former Christian deacon who had converted to Judaism in 838, and the Bishop of Córdoba Paulus Albarus , who had converted from Judaism to Christianity. Each man, using such epithets as "wretched compiler", tried to convince the other to return to his former faith, to no avail. The Golden Age is most closely identified with the reign of Abd al-Rahman III (882–942),

10032-597: The island of São Tomé . Príncipe island was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, the Jewish settlement was a success and their descendants settled many parts of Brazil. In 1579 Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva a Portuguese-born Converso , Spanish-Crown officer, was awarded a large swath of territory in New Spain, known as Nuevo Reino de León . He founded settlements with other conversos that would later become Monterrey . In particular, Jews established relations between

10146-509: The kingdom. Under successive Visigothic kings and under ecclesiastical authority, many orders of expulsion, forced conversion, isolation, enslavement, execution, and other punitive measures were made. By 612–621, the situation for Jews became intolerable and many left Spain for nearby northern Africa. In 711, thousands of Jews from North Africa accompanied the Muslims who invaded Spain, subsuming Catholic Spain and turning much of it into an Arab state, Al-Andalus. In 711 CE, Muslim forces crossed

10260-565: The main language of Sephardic science, philosophy, and everyday business, as had been the case with Babylonian geonim . This thorough adoption of the Arabic language also greatly facilitated the assimilation of Jews into Moorish culture, and Jewish activity in a variety of professions, including medicine, commerce, finance, and agriculture increased. By the ninth century, some members of the Sephardic community felt confident enough to take part in proselytizing amongst Christians. This included

10374-452: The many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Jews in Spain, North Africa and Asia were written in Arabic using a modified Hebrew alphabet . Aramaic is a Semitic language subfamily. Specific varieties of Aramaic are identified as " Jewish languages " since they are the languages of major Jewish texts such as the Talmud and Zohar , and many ritual recitations such as

10488-411: The measures were prohibitions on intermarriage between Jews and Christians, communal dining, and the participation of Jews in blessing fields. Despite these efforts, aimed to diminish Jewish influence on Christian communities, evidence indicates that everyday social relations between Jews and Christians continued to be prevalent in various locales. By the mid-5th century, Spain came under the control of

10602-550: The more Romanized regions of the south and east, such as Toledo , Mérida , Seville , and Tarragona . Additionally, these inscriptions suggest a Jewish presence in other locations, including Elche , Tortosa , Adra , and the Balearic Islands. Around 300 CE, the Synod of Elvira , an ecclesiastical council convened in southern Spain, and enacted several decrees to restrict interactions between Christians and Jews. Among

10716-487: The narrower ethnic definition, a Sephardi Jew is one descended from the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century, immediately prior to the issuance of the Alhambra Decree of 1492 by order of the Catholic Monarchs in Spain, and the decree of 1496 in Portugal by order of King Manuel I . In Hebrew, the term "Sephardim Tehorim" ( ספרדים טהורים ‎, literally "Pure Sephardim"), derived from

10830-441: The new Muslim rulers who offered greater religious tolerance. Under Islamic rule, Jews, like Christians, were designated as dhimmis —protected but second-class monotheists—permitted to practice their religion with relative autonomy in exchange for paying a special tax . To the Jews, Moors was perceived as, and indeed were, a liberating force. Wherever they went, the Muslims were greeted by Jews eager to aid them in administering

10944-495: The nobles of Jerusalem, and so he sent a few of them to him, and there were amongst them those who made curtains and who were knowledgeable in the work of silk, and [one] whose name was Baruch, and they remained in Mérida ." Archaeological evidence of a Jewish presence in Spain prior to the third century CE is limited. However, from the third to sixth centuries, inscriptions confirm the existence of Jewish communities, particularly in

11058-463: The number of Jews in Portugal grew with those running from Spain. This changed with the marriage of D. Manuel I of Portugal with the daughter of the Catholic Monarchs of the newly born Spain. In 1497 the Decree ordering the expulsion or forced conversion of all the Jews was passed, and the Sephardim either fled or went into secrecy under the guise of "Cristãos Novos", i.e. New Christians (this Decree

11172-461: The peripheries of Israel. Settlement in moshavim (cooperative farming villages) was only partially successful, because Mizrahim had historically filled a niche as craftsmen and merchants and most did not traditionally engage in farmwork. As the majority left their property behind in their home countries as they journeyed to Israel, many suffered a severe decrease in their socio-economic status aggravated by their cultural and political differences with

11286-401: The powerful vizier was plotting to kill the weak-minded and drunk King Badis ibn Habus . According to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, "More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, fell in one day, a number contested by some historians who deem it to be an example of "the usual hyperbole in numerical estimates, with which history abounds." The decline of the Golden Age began before

11400-438: The pre-existing Jews were assimilated by the more recently arrived Sephardi Jews. Either way, this assimilation, combined with the use of the Sephardi rite, led to the popular designation and conflation of most non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities from Western Asia and North Africa as "Sephardi rite", whether or not they were descended from Spanish Jews, which is what the terms "Sephardi Jews" and "Sfaradim" properly implied when used in

11514-426: The rest of Europe, as well as from Arab lands, from Morocco to Babylon . Jewish communities were enriched culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the commingling of these diverse Jewish traditions. Arabic culture, of course, also made a lasting impact on Sephardic cultural development. General re-evaluation of scripture was prompted by Muslim anti-Jewish polemics and the spread of rationalism , as well as

11628-607: The rite of the Sephardim, perceived as more prestigious. Even before this assimilation, the original rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi one. For this reason, "Sephardim" has come to mean not only "Spanish Jews" proper but "Jews of the Spanish rite", just as " Ashkenazim " is used for "Jews of the German rite", whether or not their families originate in Germany. Many of

11742-507: The same religious rituals as Sephardim proper due to historical reasons. The prevalence of the Sephardi rite among Mizrahim is partially a result of Sephardim proper joining some of Mizrahi communities following the 1492 Alhambra Decree , which expelled Jews from Sepharad ( Spain and Portugal ). Over the last few centuries, the previously distinctive rites of the Mizrahi communities were influenced, superimposed upon or altogether replaced by

11856-411: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Boublil . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boublil&oldid=1127234601 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

11970-487: The small numbers they were of limited impact. The Golden Age of Sephardic Jewry flourished during this period, particularly in cities like Cordoba, Granada and Toledo. Jewish scholars, poets, philosophers and scientists thrived, contributing to the broader intellectual life of Al-Andalus. Jews in Muslim Spain played significant roles in trade, finance, diplomacy, and medicine. In spite of the restrictions placed upon

12084-657: The span of many centuries. The majority of Sephardim live in Israel . The earliest documented Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula is often traced to the Roman period , during the first centuries CE. After enduring hardship under the Visigoths , Jewish communities thrived for centuries under Muslim rule in Al-Andalus following the Umayyad conquest , which ushered in a golden age . However, their fortunes declined with

12198-521: The use of Mizrahi to include Moroccan and other North African Jews. During the 1940s, before Israel's establishment, the demographer Roberto Bachi used the categories of "Mizrahim" and " Ashkenzim " in his ethnic classification of the Yishuv . In the 1950s, the Jews who came from the communities listed above were simply called and known as Jews ( Yahud , يهود in Arabic) and to distinguish them in

12312-459: The use of traditional religious courts and laws, which many did not want to do). When France withdrew from Algeria in 1962, the local Jewish communities largely relocated to France. There are some tensions between some of those communities and the earlier French Jewish population (who were mostly Ashkenazi Jews ), and with Arabic-Muslim communities. The largest part of Spanish Jews expelled in 1492 fled to Portugal, where they eluded persecution for

12426-607: The white inhabitants of the town were Sephardic Jews from Portugal who had been banned by the Portuguese Inquisition to this town at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. In 1624, the colony had been occupied by the Dutch. By becoming the rabbi of the community, Aboab da Fonseca was the first appointed rabbi of the Americas. The name of his congregation was Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue and the community had

12540-537: Was a lingua franca that enabled Sephardim from different countries to engage in commerce and diplomacy. With their social equals they associated freely, without regard to religion and more likely with regard to equivalent or comparative education, for they were generally well read, which became a tradition and expectation. They were received at the courts of sultans, kings, and princes, and often were employed as ambassadors, envoys, or agents. The number of Sephardim who have rendered important services to different countries

12654-618: Was called " The Western Jewish Diaspora Council " ( Hebrew : ועד העדה המערבית בירושלים ). Many Jews originated from Arab and Muslim countries today reject Mizrahi (or any) umbrella description, and prefer to identify themselves by their particular country of origin, or that of their immediate ancestors, such as "Moroccan Jew", or prefer to use the old term Sephardi in its broader meaning. Today, many identify non-Ashkenazi rite Jews as Sephardi – in modern Hebrew Sfaradim – mixing ancestral origin and religious rite. This broader definition of "Sephardim" as including all, or most, Mizrahi Jews

12768-595: Was in Judæo-Spanish since it was forbidden to Muslims. In Portugal, the Sephardim were given important roles in the sociopolitical sphere and enjoyed a certain amount of protection from the Crown (e.g. Yahia Ben Yahia , first "Rabino Maior" of Portugal and supervisor of the public revenue of the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques ). Even with the increasing pressure from the Catholic Church, this state of affairs remained more or less constant and

12882-533: Was slain by an incited mob along with most of the Jewish community. The remnant fled to Lucena . The first major and most violent persecution in Islamic Spain was the 1066 Granada massacre , which occurred on 30 December, when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada , crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city after rumors spread that

12996-566: Was symbolically revoked in 1996 by the Portuguese Parliament ). Those who fled to Genoa were only allowed to land provided they received baptism. Those who were fortunate enough to reach the Ottoman Empire had a better fate: the Sultan Bayezid II sarcastically sent his thanks to Ferdinand for sending him some of his best subjects, thus "impoverishing his own lands while enriching his (Bayezid's)". Jews arriving in

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