Migration of Jews to Spain In 70 C.E. the Roman army invaded Jerusalem and expelled the Jews from Judea and Samaria. Some of these Jews reached Spain and established thriving communities there. 70 C.E. The most famous person to emerge in Spain is Moshe Ben Maimon (Maimonides), a Jewish scientist, physician and a Torah Scholar.

Expulsion of Jews from Spain 15 th Century

Ferdinand & Isabella In the 15th century the Jews in Spain faced strong pressures to convert to Christianity and many yielded to this pressure and became Christians In 1492 the king of Spain, Ferdinand, issued an edict to expel from Spain all remaining Jews who did not convert to Christianity.

Sultan Beyazit II welcoming Jews to Ottoman Empire When the news of expulsion reached the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan Beyazit II issued a decree to welcome the Jews. A significant portion of those expelled thus came to Ottoman Empire and settled mostly in European parts of the Empire. The Turkish Jews are also identified as Sephardic Jews. This derives from the word Sepharad which in Hebrew means Spain. 1492

Since 1492, through five centuries, the Ottoman sultans and the modern day Turkish Republic, welcomed the Jews and offered them a safe haven from persecution in the European countries. The Ottoman Empire at its zenith became one the largest empires in World History covering most of Mediterranean basin region extending from North Africa to Eastern Europe.

Mehmed the Conqueror receives Gennadius II Scholarius (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople)Gennadius II Scholarius While many European nations expelled, persecuted or tried to convert the Jews under their dominion, the Turkish people of the Ottoman Empire, remained as an outstanding example of tolerance of different nationalities with different religions. One of the characteristics that extended the domination of the Ottoman Empire was its allowance of religious freedom for the different nationalities and minorities under its rule. 1454

Turkish People did not discriminate its people on the basis of religion, race or ethnicity. The history of the Ottoman Jews is rich with mutual complementary cultural influences. The Jews coming from Spain established the first printing presses that had just emerged as a most important tool of the modern culture.

Many Jewish doctors served in the Ottoman palace and army.. Jews engaged in commerce enhanced trade between countries of the region for the benefit of all.

Caddebostan Synagogue in Istanbul The religious freedom allowed the flourishing of famous Rabbis that produced outstanding works of comments on the Old Testament.

Until World War I the Land of Israel also known as Palestine, remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. During this period the Jewish population in this region lived as loyal subjects of the greater Ottoman Empire.

Selahattin Ulkumen Before and during World War II, Turkish diplomats in foreign countries worked hard to help Jews escape from deportation to concentration and death camps. Yad VaShem, Holocaust Memorial Institute in Israel awarded the medal of "The Righteous Among the Nations" to the Turkish ambassador Mr. Selahattin Ulkumen, for saving Jews of the Greek island Rhodes while risking his own life.

Albert Einstein There are many stories of Jews escaped from the Nazi Regime in Germany. For example, Turkish scientists honored their German Jewish teachers who escaped to Turkey and taught in universities in Istanbul.

During World War II, the Sephardic communities in Turkey and Bulgaria were the only Jewish communities that did not suffer the Nazi Holocaust, thanks to the wisdom of the leaders of these countries. In contrast, nearly the entire Sephardic Jewish community of Greece was killed during World War II by the Nazi death machine.

After World War II, while the British rule tried to prevent the movement of the Jewish refugees into Israel, the modern day Turkish Republic allowed its Jewish citizens freely to emigrate to Israel.

The major wave of emigration from Turkey to Israel took place between This migration from Turkey was not a result of a desire to escape from Turkey but rather emanated from the national desire to return to the homeland of our forefathers as each day three times a day we prayed to return to Jerusalem.

The current population of Turkish-Jews in Israel is estimated as about 100,000, though a precise figure is difficult to obtain. This represents a relatively small community in the general population of about 6 million in Israel.

Prof. Israel Hanukoglu Quote: “Like any minority in any country, sometimes isolated events of differential treatment are raised. Yet, as I became more knowledgeable and could compare cultures and countries around the globe with the passing of age and experience, We became much more appreciative of the benevolence of the Turkish people who harbored the Jewish people through incredibly barbaric times in the annals of European history. “ Ariel University Israel

Prof. Israel Hanukoglu Quote: “In retrospect of what we know of European history today, we owe Turkish people a great debt of gratitude for saving the lives of thousands of Jews.” As Turkish-Jews we preserved our national identity as the descendants of the Biblical Israelites, yet to this day we also feel ourselves as Turkish and identify with the Turkish People.” Ariel University Israel

Today Turkey is one of the most favorite countries for Israeli tourists, thanks to its natural beauty and famous hospitality of its people. The number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey each year is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. This tourist travel has extended the ties of friendship between Israel and Turkey to the general population, outside of the small community of Turkish Jews.

The trade between Turkey and Israel has greatly expanded in all spheres of economic activity from food commodities to hi-tech products. There are also many joint scientific and commercial activities between the two countries.

Both Turkey and Israel are unique in the Middle-East as the only countries with democratic regimes and democratic culture with multi-party systems.

The Israeli-Arab conflict in the Middle East is not a religious conflict between Jews and Muslims; on the contrary, it has historical, geographic, national and cultural dimension between two people.

We hope that continuing the centuries old tradition of strong ties between Jews in Israel and Turkey may help promote greater stability in this region. The close ties of friendship and tolerance between the Turkish and Jewish People throughout the centuries is proof that Moslems and Jews can live together with mutual respect, and should serve as an example for Middle Eastern counties and Israel for a peaceful coexistence.

RESOURCES /hi/turkish/