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Sephardi Jews

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Sephardi

Total population

nn

Regions with significant
populations

Israel:
950,000[1]

United States:
150,000 [2]

Turkey:
20,000[3]

The Netherlands:
270 families

North Africa:
nn

Europe:
nn
South Africa:
nn
Oceania:
nn

Language

*Liturgical: Sephardic
Hebrew
*Traditional: Ladino, Judæo-Portuguese,
Catalanic, Shuadit, and
various other languages
*Modern: typically the language of whatever
country they now reside in, including Modern Hebrew in Israel

Religion

Judaism

Related ethnic groups

• Jews

• Ashkenazi
Jews
• Mizrahi
Jews

• Other Jewish groups

Sephardi Jews (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew
Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew
Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula,
generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazi Jews.

Contents

1 Definition

2 Divisions

3 Distribution

4 Language

5 Early history

6 Sephardim under
Islam

7 Later History and
Culture

8 Names

8.1 Other Sephardic
Pedigrees

9 Congregations

10 Relationship to other
Jews

11 Sephardic Chief Rabbis in
Israel

12 Medicine

13 See also

14 Notes

15 References

16 External links

[edit]

Definition

A Sephardi is a Jew originating in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) ,
including the descendants of those subject to expulsion from Spain by order of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella (as
codified in the Alhambra decree of
1492), or from Portugal by order of King Manuel I in
1497.

The name comes from Sepharad (ספרד, Standard Hebrew
Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ
Turkish:
Sefarad), a Biblical location.[1] This was
probably the "Saparda" mentioned in Persian inscriptions: the location of that
is disputed, but may have been Sardis in Asia Minor. "Sepharad"
was identified by later Jews as the Iberian Peninsula, and
still means "Spain" in modern Hebrew.

In a broader sense, the term Sephardi has come to include Jews of
Arabic and Persian backgrounds who have no historical connection to Spain except
their use of the Sephardic liturgy. For religious purposes, Jews of these
communities are considered to be "Sephardim", meaning not "Spanish Jews" but
"Jews of the Spanish rite". (In the same way, Ashkenazim means "Jews of
the German rite", whether or not their families actually originate in Germany.)
Accordingly, in the vernacular of modern-day Israel, "Sephardi" has come to be
used as an umbrella term for any Jewish person who is not Ashkenazi; Ashkenazim have for
several generations constituted the bulk of the world's Jewish population.

This article is mostly concerned with Sephardim in the narrower ethnic sense,
rather than in this broader Modern Israeli Hebrew
definition. See also: Jewish ethnic
divisions

Note that the term Nusach Sefard or Nusach Sfarad does not
refer to the liturgy generally recited by Sephardim, but rather to an
alternative European liturgy used by many Hasidim. Sephardim
traditionally pray using Minhag Sefarad, which is quite similar to Nusach Eidoth
haMizrach (liturgy of the Eastern Congregations). For more details of the
Sephardic liturgy see Sephardic
Judaism.

[edit]

Divisions

Historically, Sephardim are those Jews associated with the Iberian peninsula. The
most prominent sub-group consists of the descendants of the Jews expelled from
Spain in 1492, who settled in various parts of the Ottoman Empire, in
particular Salonica and Constantinople, and whose
traditional language is Ladino. Another branch
settled in Northern Morocco, and spoke a variant of Judaeo-Spanish known as Haketia.

Another sub-group, known as Spanish and
Portuguese Jews, consists of Jews whose families remained in Spain and
Portugal as ostensible Christians, and later reverted to Judaism in Italy, the
Netherlands, England or the New World.

A variety of non-Ashkenazi Jewish groups are sometimes identified as
"Sephardi", especially in Israel, for example Jews of Arabic or Persian
backgrounds. The justification for this is that most of these communities (with
some exceptions such as the Yemenites) use the same
religious ritual as the Sephardim proper and, like them, base their religious
law on the Shulchan Aruch without
the glosses of Moses Isserles.

This nomenclature is often perceived as unsatisfactory, and a variety of
other terms have been coined. For example, Jews of Arabic-speaking backgrounds
are sometimes referred to as Musta'arabim or "Arab Jews", though for
political reasons this last description is disputed. A term in common use for
all Jewish communities historically associated with Africa and Asia and not of Spanish descent is
Mizrāħîm, which in
Hebrew means "Orientals". This is sometimes found confusing because it appears
to include the Moroccans, whereas in Arabic the equivalent term
(Mashriqiyyun) specifically denotes the inhabitants of the Near East as
opposed to those of North Africa
(Maghrabiyyun). In current use, Mizrāħîm is a
convenient way to refer collectively to a wide range of Jewish communities, most
of which are as unrelated to each other as they are to either the Sephardi (in
the narrower sense) or Ashkenazi communities. They include in particular the
communities living in, or coming from, Southern Arabia (Yemen), North Africa, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Syria, Persia (Iran) and India.

[edit]

Distribution

Prior to 1492 substantial Sephardi populations existed in most Spanish
provinces. Among the more prominent were in Toledo, Córdoba, and Granada. Smaller
towns such as Ocaña, Guadalajara, Bentrago, and Almazan were founded or
inhabited principally by Jews. Castile, Aranda, Ávila, Calahorra, Cuellar,
Herrera, Medina, Segovia, Soria, and Villalon
were home to large Jewish communities. Aragon and Catalonia had substantial
Sephardi communities in the famous Calls of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca.

Following the 1492 expulsion from Spain and the
subsequent forced
conversions and expulsions in Portugal (1497), Sephardim
settled mainly in Morocco, the Ottoman Empire
(modern-day Turkey, Greece, Southwest Asia, North
Africa and south-eastern Europe), southern France, Italy, Spanish North
America, (Southwest United
States and Mexico), Spanish South
America and Portuguese Brazil, as well as the Netherlands (from where a
number of families continued onto the former Dutch possessions of Curaçao, Suriname and Aruba), England, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Hungary.

As a result of the Jewish exodus
from Arab lands, many of the Sephardim from the Middle East have relocated
to either Israel
or France, where
they form a significant portion of the Jewish communities today. Other
significant communities also exist in New York City and Montreal, Canada.

[edit]

Language

The traditional language of the Sephardim is Judæo-Spanish, also called
Ladino (a term
considered inaccurate or pejorative in some circles).

It is a Romance Language
derived mainly from Old Castilian (Spanish) with
borrowings from Sephardi Hebrew, and is
often considered a dialect adjacent to modern Castilian — the official language
of Spain — because of their intelligibility.

Judæo-Spanish has been conserved by the crypto-Jewish marranos of Portugal and Brazil and is still
spoken by many of them. It is also spoken by very few mainly elderly Sephardim
still remaining in Turkey and amongst the Sephardi
immigrants of Israel.

Judæo-Portuguese has
also been used by Sephardim — especially amongst the Spanish and
Portuguese Jews of Western Europe.

The pidgin forms of
Portuguese spoken among slaves and their Sephardic owners have been an
influence in Papiamento and Creole languages of
Suriname.

Several other Romance languages with Jewish forms, spoken historically by
Sephardim, include Shuadit (Judæo-Provençal), Judæo-Aragonese,
and Catalanic (Judæo-Catalan).

Other languages associated with Sephardic Jews are mostly extinct,
i.e., formerly spoken by some Jewish communities in Italy. Low
German, formerly used as the vernacular amongst Sephardim of the Hamburg and Altona area of
Northern Germany is also no longer in use
as a specifically Jewish vernacular.

[edit]

Early history

The precise origins of the Sephardim are unclear. There is fragmentary and
inconclusive evidence of a Jewish presence on the Iberian Peninsula dating from
pre-Roman times. More substantial references date from the period of Roman
occupation.

Evidence which suggests Jewish connections with the Iberian Peninsula
inlcudes:

References in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, I Kings, and
Jonah to the country
of Tarshish, which is thought by
many to have been located in southern Spain.

A signet ring found at Cadiz, dating from
the 8th-7th
century B.C.E.. The inscription on the ring, generally accepted as Phoenician, has been
interpreted by a few scholars to be "paleo-hebraic.”

An amphora dating from at least
the first century C.E. found
in Ibiza, which
bears imprints of two Hebrew characters.

It is thought that substantial Jewish immigration probably occurred during
the period of Roman occupation of Hispania. The province came
under Roman control with the fall of Carthage after the Second Punic War
(218-202 B.C.E.). Exactly how soon after this time Jews made their way onto the
scene in this context is a matter of speculation. It is within the realm of
possibility that they went there under the Romans as free men to take advantage
of its rich resources.

However, the spread of Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the
Diaspora
which ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, emigration from the land of
Israel, into the greater Roman Mediterranean area antedated the destruction of
Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans under Titus. Any Jews already in
Hispania at this time would have been joined by those who had been enslaved by
the Romans under Vespasian and Titus, and dispersed to the
extreme west during the period of the Jewish Wars, and
especially after the defeat of Judea in 70 C.E. One account placed the number
carried off to Hispania at 80,000. Subsequent immigrations came into the area
along both the northern African and southern European sides of the
Mediterranean.

Among the earliest records which may refer specifically to Jews in the
Iberian peninsula during the Roman period is Paul's Letter to the Romans.
Many have taken Paul's intention to go to Hispania to minister the gospel (15.24, 28)
to indicate the presence of Jewish communities there, as has Herod's banishment
to Hispania by Caesar in 39
C.E. (Flavius
Josephus, Wars of the
Jews, 2.9.6). (Although the place of banishment is identified in
Josephus's Antiquities of the
Jews as Gaul
– specifically Lyon
(18.7.2) – this discrepancy has been "resolved" by "postulating Lugdunum
Convenarium, a town in Gaul on the Hispanic frontier" as the actual site.

From a slightly later period, Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus
29.2 makes reference to the return of the Diaspora from Hispania by 165 C.E. Perhaps the most
substantial of early references are the several decrees of the Council of Elvira,
convened in the early fourth century, which address proper Christian behavior
with regard to the Jews of Hispania.

As citizens of the Roman Empire, the Jews of Hispania engaged in a variety of
occupations, including agriculture. Until the adoption of Christianity, Jews had
close relations with non-Jewish populations, and played an active role in the
social and economic life of the province. The edicts of the Council of Elvira,
although early (and perhaps precedence-setting) examples
of Church-inspired anti-Semitism, provide
evidence of Jews who were integrated enough into the greater community to cause
alarm among some: of the Council's 80 canonic decisions, all which
pertain to Jews served to maintain a separation between the two communities. It
seems that by this time the presence of Jews was of greater concern to Catholic
authorities than the presence of pagans; Canon 16, which prohibited marriage
with Jews, was worded more strongly than canon 15, which prohibited marriage
with pagans. Canon 78 threatens those who commit adultery with Jews with ostracism.
Canons 48 and 50 forbade the blessing of Christian crops by Jews and the sharing
of meals with Jews, respectively.

Yet in comparison to Jewish life in Byzantium and Italy, life for
the early Jews in Hispania and the rest of western Europe was relatively
tolerable. This is due in large measure to the difficulty which the Church had
in establishing itself in its western frontier. In the west, Germanic hordes such as
the Suevi, the Vandals, and
especially the Visigoths had more or less
ravaged the political and ecclesiastical systems of
the Roman empire, and for a number of centuries the Jews enjoyed a degree of
peace which their brethren to the east did not.

Barbaric invasions brought
most of the Iberian Peninsula under Visigothic rule by the early
fifth century. Other than in their contempt for Catholics, who reminded them of
the Romans, the Visigoths did not generally take much of an interest in the
religious creeds within their kingdom. It wasn't until 506, when Alaric II
(484-507) published his Brevarium
Alaricianum (wherein he adopted the laws of the ousted Romans), that a
Visigothic king concerned himself with the Jews.

The tides began to turn following the conversion of the Visigothic royal
family under Recared from Arianism to Catholicism in 587.
In their desire to consolidate the realm under the new religion, the Visigoths
adopted an aggressive policy concerning the Jews. As the king and the church
acted in a single interest, the situation for the Jews deteriorated. Under
successive Visigothic kings, as well as under ecclesiastical authority,
numerous orders of expulsion, forced conversion, isolation, enslavement,
execution, and other punitive proclamations were made.

The Jews of Hispania had been utterly embittered and alienated by Catholic
rule by the time of the Muslim invasion. To them, the
Moors were
perceived as, and indeed were, a liberating force. Wherever they went, the
Muslims were greeted by Jews eager to aid them in administering the country. In
many conquered towns the garrison was left in the hands of the Jews before the
Muslims proceeded further north. Thus were initiated the two centuries of Muslim
rule in the Iberian peninsula which became known as the "Golden Age" of Sephardi
Jewry.

[edit]

Sephardim under Islam

See also Al-andalus; Golden
age of Jewish culture in Spain; Timeline
of the Muslim Occupation of Spain

With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711,
the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. In spite of the stigma attached
to being dhimmis (non-Muslim members
of monotheistic faiths) under rule, the coming of the Moors was by-and-large
welcomed by the Jews of Iberia.

Both Muslim and Christian sources tell us that Jews provided valuable aid to
the invaders. 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, they were of limited impact overall. The claims of the fall
of Iberia as being due in large part to Jewish perfidy are no doubt
exaggerated.

In spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as dhimmis, life
under Muslim rule was one of great opportunity, and Jews flourished in
comparison to that under prior Christian Visigoths, as testified by the influx
of Jews from abroad. To Jews throughout the Christian and Muslim worlds, Iberia
was seen as a land of tolerance and opportunity. 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 the
rest of Europe, as well as from Arab lands, from Morocco to Babylon. Thus the Sephardim
found themselves enriched culturally, intellectually, and religiously by the
commingling of 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 the
anti-Rabbanite polemics of
Karaite sectarianism (which was
inspired by various Muslim schismatic movements). Not only were the cultural and
intellectual achievements of the Arabs made available to the educated Jew, but
much of the scientific and philosophical speculation of Ancient Greek culture,
which had been best preserved by Arab scholars, were as well. The meticulous
regard which the Arabs had for grammar and style also had the effect of
stimulating an interest among Jews in philological matters in
general. Arabic came to be 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. Most famous were the heated correspondences sent between Bodo
Eleazar, a former deacon who had converted to
Judaism in 838, and the converso Bishop of Córdoba Paulus
Albarus. 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), 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 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
Gabriol's neo-Platonic Fons
Vitae ("The Source of Life"). Thought by many to have been written by a
Christian, this work was admired by Christians and studied in monasteries
throughout the middle ages.

In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as
translators. Greek texts were rendered into Arabic, Arabic into Hebrew, Hebrew
and Arabic into Latin, and all combinations of vice-versa. In translating the
great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were
instrumental in bringing 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 Arab, Berber, or Slavonic leaders. Rather
than having 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 the
Christian as well as Muslim rulers of regional centers, especially as recently
conquered towns were put back in order.

The decline of the Golden Age began before the completion of the Christian
Reconquista, with the
penetration and influence of the Almoravides, and then the Almohads, from
North Africa. These fundamentalist sects abhorred the liberality of the Islamic
culture of al-Andalus, including the position of authority which some
dhimmis held over Muslims. When the Almohads gave the Jews a choice of
either death or conversion, many Jews emigrated. Some, such 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, conditions for some Jews in the emerging
Christian kingdoms became increasingly favorable. As had happened during the
reconstruction of towns following 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 - rendered their services of great
value.

However, 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 eleventh and early twelfth 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 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 the Golden Age.

[edit]

Later History and Culture

Part of a series of
articles on
Judaism

Jewish
people
Who is a Jew? · Etymology
· Culture

Judaism · Core
principles
Tanakh (Torah / Nevi'im / Ketuvim)
Talmud · Halakha · Holidays · Prayer
Ethics · 613 Mitzvot · Customs · Midrash

Jewish ethnic
divisions
Ashkenazi · Sephardi · Mizrahi

Jewish
populations · List
Israel · USA
· Russia/USSR
· Poland
Canada · Germany
· France
· England
Spain
· Latin
America · Iraq ·
Muslim
lands
Notable Jews (By
country)

Jewish
denominations
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· Reform
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· Liberal · Karaite · Alt

Jewish
languages
Hebrew · Yiddish · Ladino · Dzhidi
Judeo-Aramaic
· Judeo-Arabic
Juhuri · Krymchak · Karaim · Knaanic
Judeo-Persian
· Yevanic
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Jewish
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Zionism (Labor / General / Revisionist)
Timeline · The
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History · Timeline
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Diaspora · And
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Aliyah · Holocaust
Modern Israel ·
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Persecution of
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Anti-Semitism (Historical
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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 state
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 was a lingua
franca that enabled Sephardim from different countries to engage in commerce
and diplomacy.

The Sephardim rarely engaged in finance (also called
chaffering) occupations nor in usury, and they did not often
mingle with lower social classes. With their
social equals they associated freely, without regard to religion. 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 is considerable, from Samuel
Abravanel (financial councilor to the viceroy of Naples) to Benjamin Disraeli.
Among other names mentioned are those of Belmonte, Nasi, Pacheco, Palache,
Azevedo, Sasportas,
Costa, Curiel,
Cansino,
Schonenberg,
Toledo, Toledano,
Pereira and Teixeira.

The Sephardim have distinguished themselves as physicians and statesmen, and
have won 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
in which they settled was due to the fact that Spanish had become a
world-language through the expansion of Spain.

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 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 in which the Spanish language was
the medium of instruction. Theatre in Istanbul 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 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 was symbolically revoked in 1996 by the Portuguese
Parliament). All this was followed by the big massacre of Jews in the city
of Lisbon in 1506
and the even more relevant establishment of the Portuguese
Inquisition in 1536. This produced the flight of the Portuguese Jewish
community during the centuries that followed until the extinction of the Courts
of Inquisition in 1821 - by then the number of Jews in Portugal was
residual.

In Amsterdam, where they were
especially prominent in the seventeenth 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, instruction was
given in the Hebrew language. The
most important synagogue, or Esnoga, as it is usually
called amongst Spanish and Portuguese Jews, is the Amsterdam
Esnoga — usually considered the “mother synagogue”, and the historical
centre of the Amsterdam minhag.

A sizeable Sephardic community had settled in Morocco and other Northern
African countries, which were colonized by France in the 19th century. The
Jewish inhabitants were given French citizenship in 1870 by the décret
Crémieux (previously, any Jewish or Muslim local could apply for French
citizenship; but this meant renouncing the use of traditional religious courts
and laws, a move that many did not want to take). When France withdrew in 1956
(Morocco) and 1962 (Algeria), the local Jewish
communities largely relocated to France. There are some tensions between some of
those communities, and the earlier French Jewish population (ashkenazi), as well as with
the Arabic-Muslim communities.

Today, the Sephardim have preserved the romances and the ancient melodies and
songs of Spain and Portugal, as well as a large number of old Portuguese and Spanish proverbs. A
number of children's
plays, like, for example, El Castillo, are still popular among them,
and they still manifest a fondness for the dishes peculiar to Iberia, such as
the pastel, or pastelico, a sort of meat-pie, and the pan de
España, or pan de León. At their festivals they follow the Spanish
custom of distributing dulces, or dolces, a confection wrapped in
paper bearing a picture of the magen David (six pointed
star).

[edit]

Names

The Sephardim usually followed the general rules for Spanish and
Portuguese names. They generally bear Portuguese and Spanish first
names, as Aleqria,
Angel, Angela, Amado,
Amada,
Bienvenida,
Blanco, Cara, Cimfa,
Comprado,
Consuela,
Dolza, Edery,
Esperanza,
Estimada,
Estrella,
Fermosa,
Gracia, Luna, Niña, Palomba,
Preciosa, Sol, Ventura, and Zafiro;
and such Spanish or Portuguese surnames as Afanador,
Aguilar, Belmonte, Benveniste,
Bernal, Bueno,
Calderón, Campos, Cano, Caraballo,
Carballo, Cardoso, Cardoze,
Cardozo, Castro, Clemente, Cordova, Curiel,
De Leon, Delgado, Delvalle,
Fidanque,
Fonseca, Garcia, Guerreiro,
Harari, Henríquez,
Herrera, Josué,
Lafitte,
Leon, Levy
Maduro, Levi/Levy, Lima, Lindo,
Lisbona,
Maduro, Mendes,Mercado, Montes, Montijo, Monzon, Nunes,
Osorio,
Pacheco, Pardo, Penedo, Pereira, Pinto, Prado, Rocamora,
Rofé,
Romero, Salvador, Sarabia,
Sasso,
Sousa, Suasso,
Tavares,Toledano, Tarragona, Valencia, Zapatero, Zaporta,
and Zebede.
Note that many of these names are by no means exclusive to Jews.

In contrast to Ashkenazic Jews, who do not name newborn children after living
relatives, Sephardic Jews often name their children after the children's
grandparents, even if they are still alive. The first son and daughter are
traditionally named after the paternal grandparents, and then the maternal
parent's names are next up in line for the remaining children. After that,
additional children's names are "free", so-to-speak, meaning that one can choose
whatever name, without anymore "naming obligations." The only instance in which
Sephardic Jews will not name after their own parents when one of the spouses
shares a common first name with a mother/father-in-law (since Jews will not name
their children after themselves.) There are times though when the "free" names
are used to honor the memory of a deceased relative who died young or childless.
These conflicting naming conventions can be troublesome when children are born
into mixed Ashkenazic-Sephardic households.

A notable exception to the distinct Ashkenazi and Sephardi naming traditions
is found among Dutch
Jews, where Ashkenazim have for centuries followed the tradition otherwise
attributed to Sephardim. See Chuts.

[edit]

Other Sephardic Pedigrees

Abravanel

Alcalay

Bernays

Costa

Epstein

Harari

Horowitz

See also List of Jewish
surnames, Spanish and
Portuguese names, List of Sephardic
People

[edit]

Congregations

Great authority was given to the president of each congregation. He and the
rabbinate of his congregation formed the "ma'amad," without whose approbation
(often worded in Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian) no book of religious content
might be published. The president not only had the power to make authoritative
resolutions with regard to congregational affairs and to decide communal
questions, but he had also the right to observe the religious conduct of the
individual and to punish anyone suspected of heresy or of trespassing against
the laws.

[edit]

Relationship to other Jews

Although the Sephardim lived on peaceful terms with other Jews, they rarely
intermarried with them; neither did they unite with them in forming
congregations, but adhered to their own ritual, which differed widely from the
Ashkenazic.

Wherever the Sephardic Jews settled they grouped themselves according to the
country or district from which they had come, and organized separate communities
with legally enacted statutes. In Constantinople and Thessaloniki, for example,
there were not only Castilian, Aragonian, Catalonian, and Portuguese
congregations, but also Toledo, Cordoba, Evora, and Lisbon congregations, and
differenced themselves from Romaniotes. In Rome there were Castilian,
Mallorcan, Portuguese, Sicilian, Sevillian and Catalan congregations, prior to
the merger of all these congregations (and Rome's Ashkenazic and Roman
congregations) in 1910. In Morocco, Sephardim considered
themselves superior to Berber
Jews. Under the common pressure of the Islamic society, the Berbers tried to
merge with the Sephardim by naming their children with Sephardic names.

One interesting example is the "Belmonte Jews" in
Portugal. A whole community survived in secrecy for hundreds of years by
maintaining a tradition of intermarriage and by hiding all the external signs of
their faith. The Jewish community in Belmonte goes back to the 12th
Century and they were only discovered in the 20th Century. Their rich Sephardic
tradition of Crypto-Judaism is unique.
Only recently did they contact other Jews and part of them now profess Orthodox Judaism,
although many still retain their centuries-old traditions.

The term Sephardi can also describe the nusach (Hebrew language,
"liturgical tradition") used by Sephardi Jews in their Siddur (prayer book). A
nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition's choice of prayers, order of
prayers, text of prayers and melodies used in the singing of prayers. This is to
be distinguished from the "Nusach Sepharad" used by Chassidic Jews.

This phrase is frequently used in contrast with Ashkenazi Jews, also called
Ashkenazim, who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria and Eastern Europe.

[edit]

Sephardic Chief Rabbis in Israel

(also styled Rishon Le-Zion)

Ya'akov
Meir : (23 Feb 1921 - 1939)

Benzion Meir
Chai Uziel : (1939 - 1954)

Yitzhak Nissim :
(1955 - 1972)

Ovadiah Yosef :
(1972 - 1983)

Mordechai
Eliyahu : (1983 - 1993)

Eliyahu
Bakshi-Doron : (1993 - 3 Apr 2003)

She'ar-Yashuv
Cohen (acting) : (3 Apr 2003 - 14 Apr 2003)

Shlomo Amar : (14
Apr 2003 - present)

[edit]

Medicine

Although less than in Ashkenazi Jews, there is a
higher incidence of certain hereditary diseases
and inherited disorders
in Sephardi Jews. The most important ones are:

Beta-Thalassemia

Familial
Mediterranean fever

Glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase deficiency and Gilbert's Syndrome

Glycogen
storage disease type III

See also Jewish Genetics Center about
testing.

[edit]

See also

Sephardic Judaism

Golden
age of Jewish culture in Spain

Spanish and
Portuguese Jews

Sephardic music

Judaism

Jewish ethnic
divisions

Baruch Spinoza

Maimonides

Jews
of the Bilad el-Sudan (West Africa)

Pizmonim

Baqashot

[edit]

Notes

^ Obadiah, 1-20: And the captivity of this
host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath;
and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities
of the south. (KJV)

[edit]

References

Ashtor, Eliyahu, The Jews of Moslem Spain, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society of America (1979)

Assis, Yom Tov, The Jews of Spain: From Settlement to Expulsion,
Jerusalem: The Hebrew
University of Jerusalem (1988)

Bartlett, John R., Jews in the Hellenistic World: Josephus, Aristeas,
The Sibylline Oracles, Eupolemus, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press (1985)

Bowers, W. P. "Jewish Communities in Spain in the Time of Paul the
Apostle" Journal of Theological Studies Vol. 26 Part 2, October 1975, pp.
395-402

Dan, Joseph, "The Epic of a Millennium: Judeo-Spanish Culture's
Confrontation" in Judaism Vol. 41, No. 2, Spring 1992

Encyclopaedia
Judaica Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, Ltd. (1971)

Gampel, Benjamin R., "Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Iberia:
Convivencia through the Eyes of Sephardic Jews," in Convivencia:
Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain, ed. Vivian B. Mann,
Thomas F. Glick, and Jerrilynn D. Dodds, New York: George Braziller, Inc.
(1992)

Graetz, Professor H. History of the Jews, Vol. III Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society of America (1894)

Halkin, Abraham, "The Medieval Jewish Attitude toward Hebrew," in
Biblical and Other Studies, ed. Alexander Altman, Cambridge,
Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press (1963)

Katz, Solomon, Monographs of the Mediaeval Academy of America No. 12:
The Jews in the Visigothic and Frankish Kingdoms of Spain and Gaul,
Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Mediaeval Society of America (1937)

Lacy, W. K. and Wilson, B. W. J. G., trans., Res Publica: Roman
Politics and Society according to Cicero, Oxford: Oxford University
Press (1970)

Laeuchli, Samuel Power and Sexuality: The Emergence of Canon Law at the
Synod of Elvira, Philadelphia: Temple University Press (1972)

Leon, Harry J., The Jews of Ancient Rome Philadelphia: Jewish
Publication Society of America (1960)

Mann, Jacob Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature I
Cincinnati: Hebrew Union
College Press (1931)

Raphael, Chaim, The Sephardi Story: A Celebration of Jewish History
London: Valentine Mitchell & Co. Ltd. (1991)

Sarna, Nahum M., "Hebrew and Bible Studies in Medieval Spain" in Sephardi
Heritage, Vol. 1 ed. R. D. Barnett, New York: Ktav Publishing House, Inc.
(1971)

Sassoon, Solomon David, "The Spiritual Heritage of the Sephardim," in The
Sephardi Heritage, Vol. 1 ed. R. D. Barnett, New York: Ktav Publishing House
Inc. (1971)

Scherman, Rabbi Nosson
and Zlotowitz, Rabbi Meir eds., History of the Jewish People: The Second
Temple Era, Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, Ltd. (1982)

Stillman, Norman, "Aspects of Jewish Life in Islamic Spain" in Aspects
of Jewish Culture in the Middle Ages ed. Paul E. Szarmach, Albany: State
University of New York Press (1979)

Whiston, A. M., trans., The Life and Works of Flavius Josephus
Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company (19??)

Zolitor, Jeff, "The Jews of Sepharad" Philadelphia: Conference of the
North American Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, (1997)
www.csjo.org/pages/essays/essaysephard.htm

[edit]

External links

Sephardic Jews in Jamaica

Turkish Sephardi Shalom Newspaper

Meyrav Wurmser: Post-Zionism and the
Sephardi Question

Sephardic names
translated into English

Ladino music from Israel

sephardic singer-Yosi Saffi Levy

From
Andalusian Orangeries to Anatolia

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews"

Categories:
Jews | Jews by
country | Ethnic
groups in Europe | Ethnic
groups in Turkey | Sephardi Jews
topics | Surnames

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