Dr Hilary Pomeroy
Jewish Life in the Realms of the Sultans
Hilary Pomeroy - Jewish Life in the Realms of the Sultans
- In the 7th century with the rise of Islam, Jewish history was completely changed. The Arabs advanced from the Arabian Peninsula to Morocco, well, not quite as far as Morocco, to Spain, Persia and India. And within 200 years, more than 90% of Jews were living in Muslim lands. So they were living mainly in the Balkans, in Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece, Albania, parts of Hungary, the Slav countries and of course the Mediterranean Islands. The Ottoman Empire replaced the what had been the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire. It also replaced, the following century, what had been the Mamluk Empire. But I’m not dealing with that now. I’m just dealing with the part that covered the Eastern Roman Empire. By this time, Jews were already living, had already lived under Ottoman Rule. But in addition, there were many refugees who arrived in what became the Ottoman Empire. So as early as the 14th century, you had refugees, Jewish refugees from Hungary, from France, from Sicily. And the chief rabbi of Edina, which was the capital of the Ottoman Empire at that time, sent out what became a very well-known letter to Jewish communities throughout Europe.
Visuals are displayed throughout the presentation.
And he encouraged Jews to settle within the Ottoman Empire describing the warm welcome and the good living conditions they would find. He stated, “Brothers and teachers, friends and acquaintances, I, Isaac Sachatie, I proclaim to you that Turkey is a land where nothing is living. Here, every man may dwell at peace under his own vine and fig tree.” So a very biblical introduction, I think, or biblical welcome. So we have to now go back to what was happening in Spain at this time. Here is a map of what would become the Ottoman Sephardic communities. But we have to think now to 1492. And the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Here is one of the handwritten edicts of expulsion. And these handwritten versions would be sent throughout Spain to warn people of what would be happening. And the edict of expulsion states quite categorically that Jews could not take out of Spain gold or silver or precious jewels. So the people who went into exile went impoverished, and they went in terrible conditions. Many of them had to, well they had to sell their homes, usually at a very poor price. Families were split up.
Sometimes parts of the family wanted to leave Spain, others wanted to stay and convert. We don’t have any picture, illustration for Jews departing from Spain, but this is an illustration from a century later when the Moriscos, the Muslims who had converted to Christianity fled from Spain. Now, where did they go? Well, you’ve already heard that the first option for Jews living in Spain, the nearest most convenient place would be to go to Portugal, where 600 of the richest families, richest Jewish families got permission to stay. But you’ve also heard the terrible consequences for Jews who arrived in Portugal. Italy was relatively near, but it wasn’t a united country, just as Spain hadn’t been till 1469. There were severe difficulties in crossing the Mediterranean to get to North Africa. So in fact, the best option was the Ottoman Empire. And in fact, the Sultan Bayazid II ordered his viziers to welcome Jews and facilitate their settlement in the country. He actually categorically stated that he would punish any governors who did not welcome the Jews. In fact, during the Ottoman Empires, throughout the 15th century, many cities had been destroyed. And so we now have to have a policy.
We see a policy implemented that was specific to the Ottoman Empire. This is known as the surgun. It’s the enforced movement, reallocation or transfer of a population from one place to another. So at one time, all the Jews were removed and sent to Istanbul, and at another time, they were sent back to Salonika. Or various other minorities would be moved around. But wherever the Turks conquered, they found regions where Jews had lived for centuries. Now, what happened to those people? Those refugees, amongst whom there were admittedly several who came from affluent backgrounds and had managed to get their wealth or their fortunes out of the country. But most, as you’ll see, in particular, when we look at the culinary culture of Ottoman Jews, which would be a diet, the cuisine of the poor, what did the Jews bring to the Ottoman Empire? And why were they welcome? Why is it that they could arrive empty handed, but yet the Jewish culture would be reborn? Well, surprisingly, after the hardships they brought energy, culture, they revived and they energised dormant centres of Jewish life.
As they were refugees from Spain, they obviously had a very strong commitment to Judaism. So they successfully reorganised their lives, both on an individual basis, and also they revived communal life. They brought expertise, knowledge, craftsmanship, international banking connections. And one of the most important things that they brought was the printing press. So a year after they first arrived in the Ottoman Empire, the first Jewish presses were being established by the Nachmanidis brothers in Istanbul. So as early as, well, the following year, 1493, 1494 books were being produced. Whereas printing in Arabic characters was forbidden until the 18th century. Now why was it that the Jews were welcomed? Why did Bayazid welcome the Jews to his kingdom? Well, they had very favourable economic contacts, widespread international contacts. They had family and communal links throughout the known world, basically around the Mediterranean. It meant that any transactions would be safe.
They could conduct business in a variety of languages. They became relied upon for their skill and knowledge of banking and commerce, and secured an important place in Levantine trade. Furthermore, because they were politically weak, they were not a threat to the Ottoman Empire. They didn’t pose any, as I say, any threat at all. They had no meaning meaningful links with Christian powers. The Christians were the enemy of the Ottomans, of the Muslim Ottomans. So no meaningful links with Christians. In relation to the Muslim community throughout the empire, they were numerically very small and susceptible to pressure. Moreover, as the Turks found, they were very trustworthy, and they were loyal. And for those reasons, a combination of all those reasons, Jews were entrusted with delicate diplomatic missions, with the handling of the finances of leading Ottomans, and with tax farming, that is bringing in taxes from out the country, state taxes. So they played a vital role in the economic life of the empire.
They were particularly active, you won’t be surprised to hear this, in all aspects of textile production and the manufacturer of clothing, and thousands of Jews were in fact involved in the textile industry. But they were also involved in the leather trade. They exported raw hides and furs. They were goldsmiths and silversmiths. We keep forgetting that they were craftsmen and artisans. Even amongst their skills, they were able to produce rennet-free cheese, which was both kosher and suitable for Muslims so they could be entrusted with that task. And as concerns of commerce, they formed themselves into guilds. Now, I’ve mentioned that some of the men became very important and undertook diplomatic missions from the late 15th century onwards. But women, who for the most part in the Sephardi world were not heard and stayed at home and not seen, some of them, however, obtained positions of relative power. This is the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, where the Sultans lived and the women of the harem could not leave, enter, or leave the palace. But Jewish women known as Kiras, had positions as purveyors of merchandise, cosmetics, jewellery to the women of the harem.
So that was an important role. They became the confidants of the close family of the sultan, particularly the mother who was always the most important woman. So here we see a Jewish woman bringing with her merchandise to the women, the Turkish women of the harem who are not allowed to leave. But what were the conditions in general for the Jews who had arrived? I’m showing you some photographs that would date, obviously, the photographs would date from the mid-19th century onwards. If you’re French, you would think that photography dated from 1849 from the time of Daguerre, if you’re English, you would say it dated from 1850 because you believe that Fox Talbot invented it. But whatever, from the mid-19th century, we have photographic evidence of how Jews lived. And I think that some of these photographs, for example, this of a street in Istanbul, I think it’s particularly flattering and favourable. I don’t think conditions were quite as good as this would suggest. Another photograph of conditions in Istanbul, and you can see from their clothing how well off these people are. And this photograph comes from a collection known as the Albert Kahn collection of photographs.
If you are to visit Paris in the near future, I would urge you to visit the Albert Kahn collection, which is very near to the Bois de Boulogne and is a beautiful building with very beautiful gardens. And Albert Khan was a Jewish financier and philanthropist, and he sent photographers out throughout the world to make an archive of how people were living, which is how we are fortunate to have many very important, remarkable photographs of the Jewish community. Now, I stress that the houses everywhere in the Ottoman Empire were built out of wood. So of course, they were susceptible to fire. And here we have a picture of a Jewish fire brigade from Salonika. So really to extinguish a fire, they would have to transport and pull these heavy carts of water. And you can see on them that they’re wearing badges. Those would be the badges of the insurance companies with which they were linked. Now, basically, Jews lived in what were known as cortijos, which is normally translated as a courtyard, but it’s not a courtyard in the sense that we would imagine, it’s not like a private courtyard. These cortijos were yards, more like a square, surrounded by terraces of houses.
And that’s how the Jewish people lived. So you could see they were very much on top of each other, and lots of activities took place in the cortijo. You can see the washing hung out here. Very neighbourly, probably very noisy. Cooking, cuisine would be carried out here. But other Jews, a few of the Jews in Salonika from the late 19th century onwards, particularly those who were Frankos of Italian origin, who came later and had not been impoverished, had beautiful mansions. This mansion’s been taken over by the state, but on the whole, the roads would be rather like this. Now, how did people live? Well, I said that the women were at home. A man’s life centred on both the synagogue, the market where he probably carried out his trade, or if not, in a workshop, say. In fact, women didn’t go to the markets. And I think this is rather a nice tradition. The men did all the shopping. In the Ottoman Empire, the men would go out and buy the food, but not only the food, they would buy fabrics and materials for clothing. That was entrusted to them. I’ve mentioned the synagogues.
So I should state how, I’d like to talk a little bit about synagogues now. Oh, this is a street scene in Istanbul. As you can probably make out it’s on a steep hill. And there are staircases. Now those stairs have been paved over now. So there’s just a ramp, you can go up it. But this is a synagogue in Izmir. It’s the synagogue known as the Bikur Halim. The clinic or hospital. And it was known as the Bikur Halim, where one would go for treatment, because in the basement of this synagogue, there was actually a hospital in times of plagues and epidemics. The Jews who left Spain had travelled mainly, well, when they could, they travelled in groups for safety. Although the journey out of Spain was certainly not safe, or in family groups. And when they arrived in a new city such as Izmir, Istanbul, Salonika, they set up their own congregations, their own synagogues. You have dozens of synagogues, but they’re small because they cater only to their own congregation. They would be a Romaniote congregation. Those were the Jews, the original Jews of the city who were Greek speakers.
There would be an Ashkenazi synagogue in all certainty. But there were also synagogues named after Majorca, Castile, Aragon, Portugal, the new Portugal synagogue, the old Portuguese synagogue. And in fact, I really shouldn’t have started with a particular synagogue because Jews didn’t really flourish in Izmir till the 17th century. And it wasn’t till the 17th century that synagogues began to be built there. So here’s an early synagogue from Istanbul. It’s the Ahrida synagogue in Balat, which was a very popular Jewish quarter. And the shape, this is the bimah. And as you can see, and as we saw in the last photograph, the reader’s desk is in the middle and people sit around the congregation, the men sat around on benches. And as was typical of Ottoman life, there would be rugs on the floor. Rugs on the seats, cushions, a great deal of search for comfort. At the same time, the Pact of Omar forbade the construction of new synagogues. So I must remind you of that, which is why you have a prevalence of private synagogues throughout the Ottoman and in Muslim lands. And still today, very much so in Morocco, that’s the origin of that tradition. So in the Ottoman Empire, you would have many private synagogues, synagogues in an individual’s house.
The synagogue might be just for a family or for several families. It meant that of course it saved a great deal of money. It was not expensive like putting up a new building. And it was inconspicuous. So it would not be obvious that perhaps the covenant was being broken. This is a curtain. It’s a parochet, that would cover the ark where the Sefer Torahs were kept and beautifully embroidered. Like the Spaniards, as in Muslim Spain, where textiles and textile skills were greatly appreciated. This was the case in the Ottoman Empire. And this would almost certainly have originally been a bedspread, possibly even for a birth, in the birthing chamber, or it could have been a panel for a dress. And these would be converted into curtains for the synagogue. This was considered a great honour to have one’s own belongings taken and put near the holy ark. The Sefer Torah in Ottoman lands were not normally in drapery, in textile covers, but in metal ones. And were read upright and often kept within their case. Here we have some rimonim, the finials, which would be from the Sefer Torah.
These are in, or were in the Kal de los Frankos, the synagogue of the Frankos in Istanbul. And it’s really quite pertinent and interesting to note that we have on the left the Magen David, David, which by this time had become a Jewish symbol. But on two of the finials you have the star and crescent of Islam. But they’re very, very, very beautiful instruments. Another appurtenance, of a religious appurtenance, but I’m sorry, you can’t see it too clearly here, is this hanukia with eight little recipients for oil. But again, it’s crowned with the crescent and star of Islam. Today, where will you find synagogues? In Izmir, there is the street of the synagogues. At one time it had nine synagogues and it went down to six. I’m not sure how many are functioning now. Sadly, in Salonika, the community that was nearly wiped out during the Holocaust, there are only two main synagogues. This is the Monastir synagogue. So the synagogue that was named after the congregation of Monastir, which is not open every Shabbat, it’s where a bar mitzvah will take place and where you go for high holy days. Otherwise you go to to the community centre where on a Friday evening and Saturday morning, there is usually a service.
Now, how did the Jews earn their living? Well, we very often don’t associate Jewish people with manual tasks or manual labour, but a majority of the Jewish population was so involved. Here we are in Salonika and this rather rough looking group of men, but looking quite happy, these are Jewish fishermen. And what is interesting about the Jewish fishermen is that they were particularly religious. There was a synagogue for the fishermen, also known as the Sicily synagogue. I can’t explain the link between Sicily and fishermen. But these are the Jewish fishermen who went out from Salonika, either to nearby waters or further away. And here are the famous stevedores or porters who worked in the Port of Salonika. And this, as you can tell from the stamp on the top, came in the form of postcards. Now very much, we know so much about the life in the Ottoman Empire because of the photographs that were made into postcards, they would be sent either to family to give news or else they were used almost as a visiting card. Here, more stevedores or porters with their extraordinarily heavy loads. They could carry at least a couple of hundred kilos on their backs.
And it’s claimed that they could even carry three to 400 kilos. And I’d like you to notice that the porters here are wearing turbans. So here we have a better off group of men. They’re wearing the fez, which would suggest that this is taken after the Turkish reforms, when the Ottoman Empire was beginning to be modernised and westernised. So they’re wearing their fez. And this is clearly a natural scene, they’re out in the street. I’ll just show you a photograph, a closeup of the fez. ‘Cause many Jews, I’ve said they were involved in textiles, they were in involved in the production of the fez as well, which was not an easy task. The fez had to be moulded shaped on a particular mould and then left to dry, which would take up to a week, and then there would be beautiful embroidery on it. But this is a posed photograph in a studio. And what is interesting is how Jews became very involved in photography in the Ottoman Empire.
There were photographic studios from the late 19th century as also there were in Morocco. You’ll notice you’ll be able to tell more about life in the Ottoman Empire here because you can see they’re wearing furs. We might think of these countries as being warm, but they were very often very cold in the winter. So clothing had to be adapted to that. And the men are wearing sashes. And in those sashes they would stick their little wad of tobacco and also their money instead of a purse or a wallet. And they’re not carrying rosaries. These are worry beads which they would work through. And here a rather dignified group of senior dignitaries and rabbis from the island of Rhodes. So let’s look in a little bit more at the life cycle of Jews in the Ottoman Empire. I’m showing you here the very oldest marriage certificate, ketubah, that we know of. And it dates, actually it’s very early, 1430 or 1432 from Tudela in Spain. And this is the first example we have of an illustrated, illuminated or decorated marriage contract. But this is a habit that was taken out of Spain. There are about eight illustrated marriage certificates that have survived from Spain. But this habit of illustrating the ketubah came to the Ottoman Empire.
And this is a very, it’s one of my favourites. It’s a very beautiful ketubah from, perhaps you can guess from the scene, it’s from Istanbul. Because in the top half we see the Bosphorus River. So the ketubah is divided horizontally with an illustration at the top. And then the contents, the wording of the document and the dowry written below. And all the illustration is very Ottoman style with the foliage and the flowers. And of interest in the top half on the Bosphorus we see a mosque. So a mosque, once again, an allusion to Islam in a religious document, because the ketubah is a legal religious document. And now another ketubah, this is from the island of Rhodes. A particularly beautiful one. It’s shaped, you can see the shape is rather like an arch and below the double horseshoe arch, which I referred to before as being typical of Moorish, Spanish Moorish decoration. And if you look carefully, you’ll see that there are in fact 18 schul, synagogues depicted. And of course, 18 is a particularly important symbolic numeral in Jewish life. So after the wedding or once a wedding had taken place, you can be assured that people would be longing for a birth to take place as soon as possible.
And very often they came within the first year. This would happen very early, but at the same time, weddings were between very young bride and groom. Girls from the age of 12, boys from the age of 15. Once a wife became pregnant, we are told that she would be treated, fussed over and looked after and titivated throughout the nine months. And really remember that childbirth was very risky in these days. Very poor hygienic situation, rather rudimentary medicine. It was more or less folk medicine or superstitions. So on the left we have a birthing, a birth kerchief. It’s in the colour red, which would help to keep away evil spirits. There is embroidery in gold thread. And again, gold or gold fringes help to keep devils away. It’s a triangular shape, which is symbolic of weakening evil forces. But it’s the only one that I have found. And it comes not from a Sephardic community in the Ottoman Empire, but one of those original Jewish communities, the Romaniote, the Greek speaking Romaniote Jews. It comes from Janina. And there is still today there is an important and very dynamic Janina synagogue in New York.
On the right we have the herb rue, because the herb rue was supposed to protect children and keep away evil eyes. I’m moving on rather quickly, but I will come back to the lifecycle. I just want to, I’ve got here a group from Izmir, no, it’s from Istanbul. You see different areas of the Ottoman Empire had slightly differing costumes, but not to the same extent as in Morocco. From one village in Morocco to another there would be huge difference in particularly in the headdresses. But you can see here what was known as a halabi which was often very enormous. There would be rags would be put on the head and wrapped around with scarves. So that in the end the sultan sent out a firman forbidding these type of headdress, which actually did look ludicrous. Different type of costume here, a married couple from Bosnia. And again, this is a posed portrait and you can tell it’s posed because of the painted background. It’s not natural, it’s not in the street. And on the left, these are women from Istanbul.
And on the right, a fiance from Izmir. Now it was the tradition for families or the father of a girl, once she got engaged or married to give her either a metal belt or else as in the top of the photograph, these bracelets that would consist, they could consist of between seven and 20 links, chains that would be linked together by a plaque. Very beautiful. I want to go back to Albert Khan in Bois du Boulogne. This photograph was taken in Salonika in 1912 or 1913. Those photographers had a difficult time because they weren’t carrying a lightweight Leica camera with them. They were carrying heavy glass plates. And when you look at portraits, if people look very solemn, first of all, you’ve got to remember that it wasn’t commonplace to have photographs taken. And very often one had to hold a pose, you couldn’t move while the photograph was being taken. And you can hear reasonably closely the very distinctive outfits of women from Salonika, and particularly these rather unflattering headdresses that actually consisted of six or seven separate pieces. I said that women stayed at home, but they were allowed out. They would be able to go to out to a wedding, to an engagement. And also they could visit the cemetery to pay respects to their family.
And here you see in Salonika, a woman climbing onto a tombstone to look at it more carefully. And the two men you see were known as honajis. These were not fully fledged rabbis, but they were there because they could read and the women were usually illiterate. And they would find the way around the synagogue, the cemetery, they would find the way to a particular tomb and they would read the prayers. And this is is quite an important photograph for us. It’s quite a poignant photograph because you can see quite clearly this honaji and the six women. You can see that the cemetery is by the sea. This cemetery no longer exists. It’s the one that was demolished during the Holocaust, torn down by the Germans and others. To be discussed in greater detail in my lecture on Jewish life of the Jews of Salonika. So by the late 19th century, early 20th century modernization and Westernisation is coming. And you can see this by the change in costumes. Women here are in Western dress and they’re making their way to the white tower. This is the promenade along the sea front in Salonika. And you can see the tracks along which trams would be taken.
Now the trams were originally horse drawn. And then they gradually, when electricity was introduced, they would become electric. And much of the material that I have and that I have learned comes from memoirs or notebooks that people have sent to me to read about. And the grandmother of someone from Salonika said it took her father a very long time before he would allow his children to get into an electric tram because he was so frightened of them. We’re still with women in Salonika, sitting outside the schul, listening to the service. So very often, not a special place for them, but also an an additional reason for them to be outside is that in some congregations it was felt that women were impure, unclean if they were menstruating and couldn’t actually be present in the synagogue.
You saw those wonderful costumes. Now, how did women spend their time? Well, they had no education other than a practical education. Here we see the Singer workshop where young girls are preparing their dowry. And we know it’s almost certainly dowry because they’re working in white materials. And again, going back to superstitions, all the parts of the dowry would be usually white. You know, when you were celebrating an imminent birth, you wouldn’t drink, if there was a group of women sitting together, they wouldn’t have black coffee, because black is associated with misfortune. They would always have white coffee. Late 19th century women were beginning to go out to work. When I say beginning to go out to work, we’ve already seen actually that there were women working in the seraglio, in the haram. And we also know from documents that again, from the 15th and 16th century, very often women, because of the travailles, because of the vicissitudes of that departure from Spain, could be widows or separated from their husbands.
They could be changed wives and had to make a living, usually in some sort of financial way. Here, this is the tobacco factory in Salonika. And the young girls are separating the tobacco leaves from the stems. And it was not a very healthy pursuit because to keep the leaves supple so that they didn’t become brittle, they were working in a very humid atmosphere. And another acceptable profession for women was as musicians. So here we have various women musicians. How did women though become emancipated? Well, first of all, from 1860 onwards, the Alliance Israelite Universelle was founded in Paris to bring education to the ignorant masses of the Ottoman Empire. This particular branch in Istanbul became the old age home. And a great advantage, a great asset of the Alliance Israelite, was that it did provide food for the children. So here we see, it looks as if the food is going to be ladled out to these little children with their bibs, probably in many cases, this would be the only meal that they would have that day. And not unlike what happens in the present day, there would be also a women’s committee to raise funds for the Alliance.
Now, I visited that Alliance that became an old age home about 20 years ago when I was making recordings of women singing ballads and songs. And this is a photograph of one of two singers, sisters who sang for me. And this woman, we’ve come through pregnancy and marriage where she’s now preparing fitilikos. These are twists of cotton. She’s taking the skeins of cotton, rubbing them between her hands and making threads, long threads that will be put in a bowl of oil. It could be for mourning where they would be left in times of mourning for seven days, or it could be to become Shabbat lights. But as I say, this is one of two sisters who sang for me. It wasn’t only the Alliance Francais that helped the community. There were individuals, this is Moise Alatini who founded, he was an entrepreneur, he had factories. But he also financed an orphanage. This is an early photograph of the Alatini orphanage in Salonika. The orphanage was put to a set use after the Holocaust. I think some 1,200 Jews out of nearly 50,000 returned to Salonika after the war. And many of them were put up in the Alatini Orphanage. Well, I said many, they would’ve been 60 living in this dormitory. Living there perhaps 20 or 30 years.
And of course the community was always very aware in the Ottoman Empire of its duty to others. So here we have another orphanage with the little girls doing their sewing. And really from this age, from a very tiny age, they would be preparing their trousseau, their dowry rather for marriage. And the dowry would normally consist mainly of bedding, not clothing, but bedding and cushion covers and towels, beautifully embroidered towels. Now I must mention the food before I go any further. Not only food, but also drink because however poor the people might have been, they somehow would manage to make their own liquors, And in the Ottoman Empire it was usually raki which was rather like ouzo. And some of you will know the song “I’d Give My Life for a Drink of Raki.” But the food definitely was the food of a community that was not rich, that had to make ends meet. Food where the budget was all important. So very much based on vegetables and all the parts of a vegetable would be used, the stalks, the leaves.
As for meat, when it was used, it would be chopped, minced into purees or meatballs. The purees would also be mixed with vegetables, particularly with leeks. A well-known dish of leek and beef meatballs. Because of kashrut and because they couldn’t use butter for cooking, if they did manage to get a chicken or an animal, they would boil the lungs to get a form of fat that could be used. You see, the Ottomans used fat from the sheep tail, which was not kosher. So that’s how the Jews cooked. Or with olive oil, when they could get hold of it. Fruit was often past its best stage because of the expense, but it would be cooked with sugar to make numerous conserves. And the Sephardim certainly have a reputation for having certainly a sweet tooth. And those wonderful pastries that still exist. Of course if you visit any Sephardi household, you would almost certainly be given food or drink and pastries as soon as you arrive. So that’s why I’m remembering.
These members of a community that has now been extinguished, they’re enjoying a drink, but it was from the island of Rhodes. But let me just mention the language that they were speaking that they brought out of Spain with them, most commonly known to us as Ladino. Although in the Ottoman Empire, it was also referred to, particularly in the printing press as Judio. it was an archaic form of Spanish written in Hebrew characters. And certainly the vocabulary and phenology was archaic and with several Hebrew terms. But that press, the publishing houses that I mentioned to you by the 1850s, 1860s were beginning to produce Ladino newspapers. I’m calling them newspapers, but they were not so much newspapers, more as journals, they would have lots of information. And here we have “El Avenir,” the future or “La Epoca.” And at the beginning of the 20th century when Sephardi Jews made their way to the United States, there we have “La Epoca de New York.”
And these two were very important in producing, educating the public, and particularly women. If a woman had not been educated at a school, and there were not only schools run by the French, but the British, Mr. Grosby had his school in Salonika. You see the schools were popular amongst Jews, not so much, not necessarily just for the education, but because of food, a meal was provided. And in the winter, warm clothing was sent over by these kind women back in London. So there would be reading circles. Circles would be formed and someone who could read well would read the newspaper. And this was a way of educating women who had not had formal education, particularly in matters of hygiene and health and medicine. There is a Jewish paper being still produced in Istanbul.
It’s the “Shalom,” it was only introduced in the 1940s. And one part of it, “El Amaneser”, which means dawn is published in Ladino. Now I’m running out of time. So let me remind you that the Ottoman Empire, or rather, in 1912 Salonika was merged with Greece. So here we see the Pasha with the Ottoman flag surrendering to Prince Constantine of Greece. And here is the Greek cavalry entering into Salonika. And this will all become more relevant when I talk about the Jews of Salonika. And finally, 10 years later, or 12 years later, in 1932, the last sultan of the whole of what was left of the Ottoman Empire leaves Istanbul to go into, retirement is not the term. He’s abdicating. So that is the end of the Ottoman Empire and it’s where I will end tonight, this afternoon. Thank you very much.
[Hannah] Would you like to open it up to any questions, Hilary, or are you done for the day?
I could do a few, if I can find them. Will they be at the bottom of the screen?
[Hannah] Yes, I’m opening it up now.
Q&A and Comments:
- Oh, thank you. Well, first of all, yeshiva, Shelly.
Q: Shelly should ask if there were no yeshivas.
A: First of all, yeshiva is not a term that one would use in the Ottoman Empire. The children, the boys went to school in what would be the equivalent of a hader very often in very large classrooms. But in certain towns there would be a Talmud Torah, particularly in Salonika, the famous Talmud Torah of Salonika, which was founded in 1620 I think it was. But was destroyed during the big fire. I’ve mentioned, the fires that took place in these communities because of the wooden buildings. It was destroyed in 1917. But yes, the Ottoman Empire produced many well-known rabbis and scholars, particularly people like, well the Shulchan Aruch, Joseph Karan wrote his book there and was written there. So yes, there were more advanced schools of Jewish education or Jewish education, yes.
Oh, Jews wouldn’t carry rosaries because they were symbolic of Christianity. I don’t know if there’s anything below this. Jeffrey. So I think that is all. Oh no, I can see there are more questions above which aren’t coming through to me. Let me see if I can get them.
[Hannah] Do you want me to read any questions aloud to you?
Oh yes, 'cause I can’t see anymore. Thank you very much, Hannah.
[Hannah] Okay. We won’t be able to go through all of them, but I’ll do a couple.
Q: So Rochelle is asking, what is the significance of the open hand above the doors of Jewish homes in the past Istanbul?
A: I’m not familiar with, I don’t think they were in Istanbul. I think you find them in North Africa as decoration above the doorways and painted on the walls. And the significance is to keep away evil and evil spirits, but you don’t get much in the way of the hamsa in the Ottoman Empire. Not all the customs of North Africa will be found in the Ottoman Empire, for example, the use of henna, which you find so much in Algeria or Morocco, it’s not very much used at all.
Q: [Hannah] Diane is asking where is the Albert Kahn Museum?
A: I think you would have to go online to get the exact address. It’s very easy to get to on the metro. It’s very near a metro station, which is conveniently near a couple of kosher cafes. It’s well worth a visit. But I went in November and it was shut to the public. So I suggest that if you want to see all the material that you write, you get permission to visit. You’d be able to visit, to walk around the grounds. But it’s the most wonderful collection and we’re very fortunate to have it. And not just recording Jewish life, but life throughout the world.
How many Jews live in Turkey today? I think it’s about 15,000, but I’m not sure. I didn’t check this. So, I’m not sure. Sorry.
[Hannah] Elli is asking, were there no yeshivas in the Ottoman Empire, like in Lithuania?
I’ve already answered that question.
Sorry.
Yes. Sorry, you missed it.
Q: [Hannah] David is saying in the harems, were women allowed to learn or read or develop any other skills?
A: Well, we certainly wouldn’t be reading or writing. No, no, no.
Q: [Hannah] Andre says, is there any Jewish life currently in Salonika?
A: Oh, I’ll be there next week actually. And there are a little over a thousand Jews there. And I will be going with friends to the schul on Friday night and we’ll visit the community. It’s a very warm, interesting community. But the museum, the Jewish Museum should not be missed. It is well worth a visit. And another place if you can get permission to visit, would be the archives. Although that’s very sad because the archives are all the records of all the marriages and the births that took place from the late 1930s onwards till the destruction of the community.
[Hannah] Shall we do one more question?
Yes, do.
And there are so many comments saying they’ve appreciated the fantastic lecture today. Many, many people saying thank you. Sarah says, I only discovered recently I have Portuguese Sephardi ancestors born in Hasko and Hasku, Turkey. Sorry for the pronunciation.
Q: She says, do you know anything about that community and why they might have chosen to come to England eventually?
A: Hasko was a particular area of Istanbul. It was very much a Jewish quarter, Jewish neighbourhood. Jews tended to live, or in many cases, tended to leave the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century in the 1900s. And something when, first of all, the conscription military service became compulsory. And those who came to England very often came because there were 1908, 1910, there were world fairs in London. So they would bring the Turkish carpets, the Turkish rugs to be on display. But there is still, you know, a relatively active community in Istanbul today and also in Izmir to a lesser extent, but still in Izmir. Oh, could I just say, if any of you have any diaries, personal accounts of family about their lives, whether they’re written in English, French, or Ladino, I would be very interested to see them because I can put them to very good use or translate them for you if necessary.
[Hannah] Hilary, how could people get that information to you?
Well, my last slide had my email address, but I’ll repeat it.
[Hannah] Do you want to pull that up on the screen perhaps one more time?
Share screen? Yep.
[Hannah] It’s like you’re still sharing.
Only I can’t find it.
[Hannah] No worries.
It is HilaryPomeroy. That’s one word. Hilary is one L. H-I-L-A-R-Y-P-O-M-E-R-O-Y. Hilarypomeroy@aol.com.
[Hannah] Perfect. So people can find you there?
With pleasure. Yes.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
And Hannah, if absolutely necessary, could they find out through Lockdown University?
[Hannah] People can always write info@lockdownuniversity.org and we can pass things along as well.
Oh, that’s wonderful. Well thank you and thank you so much all of you who attended, and I hope you’ll be present for the lecture on the Jewish Life in Salonika. Thank you very much.