ABSTRACT Sixteenth-century Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and seat of the Sultans, was demographically the most important city in the Euro-Asian world of the time and contained not only the largest urban Moslem population but... more
ABSTRACT Sixteenth-century Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and seat of the Sultans, was demographically the most important city in the Euro-Asian world of the time and contained not only the largest urban Moslem population but also the largest Greek Orthodox and Jewish communities, this last feature surprising to Western travellers. Hence the diaries of three German-language travellers, Hans Dernschwam, Stephan Gerlach and Salomon Schweigger, who visited the city in that period and lived there for a certain number of years, contain interesting remarks on the particular situation of Ottoman Jewry, so different from that in the Western world.
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Evliya's description of his journey in 17th century Ottoman Palestine is a good example of the importance of travelogue, especially as it gives another viewpoint, that of a Muslim scholar. Through his eyes, it is possible to see the... more
Evliya's description of his journey in 17th century Ottoman Palestine is a good example of the importance of travelogue, especially as it gives another viewpoint, that of a Muslim scholar. Through his eyes, it is possible to see the country, hear local traditions and get a better understanding of realities in that time and place. This article should be considered as an attempt to initiate either a greater research project on Evliya's Seyahatname concerning Palestine or a collection and publication of other Muslim travelers' narratives from the Ottoman period, which are scarce and not always accessible.
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Safed 16th-19th Centuries, in German.
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Immunology, Medical Genetics, Biology, Diaspora, Medicine, and 9 moreJudaism, Population, Humans, Haplotypes, Female, Male, Jews, Clinical Sciences, and Haplotype
This article investigates homosexual relations and the discourse about them among Ottoman Jews. Jewish sources reveal a substantial gap between ethical and moral demands and the life of the general public. They also attest to the... more
This article investigates homosexual relations and the discourse about them among Ottoman Jews. Jewish sources reveal a substantial gap between ethical and moral demands and the life of the general public. They also attest to the visibility and prevalence of sexual relations between males, despite the explicit biblical prohibition and later interdictions. In Ottoman urban society, gender and sexual preference were not naturally given but were determined by status and a complex of social behaviors. The Jewish and general public had no interest in the individual's sexual practices and showed a certain degree of tolerance to the point of de-facto legitimization, as long as social order and norms were kept.
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... Let our rabbi now instruct us what to do with Shimon, and whether Reuven is obligated to be ... On fraternal societies in the Ottoman Empire, see Y. Ben-Naeh, "Beyn gildah le-kahal: Ha ... 86. See Papo, Pele yoets,... more
... Let our rabbi now instruct us what to do with Shimon, and whether Reuven is obligated to be ... On fraternal societies in the Ottoman Empire, see Y. Ben-Naeh, "Beyn gildah le-kahal: Ha ... 86. See Papo, Pele yoets, "Zaken," 72b74a, and A. Galanté, Histoire des Juifs de Turquie, vol. ...
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Abstract The article suggests a frame of reference for the phenomenon of Ottoman Jewish courtiers, their philanthropic activity, and their motivations. Ottoman Jewish courtiers filled a similar role to that of their European peers.... more
Abstract The article suggests a frame of reference for the phenomenon of Ottoman Jewish courtiers, their philanthropic activity, and their motivations. Ottoman Jewish courtiers filled a similar role to that of their European peers. Besides helping people and communities, they used their political power to enhance their wealth and influence within the Jewish community, cleverly exploiting communal resources to maintain their business. The article examines their internal and external status, and their motivations concerning philanthropic actions. I argue that these businessmen made informed and utilitarian decisions concerning tzedakah, motivated by money and power, rather than by pure philanthropic or religious sentiments.
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The article suggests a frame of reference for the phenomenon of Ottoman Jewish courtiers, their philanthropic activity, and their motivations. Ottoman Jewish courtiers filled a similar role to that of their European peers. Besides helping... more
The article suggests a frame of reference for the phenomenon of Ottoman Jewish courtiers, their philanthropic activity, and their motivations. Ottoman Jewish courtiers filled a similar role to that of their European peers. Besides helping people and communities, they used their political power to enhance their wealth and influence within the Jewish community, cleverly exploiting communal resources to maintain their business. The article examines their internal and external status, and their motivations concerning philanthropic actions. I argue that these businessmen made informed and utilitarian decisions concerning tzedakah, motivated by money and power, rather than by pure philanthropic or religious sentiments.
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In the mid-1930s, Viennese bookseller David Frankel described a booklet containing regulations in Ladino. Its whereabouts were unknown until it recently appeared in a public auction in Jerusalem. Though Frankel attributed it to Istanbul,... more
In the mid-1930s, Viennese bookseller David Frankel described a booklet containing regulations in Ladino. Its whereabouts were unknown until it recently appeared in a public auction in Jerusalem. Though Frankel attributed it to Istanbul, his description leaves no room for doubt that this is the same text, but internal evidence points to Salonika. The four-page booklet is unsigned and undated; one can only conjecture that it was printed in the mid-1740s upon the initiative of the rabbinical and communal leadership in Salonika. It contains two groups of regulations…
This article focuses on a subject that has not been studied in the context of Ottoman Jewry: violence and acts of violence. It deals primarily with Izmir which since the early seventeenth century was not only "the microcosmos of... more
This article focuses on a subject that has not been studied in the context of Ottoman Jewry: violence and acts of violence. It deals primarily with Izmir which since the early seventeenth century was not only "the microcosmos of Europe," to borrow the title of Jacob Barnai's recent book,* 1 but also the microcosmos of the largest and most important Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire. Izmir's kahals (congregations) and the entire community were influenced by the traditions of the communities from which their members had come: Salonica, Istanbul, Safed, and others. Izmir's thriving community, numbering several thousand souls, attained the developed stage of those earlier communities after a century of migration and settling down, establishment of organizational and leadership patterns, and creation of traditions and customs in the public, social, and political spheres, such as those dealing with taxation or ritual slaughter.Research on aspects of violence a...
In the present article, based on Ottoman and Hebrew documents, we focus on people who made up fictitious stories of captivity in order to gain a living, as well as on authorities or local Jewish communities that detected and coped with... more
In the present article, based on Ottoman and Hebrew documents, we focus on people who made up fictitious stories of captivity in order to gain a living, as well as on authorities or local Jewish communities that detected and coped with those frauds in the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire. In detecting acts of fraud, a novel method adopted by Jewish communities during the period under study was printed letters that were not available to all segments of society. Considering the vigilance of Jewish communities to root out the ploys used by their co-religionists to acquire money through deceitful means, we suggest that those communities formulated some regulations in order to validate authenticity and differentiate between the true and the fake. We argue that an efficient web of networks among early modern Jewish communities in the Mediterranean and the use of the printing press played a crucial role in certifying the truthfulness of a document or a person.
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In the present article, based on Ottoman and Hebrew documents, we focus on people who made up fictitious stories of captivity in order to gain a living, and on authorities or local Jewish communities that detected and coped with those... more
In the present article, based on Ottoman and Hebrew documents, we focus on people who made up fictitious stories of captivity in order to gain a living, and on authorities or local Jewish communities that detected and coped with those frauds in the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire. In detecting acts of fraud, a novel method adopted by Jewish communities during that period was printed letters that were not available to all segments of society. Considering the vigilance of Jewish communities to root out the ploys used by their co-religionists to acquire money through deceitful means, we suggest that those communities formulated some regulations in order to validate authenticity and differentiate between the true and the fake. We argue that an efficient web of networks among early modern Jewish communities in the Mediterranean and the use of the printing press played a crucial role in certifying the truthfulness of a document or a person.
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המשפחה היהודית, בעקבות המשפחה המוסלמית בעיר העות'מאנית, הייתה משפחה פטריארכלית. בגלל אופייה של המשפחה, הכוחות החברתיים וערכיה של החברה היהודית, כמו של זו הסובבת, נחשבה השאת קטינים, ובייחוד השאת קטינה לגבר בוגר, כפתרון מוצלח, אף שהוא... more
המשפחה היהודית, בעקבות המשפחה המוסלמית בעיר העות'מאנית, הייתה משפחה פטריארכלית. בגלל אופייה של המשפחה, הכוחות החברתיים וערכיה של החברה היהודית, כמו של זו הסובבת, נחשבה השאת קטינים, ובייחוד השאת קטינה לגבר בוגר, כפתרון מוצלח, אף שהוא נגד במקרים רבים את טובתם המידית של בני הזוג. כה חזקים היו הכוחות החברתיים, טוען ירון בן-נאה, עד שעמדו גם בפני תקנות חכמים, ורק החינוך המודרני וכוחה של המדינה המודרנית הביאו תופעה זו אל קצה במהלך המחצית הראשונה של המאה העשרים.
An analysis of the dispute over the financial support sent from Europe for Jerusalem's Jews and of the compromise arrangement achieved with the help of the rabbis and leading members of the Cairo Jewish community to pay off the debt... more
An analysis of the dispute over the financial support sent from Europe for Jerusalem's Jews and of the compromise arrangement achieved with the help of the rabbis and leading members of the Cairo Jewish community to pay off the debt incurred by the Ashkenazi Jewish community during the last decade of the seventeenth century are the basis of a study of two issues relating to that community during, and especially towards the end of, the seventeenth century. These are the independent status of the Ashkenazi community in Ottoman Jerusalem, and the rise of 'Sephardi' and 'Ashkenazi' ethnic communal consciousness at the beginning of the modern period. Over and above the practical dispute over the funds raised in Europe loomed the controversy about the independence of the Ashkenazim in Jerusalem from the Sephardi community. This began in the late sixteenth century when the Ashkenazim succeeded in not paying their full share of the taxes while preserving organizational i...
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L'article suivant analyse la vie des pauvres et l'attitude adoptee a leur egard la societe juive de l'Empire ottoman, du XVI e au debut du XIX e siecle. Les pauvres ont vecu en marge de la communaute unevie de misere, sans... more
L'article suivant analyse la vie des pauvres et l'attitude adoptee a leur egard la societe juive de l'Empire ottoman, du XVI e au debut du XIX e siecle. Les pauvres ont vecu en marge de la communaute unevie de misere, sans force interne ni directive. La situation de ces pauvres est etudiee ici sous l'angle de la place qu'ils occupaient au sein de la communaute, de la vie qu'ils menaient au jour le jour et du degre de culture dont ils disposaient. L'aide individuelle et institutionnelle etait fondee sur l'heritage traditionnel, le sentiment de solidarite, les mentalites et les comportements ambiants des citadins ottomans qui traitaient la pauvrete comme un phenomene naturel, inherent a la societe. Son but n'etait ni de faire disparaitre la pauvrete ni de lutter contre les inegalites sociales et economiques, mais de garder en vie les indigents. Cette attitude contribua avec succes au but souhaite: la conservation des conventions et de l'ordre social au sein de la societe juive dans l'Empire ottoman.
ABSTRACT Sixteenth-century Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and seat of the Sultans, was demographically the most important city in the Euro-Asian world of the time and contained not only the largest urban Moslem population but... more
ABSTRACT Sixteenth-century Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire and seat of the Sultans, was demographically the most important city in the Euro-Asian world of the time and contained not only the largest urban Moslem population but also the largest Greek Orthodox and Jewish communities, this last feature surprising to Western travellers. Hence the diaries of three German-language travellers, Hans Dernschwam, Stephan Gerlach and Salomon Schweigger, who visited the city in that period and lived there for a certain number of years, contain interesting remarks on the particular situation of Ottoman Jewry, so different from that in the Western world.
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Page 1. YARON BEN-NAEH Jews in the Realm of the Sultans Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism 22 Mohr Siebeck Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. In this book, Yaron Ben-Naeh pre-sents an overall image of a ...
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One of the most astonishing phenomena of Jewish life in the Ottoman state is the widespread appeal to the kadi's court - a muslim court. I intend to describe the frequency of this norm, against explicit regulations, and explain the... more
One of the most astonishing phenomena of Jewish life in the Ottoman state is the widespread appeal to the kadi's court - a muslim court. I intend to describe the frequency of this norm, against explicit regulations, and explain the motivation to use the kadi's services, as well as the reasons for the ban against it. I shall conclude with the social and cultural significance of this practice. This presentation is for the following text(s): Mordechai Halevi, Darkei Noam (Pleasant Ways) (Venice, 1697) The court records of istanbul/ Istanbul sher'iyye sijilleri (1662)
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Evliya's description of his journey in 17 th century Ottoman Palestine is a good example of the importance of travelogue, especially as it gives another viewpoint, that of a Muslim scholar. Through his eyes, it is possible to see the... more
Evliya's description of his journey in 17 th century Ottoman Palestine is a good example of the importance of travelogue, especially as it gives another viewpoint, that of a Muslim scholar. Through his eyes, it is possible to see the country, hear local traditions and get a better understanding of realities in that time and place.