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Welcome to 10 Minute TopicsThis week’s topic is: Sephardim Jews
The Sephardim are the descendants of the Jews who were disbursed as slaves and exiles fromIsrael by the Roman Empire. Once the Roman Empire dissolved, the descendants of these Jewsmigrated throughout Europe. Many of them settled in Spain and Portugal where they thriveduntil the Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion in 1492 and the Portuguese Inquisition andExpulsion in 1497.
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 Historically, there are four divisions of Sephardim.
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1. The first group is descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 who settled in various parts of the Ottoman Empire and spoke a Judeo-Spanish dialect known as Ladino.2. The second group is descendants of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula who settledin Morocco and spoke a Judeo-Spanish dialect known as Hakitia. This group later immigrated back to the Iberian Peninsula and formed the core of the Gibraltar community.3. The third group is descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who remained on theIberian Peninsula as Christians but later reverted to Judaism in other parts of Europe and theAmericas.4. The fourth group is descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews who remained hiddenduring and after the Inquisitions but continued to secretly practice Jewish rites. This group isoften referred to as Crypto-Jews or Marranos.The traditional language of the Sephardim is Judeo-Spanish which is derived mainly from OldCastilian (Spanish) and Old Portuguese with some borrowings from Turkish, Greek, Arabic,Hebrew, and French. The Eastern Judeo-Spanish dialect is called Ladino. The Western or NorthAfrican Judeo-Spanish dialect is called Hakitia.
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The cuisine of the Sephardim is an assortment of cooking traditions that developed among theJews of Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Arab countries, and the Mediterranean area. Coming from theMediterranean and other warm climates, Sephardi cuisine is generally light with an emphasis onfresh and dried fruits, lentils, olive oil, stuffed vegetables and vine leaves, herbs, nuts, chickpeas,and salads. Meat dishes are usually made from lamb or ground beef. Fresh lemon juice is addedto many sauces and soups. Many rice and meat dishes incorporate dried fruits and pine nuts areoften used as a garnish.
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The music of the Sephardim was born in medieval Spain with songs being performed at the royalcourts. It has been influenced by musical traditions across Spain, Morocco, Argentina, Turkey,and Greece. There are three types of Sephardic songs – topical and entertainment songs, romance
 
songs, and spiritual or ceremonial songs. Lyrics can be written in several languages includingHebrew and Ladino.
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The precise origins of the Sephardim of the Iberian Peninsula are unclear. There is somefragmentary evidence of a Jewish presence dating from pre-Roman times but the moresubstantial references date from the period of the Roman occupation of Hispania. It is possiblethat the Sephardim went to Hispania as free men to take advantage of the resources. After thedestruction of the Second Temple and Jerusalem, emigration from Judea into the greater RomanEmpire, enslavement, and exile would have increased the number of Jews living in Hispania. Incomparison to Jewish life in Byzantium and Italy, the Jews of Hispania had a relatively tolerablelife situation due in large part to the difficulty the Church had establishing itself in its westernfrontier.
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Barbarian invasions brought most of the Iberian Peninsula under the rule of the Visigoths. TheVisigoths did not interest themselves in the religious creeds of the people within their kingdom.However, in 587 with the conversion of the Visigoth royal family to Christianity, the Sephardimlived in socially and politically deteriorating circumstances and many Sephardim left for Africa by 621.
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In 711, many Sephardim joined the Muslims led by Tariq ibn Ziyad who invaded Spain andturned it into the Arab state al-Andalus. Life under the Moorish rule – known as the Golden Age – was one of great opportunity for the Sephardim and they flourished. By the eleventh century,the centralized authority at Cordoba broke down following the Berber invasion. IndependentTaifa principalities were established and opportunities for the Sephardim expanded. In thetwelfth century, the Almohads gave the Jews a choice of either death or conversion to Islam.Many Sephardim – including Maimonides’ family – fled to either more tolerant Muslim lands or to Christian kingdoms.
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 As the Arab lands fell to the Christians throughout the twelfth century, conditions from someSephardim became increasingly favorable. Throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, manycities were re-conquered by the Christians and the Sephardim were granted extensive autonomy.Sephardim took an active part in Spanish literature writing prose as well as theological, philosophical, aesthetic, pedagogic and mathematical works.
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In Portugal, the Sephardim – joined by many fleeing Spain – were given important roles in thesociopolitical sphere and enjoyed some protection from the Crown. In 1497 the decree orderingthe expulsion or forced conversion of all the Sephardim forced the Sephardim to either flee or live as Christians while secretly holding onto Jewish rites. The Sephardim who fled to Genoa,Italy were allowed to land only if they received Christian baptism. Those who were fortunate tomake it to the Ottoman Empire had a better fate. In 1506 there was a massacre of the Sephardimin Lisbon, Spain and in 1536 the Portuguese Inquisition began.
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