[Page 8, Volume 1, Hebrew]
Chapter Two
The Expulsions and the Establishment
of the “Kahals”
5252 – 5335 (1492 – 1575)
Translated by Judy Montel
The Expulsion of the Spanish Jews
After King Ferdinand conquered Granada, the last city in Spain that was left in
the hands of the Arabs, he gave the Jews a respite of three months in which to
convert to Christianity or leave the country. Apparently, there were some Jews
who did not wait for this time to pass and left earlier for other countries,
and many came to Saloniki as well. Among these early wanderers were Rabbi
Shemuel Franko and Don Yehuda Benbenishti.[1]
The rest of the Spanish Jews, roughly three hundred thousand souls, left that
country on the ninth day of Av, 5252 (1492). Bayazit II, Sultan of the Turks at
the time, gave an order to the consuls of his countries to receive these Jews
gracefully. Most of the wanderers who sailed towards European Turkey settled in
Saloniki. About a year and a half after the Spanish Expulsion, King Ferdinand
expelled the Jews of Sicily as well, thirty thousand in number. Of these, as
well, many came to settle in Saloniki and enlarged the holy community of Sicily
that the Spanish exiles had already found in the city upon their arrival.
The love of their places of origin was so strong in these wanderers that people
from a certain city and those exiled from a specific district attempted to
dwell in the same neighborhood or “Mahla”[2], built a synagogue named for their home town and kept to the traditions of
their ancestors.
The number of the expelled who reach the city was very large, and the number of
“Kahals”[3]
they established was also great. At the end of the fifteenth century the
following “Kahals” (congregations) were already well known in
Saloniki: “Spanish Expulsion”, (or just, “Expulsion”),
“Majorca” (or Baalei Teshuva), “Catalan,”
“Aragon,” “Castilia,” not to mention the congregations of
the Romaniotes, Italy, Sicily and Ashkenaz which existed there before hand.
Among the people of renown who settled then in Saloniki: Rabbi Shmu'el of the
house of Franko, Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni, Rabbi Shemu'el and Rabbi Baruch
Almoshnino of Catalonia, Rabbi Shemu'el son of Rabbi Yo'el of Shu'eib and Rabbi
Meir Ibn Arama of Aragon, Rabbi Yitzchak Bargaloni of Barcelona, Rabbi Yoseph
Pasi of Toledo, Rabbi Yoseph Saragossi and Rabbi Avraham of the House of Chazan
of Sicily, Rabbi Shlomo Atias, Rabbi Shlomo Cavaleiro or Cavalir, Rabbi Shem
Tov Alchanati, Rabbi Yehuda Ibn Atar, Rabbi Avraham of the House of Franko,
Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shemu'el Uzi'el, Rabbi Chaim Ovadia, Rabbi Yoseph of
Forna, Rabbi Elazar Formon, Rabbi Shemu'el Albocher, Rabbi Ya'akov Tzarfati,
Rabbi Moshe Aruchim, and many more.
Among the aristocrats who succeeded in transferring their capital to Saloniki,
or who were very successful within the first ten years after their arrival
were: Don Shmu'el Benbenishti, Don Shmu'el Alvo, Don Yehuda Valinsi, Don
Yitzchak Alaton, Don Suliman Alfandari, Don Moshe Sasson, Don Ya'akov son of
Chasson, Don Yoseph son of Shu'eib, Don Shlomo son of Chayoun, Don Moshe
Kalachori, Don Vidal di Narbona, Don Shlomo and Don Yehuda sons of Yakar, Don
Shmu'el and Don David sons of Shushan, Don Avraham Shnei'ur, Don Yoseph Jico,
Don Nissim Lindo, Don Yoseph Moshoro, Don Yona Shabul, Don Yehuda Shornaga, Don
Avraham Shemu'el Tzarfati, and others.
Expulsion of the Jews of Portugal and Calabria
Fourteen years after the Expulsion from Spain, in 5257, Don Emmanuel, King of
Portugal, also decreed that the Jews must accept the Christian faith or leave
the country within ten months. Before the time in the decree had elapsed, the
King ordered to kidnap young men and women between the ages of 13 –18 and
to forcibly convert them to Christianity. Some of the parents were lost with
them, unable to be parted from their children, however most withstood this test
and left the country. Five years after this event Ferdinand expelled the Jews
from Apulia and from Ottoranto, and simultaneously, the Jews of Calabria were
also expelled. Many of these refugees escaped and came to Saloniki where they
founded the following congregations: “Portugal,” “Lisbon,”
“Apulia” (or “Pulia”), and “Calabria”.
In 5261 (1501) the Jews of Provence were expelled and emigrants who arrived at
the city founded the holy congregation “Provincia.”
Among the renowned individuals from Portugal and Calabria who settled in
Saloniki were: Rabbi Shlomo Taitatzak and his sons, Rabbi Yoseph, Rabbi Shmu'el
and Rabbi Avraham, Rabbi Avraham son of Ya'ish, Rabbi David son of Yichye,
Rabbi Aharon and Rabbi Yoseph of Trani (who moved to Andrianopol after 5265),
Rabbi Yehuda Gedalia the Printer and his uncle, the aged wise man Rabbi Nissim
Bivash, Rabbi Shemu'el of Trani, Rabbi Ya'akov son of Chaviv and his son Levi,
Maestro Rabbi Shlomo of the House of Levi, the Doctor Rabbi Shmu'el HaCohen
Italiani and his son Perachia, Rabbi Moshe HaLevi ben Alkabetz and his brother
Yehoshua, Rabbi David son of Rabbi Yehuda Mesir Leon, Rabbi Yitzchak Amarilio,
Don Shmu'el and Don Yehuda Abravanel, and others. Justifiably, Rabbi Shlomo of
the house of Levi the elder wrote that the wanderers, who settled in Saloniki
were “the creme de la creme of Spain”.
After the major expulsions, the seven congregations of Spanish and Portuguese
extraction agreed to divide new emigrants from these countries between
themselves by lottery, as well as the communal taxes and charitable gifts. The
holy congregation Lisbon, for example was allotted 15 % of the total taxes.
Four of these seven congregations were: Holy Congregations Shalom, Castilia,
Portugal and Lisbon,[4]
the three other congregations were apparently: Geirush [lit. Expulsion],
Catalan and Aragon.
Organization of the Congregations
Every congregation was independent of the others. Every congregation had a
yeshiva, a Torah “expert” and a “Chacham” – wise man,
a Beit Din (court), appointees, Parnasim – financial pillars, beadles,
appraisers, etc. “One wise man does not enter the territory of another
wise man even if the first one was grandest of the grand and the second least
of the least.” “The individuals” (thus the regular members of
the congregation and those who prayed regularly in the synagogue were called)
would choose the appointees “in such a way that the entire population of
that congregation oversaw their affairs.” The Parnasim, on their side,
would call all the individuals to a meeting once or twice a year, on the
interim days of Passover and Succot, in order to debate the important matters
that affected the congregation. They set up “rules” according to
which the congregation was run. The burial society of the congregation, (Chevra
Kadisha) was very important (in Saloniki it was called Holy Group – Chevra
Kedosha). Its members were simple people who endangered themselves with their
care of and business with the dead who died during epidemics, which erupted
fairly often in Saloniki. Their status in the congregation was special and they
had many privileges, and even the aristocracy would listen to them at times.
Individually, each congregation held on to the customs of their ancestors. They
prayed in the style of their place of origin with special liturgical poems and
dirges that they had brought with them. Some, in the first generation of their
settling and some until this day, had a special prayer book [Machzor]; For
example, the Romaniote prayer book of the holy congregations Etz HaChaim and
Etz HaDa'at; the Italiani prayerbook, or the Sons of Romi prayer book, of the
holy congregation Italia (there were three: Old, New and Shalom); the Ashkenaz
prayer book of the holy congregation Ashkenaz; the Catalan prayer book, of the
holy congregation Catalan (two: Old and New); Aragon prayer book of the holy
congregation Aragon. According to Rabbi Shmu'el di Medina, also the
congregations Pulia, Provincia, Sicilia and Calabria also had, at their
inception, a special prayer book. Only after the early exiles passed on, did
most of the congregations accept the general Sephardic prayer book (Sephardi
custom). The holy congregation Sicilia had special Hosha'anot prayers that they
customarily recited on Succot until the destruction of the community by the
Nazis. Only the congregations of Ashkenaz, Italia, Aragon and Catalan kept
their own prayer books until the last generation.
Sometimes members of a congregation followed their ancestors' traditions even
in halachic matters. For example, the rabbis of the H”C (holy
congregation) Aragon ruled according to the Ro”sh with regard to the
possession of houses and yards, that they are ruled as a “Dvar
Meitzra”, in opposition to the rabbis of the other congregations. They did
not say the repeat of the “Amida” prayer in the additional (Mussaf)
section of the Rosh Hashana prayers. Most of the individuals in this
congregation would take a wife only on a Friday, and on Shabbat all the members
of the congregation would go to the grooms house and repeat the “Seven
Blessings”. On the first Shabbat of his marriage, they would, in honor of
the groom, take out a special Torah scroll and would read from it “And
Abraham was aged…” (Genesis 24, 1-7). Then they would return the
scroll to the arc and continue with the portion of the day. On the 25th
day of Elul, the members of the congregation would go to the cemetery to
prostrate themselves upon the graves of holy ones accompanied by their rabbi.
The members of the H”C Ashkenaz would eat a kind of fat called “five
fingers” which was forbidden to the Sephardim, and on the other hand,
would not eat meat that was inflated, and they had a special slaughter house
next to their synagogue. However, by the end of the life of Rabbi Baruch Angel
(who died in 5430 – 1660), they had already accepted the custom of the
city and would eat the inflated meat. “And thus to the matter of
Passover,” wrote Rashda”m, “the Ashkenazim are accustomed to
several strictures that the Sephardim do not follow… and the hold tight to
strange customs… on the seventh day of Passover they would read the Song
of Songs and say the blessing over the scroll.” In matters of returning
the dowry, the Ashkenazi community would return the entire dowry to the family
of a wife who died with no sons within the first year of her marriage, in
contrast to the Sephardic custom which divided it evenly between the husband
and the wife's family, even if she died after the first year of her marriage.
Members of the H”C Italia, in the Ashkenazi custom, would eat a baked egg
during the Seder meal on Passover eve, each and every one of the family, in
remembrance of the destruction of the Temple. The Sephardic custom was not
thus, but to divide one egg among all of those gathered around the table.
The H”C Provincia had a special custom on the Ninth of Av that was kept
until the fire that destroyed the community in 5677 (1917).[5]
The H”C Beit Aharon celebrated “Purim Saragossa” on the 18th
of Shevat [mid-February] and read the scroll describing the event until 5672
(1912)[6], and perhaps up until the synagogue was burnt in 5677 (1917).
The custom of the H”C Mugrabis, known by the name “Il Kahal di la
Siya”, was to recite the Rosh Hashana prayers at dawn and blow the shofar
at first light, according to the method of Natan Ha'Azati.
There were those among the congregations whose custom it was to take out only
two Torah scrolls on Simchat Torah; one for the reader of “VeZot
HaBracha” (the last portion of Deuteronomy) and one for the Maftir
section, but would not take out a Torah scroll for the reading from Genesis. In
several congregations they would have the “Chatan Torah” (first
person called up to the Torah for the reading from Deuteronomy) on Simchat
Torah be read to from the section “And Abraham was aged” before the
designated person (“Samuch”) comes up, just as they read to the
genuine “Chatan” [bridegroom] on the Shabbat after his wedding (still
in circa 5500-1730).
Still in the time of Rabbi Yoseph Molcho (author of the book “Shulchan
Gavoha”) in approximately the year 5500 (1730), several congregations (for
instance, Etz HaChaim, Italia-Old and Portugal) had special ovens for baking
matza. The members would go there from immediately after Purim until the eve of
Passover and bake their matzas. Usually, up until the fire of 5677 (1917), all
the congregations baked mitzva-matza (“shemura” – kept) which
were given to every member together with a portion of Charoset.[7]
Several congregations had funds for the marriages of orphaned girls, like, for
instance, H”C Italia-Old.
As we wrote above, due to disagreements among the members, several families
broke off and founded separate congregations:
In ca. 5293 (ca. 1533) the H”C Avora was founded by members who left the
H"C Lisbon.
Before the year 5319 (1559), and perhaps even before the great fire of 5305
(1545), the H”C Otranto was founded by members who broke off from the
H”C Pulia, known also as “Great Pulia”. Some time afterwards,
members from Otranto broke off and founded the “Astroc” congregation.
From the H”C Calabria several families broke off, apparently before 5305
(1545), and founded the “Kaina” congregation. A number of years later
several members of this H”C broke off and founded the H”C
“Ishma'el”, known as H”C “Calabrisis”. After some
years the H”C “Neveh Tzedek” was founded by families who left
the old Calabria congregations Ishma'el and Kaina. Due to this last separation
the name of the old H”C Calabria was changed to H”C “Neveh
Shalom”.
Before 5321 (1561) the Lisbon congregation divided in two again: H”C Old
Lisbon and H”C New Lisbon. This congregation was also divided into several
sects, among them the Nachmias sect, to which half the body of the congregation
belonged since they spent half of the expenditures of the congregation; the
other half was spent by the total remaining sects; and also the objects and
property of the congregation were evenly divided, half to the Nachmias sect and
half to the others. Before 5413 (1653) the other sects wanted to purchase the
privilege of the Nachmias sect but were not successful.
The plot on which the H”C Catalan was built belonged to the family of
Rabbi Moshe Almoshnino. This congregation was divided in two during the days of
this rabbi, to H”C Old and New Catalan. It may be that the division was
done around the year 5305 (1545).
H”C Sicilia also divided into two, Old and New Sicilia, before 5331 (1571).
H”C Italia divided in two, before 5343 (1583), to Old and New Italia.
Apparently, H”C New Italia divided once again, and thus the H”C
“Italia Shalom” was founded towards to end of the days of Rabbi
Yoseph David, who died in 5497 (1737); this was the last congregation to divide.
Before 5391 the “Beit Aharon” congregation was founded, apparently by
members who left the Sicilia congregations. By the year 5380 (1620) the number
of congregations had risen to eighteen; they all burnt down that same year.
Before 5423 (1663) the holy congregation “Har Gavoha” was already in
existence.
Most of the congregations were divided into sects. For example, the H”C
Etz HaChaim split into three sects already in 5487 (1727); H”C Polia into
two sects: the “Botoni” sect of the di Boton familiy and the
“Angeli” sect of the Angel family; H”C Otranto – also into
two sects: the “Catalani” sect and the “Yitzchaki” sect.
The first sect was wealthier and had a greater population. As we have seen,
H”C Lisbon was divided into the Nachmias sect and others: Abravanel, etc.[8]
Management of the Congregations
The emigration of several thousand Jews from various places brought with it
major problems that each congregation on its own could not solve. Therefore,
the newcomers agreed to appoint three famous and influential rabbis as
“laboring in the holy work in this entire city,” to set out
guidelines for the benefit of all the Jews. Apparently, these three rabbis
were: Rabbi Shmu'el Franko, of “Abir Haro'im”, Rabbi Yehuda
Benbenishti and Rabbi Me'ir Ibn Arama. After them the following were appointed:
Rabbi Ya'akov ben Chaviv, Rabbi Shelomo Taitatzak, and Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni.
The major problems were:
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Possession of property and real estate:
The houses and yards belonged to the Turks, rulers of the land. They rented
their buildings and property to the Jews. The newcomers were buying the
buildings from the Turks at a higher price, which forced the Jew who already
lived there to transfer the bought house to them. The Rabbis ruled already in
5253 (1493), that is, one year after the expulsion, that a Jew is forbidden to
buy a building or property in which another Jew is already dwelling. However,
in 5272 (1512) they changed this and “agreed” that a Jew can buy the
building if he pays his co-religionist what the “holding” is worth
(that is, the right to live in the aforementined house, a kind of “key
money”), as well as all of the expenses that the tenant spent on the
house. Once again they ruled that if the Jewish or Turkish landlord forced the
Jew (via the authorities) to leave the house, no other Jew can buy the house or
the tenancy, unless the house remains totally empty for three years.
Afterwards, due to the numerous exiles who continued to arrive and the fires,
they ruled that the house needs to remain empty for up to ten years in order
for a Jew to lose the tenancy. In 5344 (1584) it was forbidden “to
purchase a house or a yard or a store from a gentile or Tugar (Turk) of which
another Jew has tenancy.”[9]
A Jew who wanted to sell his tenancy would declare this in the synagogue 15
days before the sale, to know if there is anyone who would appeal the sale; a
person renting a house out to his friend had to give him a year's notice before
he requested that they leave the premises.
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Issues of Slaughter:
The rabbis agreed to abide by the Sephardic custom and not according to those
of the Romaniote and Ashkenazic communities then found in Saloniki.
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Problems of Conversos:
At the start, six great rabbis (Rabbi Ya'akov son of Chaviv, Rabbi Shlomo of
Taitatzak, Rabbi Me'ir Ibn Arama, Rabbi Yoseph Pasi, Rabbi Moseh Aruchim and
Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni) agreed “that every woman who married… while
still under the Decree of Extinction (Gzeirat HaShmad), even though he
betrothed her in front of Jews who were standing there who watched with the
Extinction upon their heads, that betrothal is not to be taken into account and
therefore she is allowed (to be betrothed) to any Jew…. And this is our
custom in this city that every woman who comes from Portugal or Castilia, we do
not worry at all regarding a betrothal that she was betrothed after the
Extinction Decree… and if she remains needful of levirate marriage, there
is not problem here and she does not need to be released from that at all.”[10]
However, already in 5274 (1494) five of these rabbis retreated from this
decision, (except for Rabbi Moshe Aruchim, who apparently was not in Saloniki
at the time), and ruled that a bride in need of levirate marriage with a man
who was converted or killed before the betrothal, needs to released. This
guideline was signed by other rabbis as well: Rabbi Yehuda Benbensht, Rabbi
Yoseph son of Rabbi Shlomo Taitatzak, Rabbi Levi son of Chaviv, Rabbi Shmu'el
Uzi'el, and Rabbi Avraham Siralvo, who signed in 5316 (1556)[11]. However, the rabbis of Saloniki did not always take this last guideline into
account. Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni and Rabbi Yoseph Taitatzak retreated again and
ruled that a woman in need of levirate marriage who marries on her own
initiative does not need to be released by the one appointed to it.[12]
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Relations with the Authorities and Taxation:
It was the custom of the Turks to assess all of the congregations, for tax
purposes, as a single body. They would get lists of members from each
congregation and the management of each congregation would assign the tax to
the members. The assessment was done for three and at times ten years. The
heads of the congregations would gather and elect a special committee to
supervise the tax matters. A member of a congregation who appealed the
assessment of his congregation and claimed that he was assigned too much, had
the right to turn to this committee. If the committee also assessed him, in his
opinion, too much, he had the right to swear that he had no more than the
amount he assessed himself to have. In the beginning, the Jews had to pay the
tax to the authorities in rams (carniros). From 5328 (1568) onwards they paid
with textiles and fabrics, this was the “Clothing Tax”. Besides this
tax the Turks forced the Jews to work on the building of the walls when
necessary or in times of war, and in general they had to satisfy the
“Pasha” and the rest of the Sultan's clerks in the city, who demanded
great sums from them for various tariffs.
Merchants, Doctors and Industrialists
Not for nothing did the second Byzantine Sultan value the emigrants. He was not
disappointed, for the exiles brought much blessing to his states. Among them
were excellent doctors, pharmacists and expert artisans in various industries
which they brought with them to Turkey. They operated the silver mines at
Sidrokapsi next to Saloniki (Rashda”m, vol. 40, sec. 376), founded the
silk industry, and developed the art of metal working and development and
grinding of precious stones, the printing business, and especially the weaving
and carpet industry, which became the chief industry of Saloniki, and employed
thousands of craftsmen, from the tanner to the tailor.
The heads of the congregations would gather frequently and draft guidelines to
protect this industry. They forbade, for example, a Jew to compete using the
price of wool bought from a Muslim or Gentile, and also forbade to export from
Saloniki wool to another kingdom, and in general to sell to Gentiles. They did
not allow merchants to do business with material which was imported from
outside of Saloniki and Jews were totally forbidden to buy such textiles. The
rabbis, in their answers regarding disagreements among litigants, generally
ruled in favor of the artisan. For example, the neighbor of the owner of a
work-shop was not able to bring a complaint against him if a bad odor wafted
out of the barrels they used for dying the wool, “for our livelihood is in
this… and it is also the custom of this city to pursue the craft of cloth
and the neighbors and partners suffer one another in one yard”
(Rashda”m, vol 40, sec. 462). Since they would urinate into the vats in
which they died the wool, the rabbis of Saloniki even permitted praying in a
home from which a bad odor wafted from such vats.
In spite of these various rulings, by the beginning of the 16th
century there are mentions of wealthy people who cheat the workers and the
poor. The Turkish governor of Saloniki would buy these textiles directly from
the artisans or via the rich, in order to clothe the soldiers of the Sultan.
The rich would sometimes take weavers of their own and compete with the weaving
production guild. At certain times, these latter sent delegates to Kushta
(Constantinople) and made their complaints before the Doctor of the Sultan,
Rabbi Moshe Hamon, and asked him to support them and be a spokesman for them
before the ministers, “lest everyone be cheated and exhausted all of the
time.” From their letter below it is possible to understand the great
importance of this industry during that time in Saloniki:
“If God of Hosts had not left us the remnant of making these royal clothes
we would have nearly been as Sodom, swallowing one another alive… to find
prey for our daily bread… when God gave us an end and a hope…
everything comes out of the cloth, from it comes the tent peg upon which
everything depends… men, women and children… to enliven the heart of
the oppressed… a voice is heard on the height saying... say to the
clerk… do not take the clothing of the poor any more… [therefore]
arise all this multitude of the poor and impoverished of our nation and go to
the clerk… the poor of your city come before the wealthy of the land…
they the clerk went to introduce the matter before the great judge… [the
judge] called to the clerk and said to him thus… take the clothing of the
wealthy… and the people heard this thing and mourned.”[13]
Historians, Christian and Muslim, generally praise this industry of the Jews of
Saloniki. A Muslim traveller, Mustafa ben Abdullah Haji Chalfa, who visited the
city in the 17th
century, has special praise for the carpets made by the Jews of Saloniki, in
these words: “The [the Jews of Saloniki] weave the famous carpets of the
many colors… that in no other place are they made so beautifully, and they
also weave cloth.”[14]
A few years after the expulsion from Portugal the emigrants founded the print
and binding industry, and kept to this work until the destruction of the city
by the Nazis. Also in this field there were no doubt rulings and agreements
that have not reached us. One of them, from 5289 (1529), deals with the
injunction against printing an entire manuscript without the permission of six
scholars from among the “Torah experts” of the congregations.
Usually, the heads of the congregations met and arranged guidelines according
to present needs, and coerced all of the members under threat of
ex-communication, to obey their rabbis and their Parnasim. Thanks to this
organization and the mutual commitment that existed then among all of the Jews
with no exceptions – on the one hand – and thanks to the famous
Yeshivas and Ulpenna study houses on the other hand, Saloniki became a major
Jewish center and by the 16th
century had earned the title “City and Mother in Israel,” an honorary
designation given to few communities in the world.
Footnotes:
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See Decisions of the Rashdam, Khet-Alef, Section B.
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[The spelling is sometimes also “Machla” or “Magla”.]
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[In Saloniki they were called 'congregation' or 'community'. We will used the
term 'congregation' – for a synagogue and the public organization along
side of it; and the term 'community' – to the community at large, to the
organization of all the Jews of the
city.]
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Rabbi Yitzchak Adarbi, “Divrei Rivot”, p. 30 r.; Rashda”m,
“Choshen Mishpat”, par. 402.
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[They would gather after the morning prayers all of the rabbis of the city and
the cantors who were expert at it and they would sing special dirges in their
heavy melodies until the hour for the afternoon prayer (Mincha) (described by
Yoseph Chazan of blessed memory). The mention here is apparently of special
funeral dirges which were arranged alphabetically in a pamphlet called
“Yikra DeShechvi, Tziduk HaDin” {Readings for Laying to Rest,
Justifying the Ruling}; A pamphlet like this which belong to Rabbi Yitzchak
Beracha of blessed memory, was given to us to go over by his son, Avraham
Beracha of blessed memory, and at the end it was written: “Brought to the
printer the expert artisan the complete wise man David Ya'akov Chagu'il may God
keep him and the complete wise man Avraham Yehuda Arditi may God keep him;
printed, apparently, at the Etz HaChaim printers.]
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W. Reich, Beruemte Judengemeinden des Osmanischen Reiches, Frankfurt a.M.,
1913, p. 47.
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The custom of giving Charoset to members was preserved in the Portuguese
congregations of Curacao and Amsterdam; In Curacao up to about sixty years ago
[note: this book was published in 1972, trans.] , and in Amsterdam, until this
day.
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These are the names of the congregations in about 5480 (1720): (the nicknames
used are those that were known to most people) Otranto – Galio (Rooster);
Ivora – Aroz (Rice); New Italia, Old Italia, Italia Shalom – Raton
(mouse); Istrug – Albadra (epaulets); Aragon – Gato (cat); Ashkenaz
– Moshka (fly); Beit Aharon – Hasron (of tattered clothing,
chatterbox); Girush – Miskita (Mosque tower); Har Gavoha – Vila
(curtain, sail); Yichye – Mindigo (beggar); Ishma'el – Zinganos
(gypsies); New Lisbon, Old Lisbon – Mangarana (pomegranate); Mayor –
Ladron (thief); Mugrabiz – Silia (chair); Neveh Tzedek – Cuairno
(horn); Neveh Shalom (Matalonim), New Sicilia – Madiro (beam); Old Sicilia
– Piscadoris (fishermen); Etz HaChaim – Azho (garlic); Portugal
– Calabasa (pumpkin); Provincia – Provis (impoverished ones); New
Catalan – Figo Loco (wild fig); Old Catalan – Figo (fig); Castilia
– ben Shushan; Kaina – Janaka (sink); Shalom – Gamilio (camel).
I used the nicknames published by David A. Recanati, “Saloniki Machzor for
Rosh HaShana,” Tel-Aviv, 5723 (1963, pp. 7-9, and I added nicknames for
other congregations. See re the names of the families who belong to each
congregatin, Emmanuel, “Saloniki Greats by Generation,” Tel-Aviv 5696
(1936) pp. 16-24.
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“Yerech Avraham” [literally, “Thigh of Abraham”], of Rabbi
Avraham Istrosa, vol. II, pp. 49-55, six guidelines regarding houses and yards
from 5309 (1549) to 5344 (1584); Avraham Danon, Revue des Etudes Juives, vol
40-41, 1899, No. 17-22.
Return
-
This agreement, was copied by Rabbi Moshe Almoshnino. Rabbi Yehuda Taitachak,
“She'erit yehuda”, page 67, v; Ya'akov di Boton, “Edut
BeYa'akov,” par. 73.
Return
-
Rabbi David Pipano, “Avnei Ephod”, p. 125, v.
Return
-
“She'erit Yehuda,” ibid.; Questions & Answers (Sh”ut) of
Rashda”m, vol I, par. 56.
Return
-
Avraham Danon in the journal “Yoseph Da'at.”
Return
-
Compare Emmanuel,
Histoire de l'industrie de tissus de Israelites de Salonique
, Paris, 1935, p. 18 note 25 b.
Return
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