Jews in Istanbul
01: Jewish mother-city since 1453
Names of the town - Jewish immigrants from Central
Europe, from Eastern Europe, and from Spain and Portugal
from: Istanbul; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 9
presented by Michael Palomino (2008)
<ISTANBUL, city in N.W. *Turkey, on
both sides of the Bosphorus at its entrance on the Sea of
Marmara (for history prior to 1453, see *Constantinople).
[Names of the town and
territorial developments]
Constantinople was taken from the Byzantine emperor in 1453
by the Ottoman sultan Muhammad II (1451-81) and became the
new capital of his state, known from then on as Istanbul.
The Arabs called it Qustantiniyya,
hence the name Kushta
in Hebrew.
During the Ottoman period three townlets in its vicinity
became quarters of Istanbul: Galata, between the Golden Horn
and the Bosphorus; Eyup, at the northwest extremity of the
Golden Horn; and Üsküdar (Scutari), on the eastern shore of
the Bosphorus.
The town occupied a central position on the routes between
Asia and Europe and the maritime communications between the
Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea passed through it. It
also served as an administrative and commercial center.
After World War I the capital of Turkey was transferred to
Ankara.
The 15th and 16th
Centuries.
[Forcibly transferred
Christians and Jews to Constantinople]
Immediately after the conquest of the town, the armies of
Muhammad II, the Conqueror, perpetrated a massacre of its
inhabitants which lasted for several days; they did not,
however, attack the Jewish community. According to some
opinions, the Jews assisted the Ottoman armies in their
conquest of the town. In order to renovate the town,
populate it, and convert it rapidly into a florishing and
prosperous capital, Muhammad II adopted a policy of
transferring Muslim, Christian, and Jewish inhabitants, most
of them merchants and craftsmen, from various regions of the
empire - principally from Anatolia and the Balkans - to the
new capital. Among this group of forcibly transferred
persons, there were Jews from Salonika, Bulgaria, Macedonia,
and Albania.
[Karaite quarter]
Among the inhabitants of *Edirne (Adrianople) there were
also Karaites who settled near the harbor of Eminönü, which
became the principal Karaite quarter of Istanbul.
[Forcibly and not forcibly
settling Jews - "Jewish mother-city" - Jews in mixed
quarters]
Some settled there by choice, including the *Romaniot
community, as well as Ashkenazim and Karaites who returned
to the city after they had fled from it during the war. In
the responsa literature of the 16th century, Istanbul is
called "a Jewish mother-city".
The Jews also settled in mixed (col. 1086)
quarters, and their residence in the neighborhoods with
Muslims testifies to the improvement of their condition in
comparison with their status under Byzantine rule. They were
mainly concentrated along the shores of both sides of the
Golden Horn. However, there were also some Jewish
concentrations along the strait itself. The largest of these
were to be found in the districts of Balat, Galat Hasköy,
and Ortaköy.
[Jewish Communities]
The Jews of Istanbul were divided into congregations
according to their origins: the Romaniots of Gregos, the former
inhabitants of Greece and natives of Byzantium; the
Ashkenazim and Italians; and the Sephardim [[from Spain and
Portugal]]. On the eve of the Ottoman conquest and after it,
the community was led by R. Moses b. Elijah *Capsali. The
Jews of Istanbul, like those of the whole of the *Ottoman
Empire, constituted a religious-administrative unit which
enjoyed an extensive internal autonomy, in accordance with
the system of community divisions which was known as *millet [[Ottoman
minority protection system]].
The first to represent the Jewish millet under Ottoman rule was, as already
stated, R. Moses Capsali, a Romaniot and the spiritual
leader of the community of Istanbul. In addition to its
religious importance, this function was also of a political
nature. Capsali concerned himself with the internal affairs
of his community, served as the representative of the Jewish
congregations before the government, and collected the
Jewish taxes. After his death, R. Elijah *Mizrahi was
elected as his successor.
[Jewish immigration:
European Ashkenazi Jews expelled from central Europe
coming to Istanbul]
Ashkenazi Jews had already settled in the town before the
Ottoman conquest, but their greatest numbers arrived at a
later date. Some from Hungary and Austria first arrived
during the 15th century in reaction to the
enthusiastic appeal which was included in a letter sent by
R. Isaac *Zarefati, an inhabitant of Adrianople (second half
of the 15th century), to the Jews of Germany, Austria, and
Hungary, in which he described the agreeable, peaceful, and
happy life of the Jews of Ottoman Turkey.
The proximity to (col. 1087)
Erez Israel and messianic aspirations also drew many Jews
into settling in Istanbul and the other towns of the Ottoman
Empire. Refugees from Bavaria, who had been expelled by King
Ludwig IX, arrived during the late 1460s.
The second wave arrived after the conquest of Hungarian
territories during the reign of the sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent (1526).
For many years the Ashkenazi community enjoyed an
independent status. It produced distinguished personalities
who became renowned among their coreligionists, among them
R. Elijah ha-Levi ha-Zaken and Solomon Tedesci (the
physician Solomon Tedesci Ashkenazi, right-hand man of the
grand vizier Muhammad Sokollu). Some members of this
community were opposed to R. Moses Capsali, whom they
accused of having issued pesakim
(decisions) which were not in accordance with halakhah. The The
Ashkenazim continued relations with their coreligionists in
their countries of origin and they were therefore slow to
assimilate among the Sephardim. In time the differences
disappeared.
[Jewish immigration:
Iberian Jews from Spain and Portugal coming to Istanbul -
new religious schools]
Spanish and Portuguese Jews arrived in the town as a result
of the massive expulsions of 1492 and 1497 (their numbers
have been estimated at about 40,000). Among the refugees who
came to the capital were eminent Torah scholars, rabbis, dayyanim [[judges]],
and rashei yeshivot,
[[sg. rosh yeshiva, deans of Talmudic academies]] including
R. Joseph ibn *Lev, R. Joseph *Taitazak, R. Abraham
*Yerushalmi, R. Isaac *Caro, R. Tam ibn *Yahya, and R.
*Elijah b. Hayyim. They established famous yeshivot
[[religious Torah schools]] in addition to the existing
yeshivah of the Romaniots, which was headed by R. Elijah
Mizrahi. They thus raised the spiritual and cultural level
of the local Jews.
THE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE KAHAL [[assembly]]
The refugees founded various congregations (kahal-kehalim; see
*Community) according to their country of origin, the
region-province, or the town which they had abandoned. These
congregations jealously maintained their independence and
individuality. Every kahal
had its own synagogue, rabbi, teacher, talmud torah [[Talmud
Torah school]], hevra
kaddisha [[Jewish burial society]], welfare
institutions (hekdeshim),
and various societies, such as gemilut hasadim ("benevolent society"), bikkur holim ("visiting
of the sick"), societies for the support of the yeshivot of
Tiberias, etc.;
in most cases they also had a bet din [[ecclesiastical court]].
Moreover, every kahal
[[assembly]] constituted an administrative unit which was
responsible for the registration of its members, and the
imposition and collection of taxes, and their transfer to
the Ottoman authorities.
In every kahal
there was a spiritual and secular leadership. The secular
leadership was assumed by memunim
[[sg. minumeh, appointed officials]], berurim [[inspectors]],
and gabba'im [[tax
collectors]] who were elected in the presence of all the
members of the kahal and who administered the affairs of the
kahal according to established agreements and takkanot [[sg.
takkanah, major legislative enactment within halakha (Jewish
law)]].
Various penalties, such as the herem [[highest ecclesiastical censure
(critical comment) in the Jewish community]] and niddui ("bans"), etc.,
were imposed on those who challenged the opinion of the
rabbi of the kahal. The takkanot
and agreements on which they based their decisions concerned
various matters: the prohibition of leaving one kahal [[assembly]] for
another, tax assessments, the appointment of rabbis and
Torah teachers and the conditions of their activity, the
prohibition of the wearing of expensive apparel and jewels
by women, etc. The number of kehalim [[congregations]] in the town rose
to between 30 and 40 by the middle of the 16th century and
the Jewish population at that time numbered about 50,000.
The numerous kehalim
[[congregations]] of the capital had their roof
organization, which was known in responsa literature as Ha-Va'ad ha-Kolel shel
ha-Kehillot, to which every kahal [[assembly]] sent
its delegate. There were also other institutions in which
all the kehalim were associated. Gradually and in the course
of time, the Sephardi kehalim attained a dominant position
in the town as a result of their economic status, cultural
standards, and large numbers.> (col. 1089)
