top of page
Mediterranean
Spanish Jews look for refuge on the Northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Levant.
Sephardic exiles looked East to find refuge. It wouldn't be in France, which had already expelled its own Jewish population. Italy was only a little better. The Ottoman Empire, however, not only accepted Jews but actually welcomed them. This included countries we know as the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq. Sepharadim not only enlarged those Jewish communities, and added new ones. They soon overwhelmed them and became the dominant style in many features of Jewish life including prayer, language, scholarship, clothing, and religious law. They enriched Ottoman life with their expertise in trade, banking, and diplomacy.
bottom of page