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North African Sephardim - Wikipedia

Captured 2025-11-23

130

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North African Sephardim - Wikipedia

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This Wikipedia page provides a comprehensive examination of North African Sephardim, a distinct Jewish ethnic subdivision that emerged from the fusion of exiled Iberian Jews and indigenous North African Jewish communities following the Spanish expulsion of 1492. The article's primary focus is to document the historical origins, migration patterns, and cultural evolution of this unique Sephardic subgroup, while exploring how two separate Jewish populations - the expelled Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Sephardim) and the existing Maghrebi Jewish communities - eventually merged to create a distinct North African Sephardic identity across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The page details the traumatic circumstances surrounding the 1492 expulsion, noting that approximately 175,000 Jews left Spain in exile while 100,000 converted to Christianity. The article emphasizes the severe challenges faced by these refugees, as France refused Jewish immigrants and Spanish-occupied North African ports initially barred their entry. A particularly powerful firsthand account from refugee intellectual Judah Hayyat illustrates the harsh conditions: "They smote me, they wounded me...threw me into a deep pit with snakes and scorpions in it." Despite initial mutual suspicion - with Maghrebi Jews calling the newcomers "rumiyyin" (Europeans) and Sephardim referring to locals as "forasteros" (foreigners) - the indigenous Jewish communities ultimately provided crucial assistance, paying ransoms and supplying food and clothing to the refugees, even during cholera outbreaks. The article demonstrates significant scholarly value by analyzing the complex cultural assimilation process that occurred over four centuries. While Maghrebi Jews initially challenged Sephardic customs, the sheer number of Sephardic refugees eventually led to the adoption of Sephardic practices throughout the region, including new methods of Ketouba (marriage contracts) and ritual animal slaughter. The page notes that most North African Sephardim have since emigrated to Israel, France, and the United States following the 1948 creation of Israel and subsequent Jewish exodus from Arab countries. The article serves as an important historical resource for understanding Jewish diaspora patterns, cultural preservation, and the formation of hybrid Jewish identities in North Africa, though it includes editorial notes requesting additional citations and clarification on certain claims.

Citation (APA Style)

North African Sephardim - Wikipedia. (2025, 11 23). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_African_Sephardim

Technical Metadata

Domain en.wikipedia.org
File Size 409 KB
Archived 2025-11-23T00:44:27.133644
Document ID #130
Languages 5 available