Italian Jews
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Italian Jews historically fall into four categories.
- The original Italian community that resided in central Italy since Roman times; see Bené Roma.
- Spanish and Portuguese Jews, i.e. Sephardim who arrived in Italy following the expulsions from Spain in 1492, Portugal in 1497 and the Kingdom of Naples in 1533. These include both those expelled at the time and crypto-Jewish families who left Spain and Portugal in subsequent centuries and reverted to Judaism. Prominent communities were those of Venice, Pisa and Livorno (Gorneyim). See also: Expulsion of the Jews from Sicily
- Ashkenazi Jews, living mainly in the northern part of the country.
- The Jews of Asti, Fossano and Moncalvo ("Appam"). These represent the Jews expelled from France in the Middle Ages. Their liturgy is similar to that of the Ashkenazim, but contains some distinctive usages descended from the French Jews of the time of Rashi, particularly in the services for the High Holy Days.
There are some historical links between Italy and the Sephardi Jews of the eastern Mediterranean.
- Dalmatia and many of the Greek islands, where there were large Jewish communities, were for several centuries part of the Venetian Republic, and there was a "Levantine" synagogue in Venice. Many Italian Jews today have roots in these places, especially Corfu.
- In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Italian Jews (mostly but not exclusively from the Spanish and Portuguese group) maintained a trading and residential presence in the Near East and North Africa, where they formed an elite group known as Francos: they generally retained their European nationalities and were often appointed as consuls by the European powers.
Today there are two further categories:
- The Jews of San Nicandro of San Nicandro Garganico;
- Iranian Jews living in Rome and Milan.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- List of all Jewish Italian synagogues
- Union of Jewish Communities in Italy
- Jewish Community of Rome
- Jewish Community of Milan
- Jewish Community of Venice
- Jews in Lugo
- Ferdinando I De Medici, Document Inviting Jewish Merchants to Settle in Livorno and Pisa, in Italian, Manuscript on Vellum, Florence, Italy, 10 June 1593 (fac-simile)
