Eastern Sephardim
Eastern Sephardim are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardi Jews, mostly descended from families expelled and exiled from Iberia as Jews in the 15th century following the Alhambra Decree of 1492 in Spain and the decree of 1497 in Portugal. This branch of descendants of the Jews of Iberia settled in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Eastern Sephardim settled mostly in various parts of the Ottoman Empire, which included areas in West Asia (Middle East, Anatolia, etc.), the Balkans in Southern Europe, plus Egypt. For centuries, these Jews made up the majority of the population of Salonica (now called Thessaloniki, Greece), Constantinople (now called Istanbul, Turkey), and Sarajevo (in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina), all of which were located in the Ottoman-ruled parts of Europe.
Some migrated farther east to territories of the Ottoman Empire, settling among the long-established Arabic-speaking Jewish communities in Baghdad in Iraq, Damascus in Syria and Alexandria in Egypt. A few of the Eastern Sephardim followed the spice trade routes as far as the Malabar coast of southern India, where they settled among the established Cochin Jewish community, again imparting their culture and customs to the local Jews.
In recent times, principally after 1948, most Eastern Sephardim have since relocated to Israel, and others to the United States, France and Latin America.
Relation to other Sephardi communities
The term Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic", and is derived from Sepharad, a Biblical location. The location of the biblical Sepharad is disputed, but Sepharad was identified by later Jews as Hispania, that is, the Iberian Peninsula. Sepharad now means "Spain" in modern Hebrew.
Their traditional spoken languages were referred to as Judaeo-Spanish and Judaeo-Portuguese. For the most part, Eastern Sephardim did not maintain their own separate Sephardic religious and cultural institutions from the pre-existing Jews, but instead the local Jews came to adopt the culture and customs of the recent Sephardic arrivals. This phenomenon is just one of the factors which has today led to the broader religious definition of Sephardi.
The relationship between Sephardi-descended communities is illustrated in the following diagram:
| Pre-Expulsion Sephardi Jewish Population of Iberia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spanish Alhambra Decree of 1492, Portuguese Decree of 1497 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iberian Exile in the late 15th century | Conversion to Catholicism up to the late 15th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North African Sephardim | Eastern Sephardim | Sephardic Anusim | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Those Jews fleeing from Iberia as Jews in the late 15th century at the issuance of Spain and Portugal's decrees of expulsion. Initially settled in North Africa. | Those Jews fleeing from Iberia as Jews in the late 15th century at the issuance of Spain and Portugal's decrees of expulsion. Initially settled in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. | Those Jews in Spain and Portugal who, in an effort to delay or avoid their expulsion (and in most cases in Portugal, in an effort by Manuel I of Portugal to prevent the Jews from choosing the option of exile), are forced or coerced to convert to Catholicism up until the late 15th century, at the expiration of the deadline for their expulsion, conversion, or execution as set out in the decrees. Became conversos/New Christians in Iberia. As Christians, were under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church and subject to the Inquisition. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Migration of Conversos from the 16th to 18th centuries | Clandestine migration of conversos to Ibero-America and their settlement during colonization from the 16th to 18th centuries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reversion to Judaism from the 16th to 18th centuries | Extension of the Inquisition to Ibero-America in the 16th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Sephardim | Sephardic Bnei Anusim | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The first few generations of descendants of Sephardic Anusim who migrated as conversos out of Iberia (to regions beyond the Iberian cultural sphere) between the 16th to 18th centuries where they then reverted to Judaism. Initially settled in the Netherlands, London, Italy, etc. | The later generation descendants of Sephardic Anusim who remained, as conversos, in Iberia or moved to the Iberian colonial possessions across various Latin American countries during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Subject to the Inquisition until its abolition in the 19th century | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abolition of the Inquisition in the 19th century | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reversion to Judaism in the 20th to 21st centuries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neo-Western Sephardim | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The nascent and growing population of returnees to Judaism among the Sephardic Bnei Anusim population whose recent return began in the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Iberia and Ibero-America. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language
Historically, the vernacular language of Eastern Sephardim was Judeo-Spanish, a Romance language also called Ladino (specifically "Ladino Oriental" or Eastern Ladino) and Judezmo ("Jewish [language]"). The language is derived from Old Spanish, plus Hebrew and Aramaic. The language was taken by Eastern Sephardim in the 15th century after the expulsion from Spain in 1492, where it was heavily influenced by Maghrebi Arabic.
By contrast, the languages spoken by related Sephardi communities and descendants include:
- Haketia, also called "Ladino Occidental" (Western Ladino), a Judaeo-Spanish variety also derived from Old Spanish, plus Hebrew and Aramaic. Spoken by North African Sephardim. Taken with North African Sephardim in the 15th century after the expulsion from Spain in 1492, this dialect was heavily influenced by Maghrebi Arabic.
- Early Modern Spanish and Early Modern Portuguese, including in a mixture of the two. Traditionally spoken or used liturgically by the ex-converso Western Sephardim. Taken with them during their later migration out of Iberia in the 16th to 18th centuries as conversos, after which they reverted to Judaism.
- Modern Spanish and Modern Portuguese varieties, traditionally spoken by the Sephardic Bnei Anusim of Iberia and Ibero-America, including some recent returnees to Judaism (Neo-Western Sephardim) in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In most cases these varieties have incorporated loanwords from the indigenous languages of the Americas introduced following the Spanish conquest.
Surnames
Eastern Sephardim still often carry common Spanish surnames, as well as other specifically Sephardic surnames from 15th century Spain with Arabic or Hebrew language origins (such as Azoulay, Abulafia, Abravanel) which have since disappeared from Spain when those that stayed behind as conversos adopted surnames that were solely Spanish in origin. Other Eastern Sephardim have since also translated their Hispanic surnames into the languages of the regions they settled in, or have modified them to sound more local.
Return migration to Portugal
In recent years, several hundred Turkish Jews, who have been able to prove that they are descended from Portuguese Jews who had been expelled from Portugal in 1497, have emigrated to Portugal and acquired Portuguese citizenship.[1][2][3]
See also
- North African Sephardim
- Sephardic Anusim
- Western Sephardim
- Sephardic Bnei Anusim
- Neo-Western Sephardim
References
- ↑ http://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-rising-european-anti-semitism-portugal-sees-jewish-renaissance/
- ↑ http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-citizenship-law-has-jews-flocking-to-tiny-portugal-city/
- ↑ http://www.jta.org/2015/03/03/news-opinion/world/portugal-open-to-citizenship-applications-by-descendants-of-sephardic-jews