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47-824: They claim descent from the Jews who lived in Italy during the Roman period. Their Nusach is distinct from the Sephardic Nusach and the Ashkenazi Nusach , and are sometimes referred to in the scholarly literature as Italkim (Hebrew for "Italians"; pl. of italki , Middle Hebrew loanword from the Latin adjective italicu(m) , meaning "Italic", "Latin", "Roman"; italkit is also used in Modern Hebrew as

94-658: A chance to expand Italian influence in the Mediterranean. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Italian Jews (mostly but not exclusively from the Spanish and Portuguese group) maintained a trading and residential presence in both Italy and countries in the Ottoman Empire: even those who settled permanently in the Ottoman Empire retained their Tuscan or other Italian nationality, so as to have the benefit of

141-603: A daily basis. Masorete The Masoretes ( Hebrew : בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה , romanized :  Baʿălēy Hammāsōrā , lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe - scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in the Jewish centers of the Levant (e.g. Tiberias and Jerusalem ) and Mesopotamia (e.g. Sura and Nehardea ). Each group compiled

188-656: A general sense, any prayer rite following the usages of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the AriZal, in the 16th century. Many Chabad Hasidim refer to their variant of Nusach Sefard as Nusach Ari, although Chabad siddurim always say "based on the Ari rite" (על פי נוסח האר"י), a description which appears in many other Sephardic and Hasidic siddurim. There is not one generally recognized uniform nusach for Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. Instead, Sephardim and Mizrahim follow several slightly different but closely related nuschaot. The nearest approach to

235-574: A given synagogue may have services of more than one rite. Today there are further categories: Italian Jews can be traced as far back as the 2nd century BCE: tombstones and dedicatory inscriptions survive from this period. At that time they mostly lived in the far South of Italy, with a branch community in Rome, and were generally Greek-speaking. It is thought that some families (for example the Adolescenti) are descendants of Jews deported from Judaea by

282-731: A standard text is found in the siddurim printed in Livorno from the 1840s until the early 20th century. These (and later versions printed in Vienna ) were widely used throughout the Sephardic and Mizrahi world. Another popular variant was the text known as Nusach ha-Hida , named after Chaim Yosef David Azulai . Both these versions were particularly influential in Greece, Iran, Turkey and North Africa. However, most communities also had unwritten customs which they would observe, rather than following

329-522: A system of pronunciation and grammatical guides in the form of diacritical notes ( niqqud ) on the external form of the biblical text in an attempt to standardize the pronunciation, paragraph and verse divisions, and cantillation of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh ) for the worldwide Jewish community. The ben Asher family of Masoretes was largely responsible for the preservation and production of

376-811: A whole has numbered no more than 50,000 since it was fully emancipated in 1870. During the Second Aliyah (between 1904 and 1914) many Italian Jews moved to Israel , and there is an Italian synagogue and cultural centre in Jerusalem . Around 7,700 Italian Jews were deported and murdered during the Holocaust . The Italian Rite community traditionally has used Italian Hebrew , a pronunciation system similar to that of conservative Iberian Jews . The medieval pre-expulsion Jews of Southern Italy (the Jews of Apulia , Calabria , and Sicily ) are often subsumed under

423-623: Is a recent attempt by Rabbi David Bar-Hayim at reconstructing the ancient Nussach Eretz Yisrael , based on the Jerusalem Talmud and documents discovered in the Cairo Geniza and other sources. The reconstruction and adaption is published in the form of a siddur ("prayer book"), and used by Rabbi Bar-Hayim's Jerusalem followers in public prayers held in Machon Shilo's synagogue. In addition, there are other nuschaot. It

470-412: Is also set out in one chapter of Goldschmidt, Meḥqare Tefillah u-Fiyyut (On Jewish Liturgy), Jerusalem 1978 Nusach (Jewish custom) In Judaism , Nusach ( Hebrew : נוסח , romanized :  nusaḥ , Modern Hebrew pronunciation nusakh , plural ( נוסחים ‎ nusaḥim , also Yiddish : נוסחאות , romanized :  nuskhóes )) is the exact text of a prayer service; sometimes

517-579: Is said among some mystics that an as-yet undisclosed nusach will be revealed after the coming of the Mashiach , the Jewish Messiah . Others say that the differences in nusach are derived from differences between the twelve tribes of Israel, and that in Messianic times each tribe will have its proper nusach. The concept of one nusach for each of the 12 tribes was formulated by R' Isaac Luria ; at

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564-484: Is that each individual family followed kosher within their own unique standard. Some Italian Jews ate pork, while others refrained, but would instead eat rabbit. Not only did this allow for new traditions to be established, kosher also maintained different meanings established in every household. Additionally, Italian Jewish households would enjoy meals that blended the culinary traditions of both Italians and Jews. One popular tradition that came to be within culinary tradition

611-797: Is the style of service conducted by Ashkenazi Jews , originating from central and eastern Europe. It is the shortest lengthwise except for the Yemenite Baladi-rite prayer . It may be subdivided into the German, or western, branch ("Minhag Ashkenaz"), used in western and central Europe, and the Polish/Lithuanian branch ("Minhag Polin"), used in eastern Europe, the United States and among Ashkenazim, particularly those who identify as " Lithuanian ", in Israel. The form used in

658-713: Is used by the Dor Daim , who attempt to safeguard the older Baladi tradition of Yemenite Jewish observance. This version used by dardaim was originally used by all Yemenite Jews near the time of Maimonides. In the period of the Geonim , Jews in Israel followed the Nussach Eretz Yisrael which is based upon the Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud), while the Jewish diaspora followed the customs of Babylonian Jewry . The modern Nusach Eretz Yisrael

705-507: The Amidah . Nusach primarily means "text" or "version", the correct wording of a religious text or liturgy. Thus, the nusach tefillah is the text of the prayers, either generally or in a particular community. In common use, nusach has come to signify the entire liturgical tradition of the community, including the musical rendition. It is one example of minhag , which includes traditions on Jewish customs of all types. Nusach Ashkenaz

752-695: The Byzantine Empire had lost the Southern Italian provinces, the Kehillot in Apulia, Calabria and Sicily maintained connections to their coreligionists in Greece and Constantinople . Nevertheless, Jews in rural areas of Emirate of Sicily and Apulia are known to have made some use of Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Latin languages in addition to Greek. There have been Ashkenazi Jews living in

799-591: The Masoretic Text , although there existed an alternative Masoretic text of the ben Naphtali Masoretes, which has around 875 differences from the ben Asher text. The halakhic authority Maimonides endorsed the ben Asher as superior, although the Egyptian Jewish scholar, the Saadya Gaon , had preferred the ben Naphtali system. It has been suggested that the ben Asher family and the majority of

846-768: The Ottoman Capitulations . Thus in Tunisia there was a community of Juifs Portugais , or L'Grana (Livornese), separate from, and regarding itself as superior to, the native Tunisian Jews ( Tuansa ). Smaller communities of the same kind existed in other countries, such as Syria, where they were known as Señores Francos , though they generally were not numerous enough to establish their own synagogues, instead meeting for prayer in each other's houses. European countries often appointed Jews from these communities as their consular representatives in Ottoman cities. Between

893-584: The United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (except Canada, which follows the American style), known as " Minhag Anglia " is technically a subform of "Minhag Polin" but has many similarities to the German rite. See Singer's Siddur . Nusach Sefard is the style of service used by some Jews of central and eastern European origins, especially Hasidim , who adopted some Sephardic customs emulating

940-684: The 1950s. In musical tradition and in pronunciation, Italian Ashkenazim differ considerably from the Ashkenazim of other countries, and show some assimilation to the other two communities. Exceptional are the north-eastern communities such as that of Gorizia, which date from Austro-Hungarian times and are much closer to the German and Austrian traditions. Since 1442, when the Kingdom of Naples came under Spanish rule, considerable numbers of Sephardi Jews came to live in Southern Italy. Following

987-490: The English word "rite" is used to refer to the same thing. Nusakh means "formulate" or "wording". Texts used by different communities include Nosach Teiman , Nusach Ashkenaz , Nusach Sefard , Nusach Edot Hamizrach , Italian Nusach and Nusach Ari . Textual nusach is distinct from musical nusach , which refers to the musical style or tradition of a community, particularly the chant used for recitative prayers such as

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1034-634: The Greek islands, where there were large Jewish communities, were for several centuries part of the Venetian Republic , and there was a "Levantine" community in Venice. This remained separate from the "Ponentine" (i.e. Spanish and Portuguese) community and close to their eastern roots, as evidenced by their use in the early 18th century of a hymn book classified by maqam in the Ottoman manner (see Pizmonim ). (Today both synagogues are still in use, but

1081-467: The Masoretes were Karaites . However, Geoffrey Khan believes that the ben Asher family was probably not Karaite, and Aron Dotan avers that there are "decisive proofs that M. Ben-Asher was not a Karaite." The Masoretes devised the vowel notation system for Hebrew that is still widely used, as well as the trope symbols used for cantillation. The nakdanim were successors to the Masoretes in

1128-551: The North of Italy since at least as early as the late Middle Ages. In Venice, they were the oldest Jewish community in the city, antedating both the Sephardic and the Italian groups. Following the invention of printing, Italy became a major publishing centre for Hebrew and Yiddish books for the use of German and other northern European Jews. A notable figure was Elijah Levita , who was an expert Hebrew grammarian and Masorete as well as

1175-739: The Papal States. The Popes did allow some Spanish-Jewish settlement at Ancona , as this was the main port for the Turkey trade, in which their links with the Ottoman Sephardim were useful. Other states found it advantageous to allow the conversos to settle and mix with the existing Jewish communities, and to turn a blind eye to their religious status; while in the next generation, the children of conversos could be brought up as fully Jewish with no legal problem, as they had never been baptized. The main places of settlement were as follows. On

1222-580: The SNP markers in genetic segments of 3 million DNA letters or longer were 10 times more likely to be identical among Jews than non-Jews. It is suggested that Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Italian Jews commonly descend from a group of Jews from the Middle East who, having migrated to Italy, intermarried with Italians during the Roman era. The ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews are then thought to have left Italy for Central Europe (and from there eventually Eastern Europe), with

1269-402: The ancestors of Italkic Jews remaining in Italy. The results of a 2013 study by Behar et al. showed that Italian Jews show genetic connection to Sephardic, North African and Ashkenazic Jewish groups, Italians and Cypriots and Middle Eastern populations. Italian Jewish culture has flourished through the passage of time, with tradition regarding Italian Jewish identity , and transformations to

1316-674: The author of the Yiddish romantic epic Bovo-Bukh . Another distinctive community was that of Asti , Fossano and Moncalvo , which was descended from Jews expelled from France in 1394: this community includes the well-known Lattes family. Only the Asti synagogue is still in use today. Their rite, known as Afam (from the Hebrew initials for those three cities), is similar to the Western Ashkenazic, but has some peculiarities drawn from

1363-525: The communities have amalgamated.) Later on the community of Livorno acted as a link between the Spanish and Portuguese and the eastern Sephardic Jews and as a clearing house of musical and other traditions between the groups. Many Italian Jews today have "Levantine" roots, for example in Corfu , and before the Second World War Italy regarded the existence of the eastern Sephardic communities as

1410-567: The decline in the importance of Venice in the 18th century, the leading role passed to Livorno (for Italy and the Mediterranean) and Amsterdam (for western countries). The Livorno synagogue was destroyed in the Second World War: a modern building was erected in 1958–62. In addition to Spanish and Portuguese Jews strictly so called, Italy has been host to many Sephardi Jews from the eastern Mediterranean. Dalmatia and many of

1457-598: The designation of "Italian Jews", and from a geographical point of view this is correct. In truth, however, Southern Italy, divided into the provinces of Sicily and the Catepanate of Italy , belonged to the Byzantine Empire till 1071. Accordingly, the medieval Jewish communities of Southern Italy were linguistically a part of the Yevanic area and as concerns customs and liturgy a part of the Romaniote area. Even after

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1504-670: The emperor Titus in 70 CE. In early medieval times there were major communities in southern Italian cities such as Bari and Otranto . Medieval Italian Jews also produced important halachic works such as the Shibbole ha-Leḳeṭ of Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw . Following the expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples in 1533, the centre of gravity shifted to Rome and the north. Two of the most famous of Italy's Jews were Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (1475–1550) and Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746) whose written religious and ethical works are still widely studied. The Italian Jewish community as

1551-490: The entire genome and shows that the Jewish groups share large swaths of DNA, indicating close relationships and that each of the Jewish groups in the study (Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Ashkenazi) has its own genetic signature but is more closely related to the other Jewish groups than to their fellow non-Jewish countrymen. Ashkenazi, Italian, and Sephardi Jews were all found to share Middle Eastern and Southern European ancestry. Atzmon–Ostrer's team found that

1598-445: The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, from Portugal in 1495 and from the Kingdom of Naples in 1533, many moved to central and northern Italy. One famous refugee was Isaac Abarbanel . Over the next few centuries they were joined by a steady stream of conversos leaving Spain and Portugal. In Italy they ran the risk of prosecution for Judaizing, given that in law they were baptized Christians; for this reason they generally avoided

1645-555: The lives of those in Italian Jewish communities. With the spread of Jewish settlement throughout Italy came the eventual pride for the country of Italy, and the opportunities that arose to celebrate both cultures. Italian Jewish food tradition is an identifiable part of their culture that has made an impact to this day on culinary tradition. Italian Jews maintained means of kosher within the context of their culinary traditions at home. The unique aspect of how they maintained kosher

1692-566: The old French rite, particularly on the High Holy Days . These variations are found on loose-leaf sheets which the community used in conjunction with the normal Ashkenazi prayer-book; they are also printed by Goldschmidt. This rite was the only surviving descendant of the original French rite, as known to Rashi , used anywhere in the world: French Ashkenazim since 1394 have used the German-Ashkenazic rite . The rite died out in

1739-616: The paternal haplogroups of Jews in Rome are of Middle Eastern origin with low level European admixture. A strong genetic connection between Jews in Rome and other Jewish populations from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East was noted. According to the study, the results suggest that modern Jews "descend from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population". A 2010 study on Jewish ancestry by Atzmon and Ostrer et al. stated "Two major groups were identified by principal component, phylogenetic, and identity by descent (IBD) analysis: Middle Eastern Jews and European/Syrian Jews. The IBD segment sharing and

1786-513: The practice of the Ari 's circle of kabbalists , most of whom lived in the Land of Israel . Textually speaking it is based in a large part on the Sephardic rite, but in melody, feel and pronunciation it is overwhelmingly Ashkenazi. There is a wide variation within the rite itself among different types of Chasidim, with some more similar to Ashkenaz and other more similar to Sephardic. Nusach Ari means, in

1833-633: The printed siddurim exactly: it is easy, from the printed materials, to get the impression that usage in the Ottoman Empire around 1900 was more uniform than it really was. Other variants include: Under the influence of the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef , many Israeli Sephardim have adopted a nusach based largely on the Nusach Edot Hamizrach but omitting some of the Kabbalistic additions. A "Temani" nosach

1880-518: The proximity of European Jews to each other and to southern European populations suggested similar origins for European Jewry and refuted large-scale genetic contributions of Central and Eastern European and Slavic populations to the formation of Ashkenazi Jewry", as both groups – the Middle Eastern Jews and European/Syrian Jews – shared common ancestors in the Middle East about 2500 years ago. The study examines genetic markers spread across

1927-459: The time there were exactly 12 Jewish communities in Luria's city of Safed , and each community's nusach was meant to stand in place of that of one of the tribes. Most halakhic authorities believe that one should follow the nusach of one's family, or at the very least follow one nusach consistently. Rabbi David Bar-Hayim disputes this and permits a Jew to change his nusach at any time, even on

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1974-479: The two World Wars Libya was an Italian colony and, as in other North African countries, the colonial power found the local Jews useful as an educated elite. Following Libyan independence, and especially after the Six-Day War in 1967, many Libyan Jews left either for Israel or for Italy, and today most of the "Sephardi" synagogues in Rome are in fact Libyan. A 2000 genetic study by M. F. Hammer et al. found that

2021-499: The whole the Spanish and Portuguese Jews remained separate from the native Italian Jews, though there was considerable mutual religious and intellectual influence between the groups. The Scola Spagnola of Venice was originally regarded as the "mother synagogue" for the Spanish and Portuguese community worldwide, as it was among the earliest to be established, and the first prayer book was published there: later communities, such as Amsterdam, followed its lead on ritual questions. With

2068-400: The word for "Italian language" (singular). They have traditionally spoken a variety of Judeo-Italian languages . Italian Jews historically fall into four categories. Historically these communities remained separate: in a given city there was often an "Italian synagogue " and a "Spanish synagogue", and occasionally a "German synagogue" as well. In many cases these have since amalgamated, but

2115-493: Was a location in which Ashkenazi Jews came to establish Italian Jewish food traditions. Another significant aspect of this tradition was observing the religious ways of challah, from its ingredients, to its preparation, to the very moment it is shared amongst those gathered. With that said, the passage of time allowed for the transformation of such traditions to remain in respect to Ashkenazi Jews, while continuing to grow in food tradition and expand throughout Italy. The Italian rite

2162-426: Was the preparing of goose salami for Passover. These various culinary traditions made their way into restaurants and specialty markets, eventually to be seen in the newspapers. This led to widespread support for the Italian Jewish food tradition and the transformation of it through the years, many of which tradition can be found in cookbooks and passed along through generations of Italian Jewish families. Northern Italy

2209-524: Was the standard among the Jews of Yemen . This is divided into the Baladi (closer to purely Yemenite) and Shami (adopted from Sephardic siddurim) versions. Both rites are recited using the unique Yemenite pronunciation of Hebrew , which Yemenite Jews, and some scholars, regard as the most authentic, and most closely related to the Hebrew of Ancient Israel. The Baladi rite is very close to that codified by Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah . One form of it

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