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Musta'arabi Jews

This article is about Jews who lived in North Africa and the Middle East prior to the arrival and integration of Jews from Spain and Portugal. For Israeli security unit who assimilate among the local Arab population, seeMista'arvim.For the Christians of al-Andalus, seeMozarabs.

Musta'arabi Jews(Arabic:المستعربينal-Mustaʿribīn"Mozarabs";Hebrew:מוּסְתערביםMustaʿravim) were theArabic-speaking Jews,largelyMizrahi JewsandMaghrebi Jews,who lived in theMiddle EastandNorth Africaprior to the arrival and integration ofLadino-speakingSephardi Jewsof theIberian Peninsula,following theirexpulsion from Spainin 1492. Following their expulsion,Sephardi Jewishexiles moved into the Middle East and North Africa (among other countries around theMediterranean Basin), and settled among the Musta'arabi.

In many Arab countries, Sephardi immigrants and the established Musta'arabi communities maintained separate synagogues and separate religious rituals, but often had a commonChief Rabbinate.The general tendency, however, was for both the communities and their customs to amalgamate, adopting a mostly Sephardic liturgy. This pattern was found in most Musta'arabi communities in Arab countries. A typical example is in thehistory of the Jews in Syria.

In contrast, inTunisia,there was a strong and enduring social distinction betweenTuansa(the establishedTunisian Jews) andL'grana(immigrantLivornese Jewsfrom Italy to Tunisia).

Background

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The word "Mustaʿrabi" itself, and its Hebrew equivalentmistaʿrevim,meaning "those who live among the Arabs",[1]are derived from the Arabicمستعربmustaʿrib,meaning “arabized”.Compare with the term "Mozarab"(mozárabe in Spanish, borrowed from Arabic) to refer to Arabized (but not Islamized) Christian Spaniards inArab ruled Islamic Spain."Musta'arabi" was also used by medieval Jewish authors to refer to Jews inNorth Africa,in what would become the modern states ofMorocco,Algeria,TunisiaandLibya[1](which also underwent cultural and linguistic Arabization following the Muslim conquest there).

Following theMuslim conquest of the Levant,Syria and the surrounding region was brought under Arab rule in the first half of the seventh century, and the Jews of the land, like theChristianmajority at that time, became culturally Arabized, adopting many of the ways of the newforeign elite minorityrulers, including the language.[2]

Musta'arabim, in the Arabized Hebrew of the day, was used to refer to Arabic-speaking Jews native to theregion of Syriawho were, "like Arabs" or "culturally Arabic-oriented".[2][3][4][5]These Musta'arabim were also calledMurishkesorMoriscosby the Sephardi immigrants.[6]This may be either a corruption of "Mashriqis"(Easterners) or a Ladino word meaning" like Moors "or" Moorish "(compare with theSpanishwordMorisco).[2][7]

In Israel

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The Musta'arabi Jews in theLand of Israelconstituted one of the three main components of theOld Yishuv(Jewish community of Israel), together with theSephardi Jews,andAshkenazi Jews.[8]The latter were a minority whose numbers shrank further due to intermarriage with Sephardim.[8]

The Musta'arabi Jews in the Land of Israel were descendants of the ancient Hebrews who never left the Land of Israel, instead remaining there through the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD to the First Aliyah in 1881, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration.[citation needed]Under the rule of theOttoman Empirein the mid-16th century, there were no more than 10,000 Jews divided between numerous groups of congregations in all of Ottoman-Syria.[3][verification needed]Within the Jewish community at this time, there was some conflict between the Musta'arabim and Jews who had immigrated to Israel fromSpainandSicily.Later on, there was also conflict between Jewish citizens of the Ottoman Empire and those who held foreign passports (the so-calledFrancosorSeñores Francos). From 1839 onward, Jewish subjects of the Ottoman Empire, including the Musta'arabim, were represented by a locally nominated rabbi, whose appointment to serve as ahakham bashior "chief rabbi"required approval from the Ottoman authorities. This hierarchical system paralleled one previously established for Christianbishopsin the empire.

Due to the persecution of the rural Jewish population since the Islamic period into the Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods, the Musta'arabim decreased from a majority of the Galilee's population to its smallest minority.[citation needed].In many of them, there were indigenous Jewish villagers until the Ottoman period.[citation needed]Only inPeki'inthere was a Musta'arabi population that has survived.[citation needed]Due to theArab revolt in the 1930sthey were forced to evacuate their ancestral historic village and to move toHadera,where most of them are living today.[citation needed]The synagogues and cemeteries of Musta'arabi Jews, as in Peki'in, are considered the oldest in the Jewish world and can be dated largely to the Talmudic period but also to Mishnaic and Second Temple period.[citation needed]

Unlike the majority of the Jewish communities, Musta'arabi Jews of Israel remained mostly rural farmers as in the ancient periods ofIsrael.[citation needed]

Roman and Byzantine era

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In lateRoman Palestine,the vast majority of those indigenous Jews who would come to be known as Musta'arabim lived in small villages, especially in the north orGalilee,but also many aroundJerusalem,and even towardRamallah.[9]They suffered extreme oppression and frequent massacres under theByzantines.[10][better source needed]They continued to speakAramaic,but many were illiterate.

Crusades

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The Jews in Palestine defended against theCrusaderswithArabs,especially atHaifain 1100. TheCrusaders,occupying most ofPalestine,from 1099 to 1291, murdered the nativeJewishandMuslimpopulations. Many were forced to convert but instead opted to commit suicide.[11][better source needed]At Ashkelon, 1191, the Jews were forced out by the crusaders, many of them moved to Jerusalem.[9]

Mamluks

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During theMamluk period,the Jews generally saw a decline in status and demographics.[12][better source needed]Jews started to move out of small villages and into larger ones[9]such as:

Safed,Tiberias,and the area that surrounds them saw an increase in population, in 1500 it is estimated that over 10,000 Jews were living in the Safed Region.[9]Jews started to move towardsetrogexportation and Rabbinic studies.[citation needed]

Galilee Revival

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In 1492 theAlhambra Decreeand in 1497 King Manuel I Decree converted or expelled all Jews fromIberia.Many of these settled in the 2 main cities of the Galilee,SafedandTiberias,notable Jewish Scholars such asYosef Carosettled inEretz Yisrael.This had two major outcomes: the adoption ofSephardicpractices,[13]and the start of a golden age of Jewish life inPalestine.This golden age happened almost exclusively in theFour Holy Cities:Jerusalem,Safed,Tiberias,andHebron.Along with the Musta'arabim adopting some Sephardic practices, they also intermarried extensively with theSephardim.In some respects, the Musta'arabim in the four holy cities ceased being a distinct group; only in rural areas such asPeki'indid the Musta'arabi Jews remain dominant.

Ottoman Era

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The main Jewish population center moves away from the Galilee and towards Jerusalem.[9]Still, the Ladino-speaking Jews dominate Jewish life. New arrivals from theBalkans,North Africa,andIraqalso cementedSephardictraditions over the Musta'arabim's.

Zionism

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The arrival of mainlysocialistandsecularZionists from Eastern Europe angered the Arab-Islamic ruling class. Relations between theOld Yishuvand theNew Yishuvalso suffered at times. Musta'arabim either joined sides with the Zionists, fighting inHaganahorIrgun,or left the Ottoman Empire entirely, joining the waves ofSyrian Jewsemigrating toAmerica.[14]

Today

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The Musta'arabim have assimilated into mainstream Sephardic Israeli life and it is unknown how many Israeli Jews of Musta'arabi descent there are. In America, they follow the general Syrian traditions, and have mainly settled inNew York,California,andWashington.[citation needed]

Syrian Musta'arabi rite

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Old Aleppo rite

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The Aleppo Musta'arabim in Syria originally had a distinct way of worship, set out in a distinct prayer book calledMaḥzor Aram Soba.This ritual is thought[15]to reflectEretz Yisraelrather than Babylonian traditions in certain respects, in particular in the prominence ofpiyyut(seebelow).[16]In a broad sense, it falls within the "Sephardi" rather than the "Ashkenazi" family of rituals, but has resemblances to non-standard Sephardi rites such as the Catalan[17]rather than to the normative Castilian rite. It also contains some archaic features which it shares with theSiddur of Saadia GaonandMaimonides' laws of prayer.

The following are some of the differences that stand out in theAram SobaMaḥzor.

  • The order of the Psalms in the morning service is different.
  • The following prayers are worded differently (while still preserving the same message of the prayer): Baruch She’Amar,Kaddish,Kedushah, certain blessings of theAmidah,Tachanun,and theBirkat Hamazon(grace after meals).
  • The Kaddish has a long set of “messianic references in the second verse” (unlike theSephardic ritewhere it is much shorter and theAshkenazicrite where it is absent).
  • Psalm 8 was recited each night before theEvening Service,a practice no longer in place anywhere else.[18]
  • There was a tradition to recite 72 different verses from the Bible immediately after the Amidah of the Morning Services.
  • There is a tradition, still followed by manySyrian Jews,called Alpha-Beta, which consists of reciting Psalm 119-134 before the Evening Services on Motzaei Shabbat: this also appears in the prayer book of theSpanish and Portuguese Jews.
  • There was also an important tradition pertaining to the month ofElul,the month of repentance before theDays of Judgment.At dawn of Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, special Seliḥot prayers were recited. There were different seliḥot prayers, piyyutim, and Biblical verses to be recited for each week of that month. Syrian Jews, like other Sephardim, still reciteSeliḥotduring the entire month of Elul. However, the seliḥot recited by the Syrian Jews are standardized and do not vary from day to day as do the seliḥot of the Aram Soba Maḥzor.
  • OnTisha B'ab,they only read MegillatEichaat night and not in the morning: Syrian Jews still recite it before rather than after Arbit.
  • TheKiddushfor the three pilgrim festivals is very long, and resembles that found in theSiddur of Saadia Gaonand theBaladiYemenitetradition.

On March 9, 2009, theSephardic Pizmonim Projectposted a scanned PDF of the 1560 Venetian edition of the "Maḥzor Aram Soba" to the "Archives" section of its site. Amirrorof the work is also available. For further links to both the 1527 and 1560 editions, seebelow.In addition, a weekday version of Maḥzor Aram Soba 1560 can be foundhere.

A facsimile edition has recently been published by Yad HaRav Nissim, using pages from the best surviving copies of the 1527 edition.

Influence of the Sephardic rite

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After the immigration of Jews fromSpainfollowing the expulsion, a compromiseliturgyevolved containing elements from the customs of both communities, but with the Sephardic element taking an ever-larger share. One reason for this was the influence of theShulchan Aruch,and of theKabbalisticusages ofIsaac Luria,both of which presupposed a Sephardic (and specifically Castilian) prayer text; for this reason a basically "Sephardic" type of text replaced many of the local Near and Middle Eastern rites over the course of the 16th to 19th centuries, subject to a few characteristic local customs retained in each country. (SeeSephardic law and customs#Liturgyfor more detail.)

InSyria,as inNorth Africancountries, there was no attempt to print a Siddur containing the actual usages of the community, as this would not generally be commercially viable. Major publishing centres, principally Livorno, and later Vienna, would produce standard "Sephardic" prayer books suitable for use in all communities, and particular communities such as the Syrians would order these in bulk, preserving any special usages by oral tradition. (For example, Ḥacham Abraham Hamaoui ofAleppocommissioned a series of prayer-books from Livorno, which were printed in 1878: these were "pan-Sephardic" in character, with some notes referring to "minhag Aram Soba".)

As details of the oral tradition faded from memory, the liturgy in use came still nearer to the "Livorno" standard. Nevertheless, a distinction persisted between the "Sephardic" rite (based on the Livorno siddurim) and the "Musta'arabi" rite (basically similar, but retaining some features derived from the older tradition).

In the early years of the twentieth century, the "Sephardic" rite was almost universal in Syria. The only exception (in Aleppo) was a "Musta'arabi" minyan at theCentral Synagogue of Aleppo,but even their liturgy differed from the "Sephardic" in only a few details such as the order of the hymns on Rosh Hashanah. Some differences between the two main prayer books published in Aleppo in the early twentieth century may reflect Sephardi/Musta'arabi differences,[19]but this is not certain: current Syrian rite prayer books are based on both books.

Use of Piyyut

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Approximately 30% of theMahzor Aram Sobais composed ofpiyyutim.

The use ofpiyyutim,which was very prominent on the holidays andShabbat,was not limited to the Syrian Musta'arabi community, but occurred in most Jewish communities. The earliestpiyyutimhowever, were “overwhelmingly [from] [Eretz Israel] or its neighbor Syria, [because] only there was the Hebrew language sufficiently cultivated that it could be managed with stylistic correctness, and only there could it be made to speak so expressively.”[20]The earliest Eretz Yisrael prayer manuscripts, found in theCairo Genizah,often consist ofpiyyutim,as these were the parts of the liturgy that required to be written down: the wording of the basic prayers was generally known by heart. The use ofpiyyutwas always considered an Eretz Yisrael speciality: the BabylonianGeonimmade every effort to discourage it and restore what they regarded as the statutory wording of the prayers, holding that "any [hazzan] who usespiyyutthereby gives evidence that he is no scholar ".[21]Accordingly, scholars classifying the liturgies of later periods usually hold that, the more a given liturgy makes use ofpiyyutim,the more likely it is to reflect Eretz Yisrael as opposed to Babylonian influence. This, if correct, would put theMahzor Aram Sobafirmly in the Eretz Yisrael camp. However, thepiyyutimin theMahzor Aram Sobaresemble those of the Spanish school rather than the work of early Eretz Yisraelpayyetanimsuch asEleazar Kalir:for example, they are in strict Arabic metres and make little use ofMidrash.Also, they are generally placed in a block at the beginning of the service, like today'sBaqashot,rather than expanding on and partially replacing core parts of the prayers.[22]Accordingly, the prevalence ofpiyutdoes not of itself establish a link with theold Palestinian rite,though such a link may be argued for on other grounds.

Following the dominance in Syria of the Sephardic rite, which took the Geonic disapproval ofpiyyutseriously, most of thesepiyyutimwere eliminated from the prayer book. Some of them survive aspizmonim,used extra-liturgically.

Today

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The Syrian Musta'arabim have completely assimilated with the Sephardic Jews and are no longer a distinct entity. Certain families identify as "Sephardim" in the narrower sense, and are distinguished by their practice of lighting an extra candle onHanukkah.(This is said to be in gratitude for their acceptance by the older community. It is not shared with Sephardim in other countries.)

According to Joey Mosseri, a Sephardic historian living in the Syrian Jewish community inBrooklyn(USA), the last time the Musta'arabi liturgy was officially used was during the 1930s. Shelomo Salem Zafrani, of Aleppo, held daily services in the Musta'arabi Jewish rite, until his departure to theBritish Mandate of Palestinein the early 1930s. After his departure, there is no known public usage of this liturgy even in Aleppo itself. Today, Syrian Jews, with the exception of a few individuals living inDamascus,live outside of Syria, and do not distinguish between Musta'arabi and Sephardic Jews.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abLandman, Isaak (2009).Volume 2, The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia.Varda Books. p. 81.
  2. ^abcThe New Israel Atlas: Bible to Present Day,Zev Vilnay, Karṭa, Israel Universities Press, 1968, p. 91
  3. ^abPeters, Francis E. (2005).The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Volume II: The Words and Will of God.Princeton University Press. p. 287.ISBN0-691-12373-X.
  4. ^Barnett, Richard David; Schwab, Walter M. (1989).The Western Sephardim: the history of some of the communities formed in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the New World after the expulsion of 1492.Gibraltar Books. p. 315.ISBN0-948466-11-1.
  5. ^Geyer, Michael; Lehmann, Hartmut (2004).Religion und Nation, Nation und Religion: Beiträge zu einer unbewältigten Geschichte.Wallstein Verlag. p. 279.ISBN3-89244-668-7.
  6. ^A description of the Murishkes is cited in וזה שער השמים from שאלי שלום ירושלים, whose author participated in the "Hasid's" Aliyah. Rabbi Shlomo Suzen, from the times of theBeth Yoseph,was known as a descendant of the Murishkes.
  7. ^Dobrinsky, Herbert C. (1986).A treasury of Sephardic laws and customs: the ritual practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America(3rd, revised ed.). Ktav. p. 369.ISBN0-88125-031-7.
  8. ^abAbraham P. Bloch,One a day: an anthology of Jewish historical anniversaries for every day of the year,KTAV Publishing House, 1987,ISBN978-0-88125-108-1,M1 Google Print, p. 278.
  9. ^abcdeGilbert, Martin (1969).The Atlas of Jewish History.William Morrow & Company, Inc.ISBN0-688-12264-7.
  10. ^"Jewish Virtual Library, Jews in the Byzantine Empire".Jewish Virtual Library.
  11. ^"Jewish Virtual Library, Jews during the Crusades".Jewish Virtual Library.
  12. ^"Jewish Virtual Library, Jews in the Mamluk Sultanate".Jewish Virtual Library.Retrieved8 February2020.
  13. ^Yassif, Eli (2019).The Legend of Safed: Life and Fantasy in the City of Kabbalah.Wayne State University Press.ISBN978-0-8143-4110-0.
  14. ^Abramovitch, Ilana; Galvin, Seán; Galvin, Seǹ (2002).Jews of Brooklyn.UPNE.
  15. ^Ezra Fleischer,Eretz-Israel Prayer and Prayer Rituals: as portrayed in the Geniza documents(Jerusalem 1988) pp 202ff.
  16. ^Other shared features are the practice of reciting Psalm 8 at the beginning of the evening service on Shabbat and festivals (Fleischer, above) and the wording of theModimblessing of theAmidah(B Outhwaite and S Bhayro (eds),From a Sacred Source: Genizah Studies in Honour of Professor Stefan C Reif(Leiden 2011), pp 132 and 135.
  17. ^For this, seeMaḥzor le-nosaḥ Barcelona minhag Catalonia,Salonica 1527.
  18. ^This is thought to have been a feature of thePalestinian minhag:Fleischer, above.
  19. ^Seder Olat Tamid(1907) is thought to reflect the Musta'arabi rite, whileSeder Olat ha-Shaḥar(1915) is thought to reflect the Sephardic rite: Abraham Ades,Derekh Eretsp. 224 ff.
  20. ^Goldschmidt, D, "Machzor for Rosh Hashana" p.xxxi. Leo Baeck Institute, 1970.
  21. ^R. Nahshon, cited in R. Johanan's commentary on theSheeltot(B. M. Lewin,Otzar ha-Geonim,Berachot no. 179).
  22. ^For example, the Mahzor Aram Soba does not contain theTefillat Talor poetic expansion of the secondAmidahblessing, used bySpanish and Portuguese Jewson the first day ofPesachand onShemini Atzeret.

Further reading

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  • Gilbert, Martin (1969).The Atlas of Jewish History.William Morrow & Company, Inc.ISBN0-688-12264-7.
  • Yassif, Eli (May 20, 2019).The Legend of Safed: Life and Fantasy in the City of Kabbalah.Wayne State University Press.
  • Abramovitch, Ilana; Galvin, Seán; Galvin, Seǹ (2002).Jews of Brooklyn.UPNE.
  • Ades, Abraham,Derech Ere "tz:Bene Berak, 1990.
  • Betesh, David,The Aram Soba Mahzor:New York, 2006.
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