Musta'arabim
Encyclopedia
Musta'arabi Jews was a term used to designate Arabic-speaking
Jews (today termed Mizrahi Jews
, that is, Jews with an extended history in the Middle East
or North Africa
) who lived in the Arab world
prior to the arrival and integration of Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews
(Jews from Spain and Portugal; Ladino
is the Judaeo-Spanish language) following their expulsion from Spain
in 1492. Following the expulsion, Sephardi exiles moved into the Middle East
(among other places around the world), and settled amongs their Musta'arabi co-religionists.
In many Arab countries, the Sephardi
immigrants and the established Musta'arabi communities maintained separate synagogues and separate religious rituals, but often had a common Chief Rabbinate. The general tendency, however, was for both the communities and their customs to assimilate, adopting a mostly Sephardic liturgy and identity. This pattern was found in most Musta'arabi communities in Arab countries. A typical example is in the History of the Jews in Syria
, described in more detail in the rest of this article.
In contrast, in Tunisia
there was a strong and enduring social distinction between Tuansa (the established Tunisian Jews) and L'grana (immigrant Livornese Jews
to Tunisia). In Morocco
there were similar distinctions between Sephardi Jews (both Arabic and Ladino speaking) and Berber
-speaking Jews
equivalent mista'arevim, meaning "those who live among the Arabs", are derived from the Arabic "musta'rib" (مستعرب), meaning “arabized”. Compare with the term "Mozarab
" (mozárabe in Spanish, borrowed from Arabic) to refer to Arabized (but not Islamized) Christian Spaniards in Arab ruled Islamic Spain
. "Musta'arabi" was also used by medieval Jewish authors to refer to Jews in North Africa
, in what would become the modern states of Morocco
, Algeria
, Tunisia
and Libya
(which also underwent cultural and linguistic Arabization following the Muslim conquest there).
Following the Muslim conquest of Syria
, Syria and the surrounding region was brought under Arab rule in the first half of the 7th century, and the Jews of the land, like the Christian
majority at that time, became culturally Arabized, adopting many of the ways of the new foreign elite minority
rulers, including the language. Furthermore, some of the Jews, and the greater part of the Christians for that matter, were also Islamized, and these form the ancestors of the bulk of the "Arab Muslims
" of the Levant
.
Musta'arabim, in the Arabized Hebrew of the day, was used to refer to Arabic-speaking
Jews native to Greater Syria
and Palestine
who were, "like Arabs" or "culturally-Arabic
orientated." These Musta'arabim were also called Murishkes or Moriscos by the Sephardi immigrants. This may be either a corruption of "Mashriq
is" (Easterners) or a Ladino word meaning "like Moors" or "Moorish" (compare with the Spanish
word Morisco
).
constituted one of the three main components of the Old Yishuv
(Jewish community of Palestine), together with the Sephardi Jews
, and Ashkenazi Jews
. The latter were a minority whose numbers shrank further due to intermarriage with Sephardim. The Musta'arabi Jews in Palestine were descendants of the ancient Hebrews
who never left the Land of Israel, instead remaining there from the destruction of the Second Temple
in 70 AD to the First Aliyah
in 1881, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration
.
Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire
in the mid-16th century, there were no more than 10,000 Jews divided between numerous congregations in all of Palestine. Within the Jewish community at this time, there was some conflict between the Musta'arabim and Jews who had immigrated to Palestine from Spain
and Sicily
. Later on, there was also conflict between Jewish citizens of the Ottoman Empire and those who held foreign passports. From 1839 onward, Jewish subjects of the Ottoman Empire, including the Mustarabim, were represented by a locally nominated rabbi, whose appointment to serve as a hakham bashi or "chief rabbi
" required approval from the Ottoman authorities. This hierarchical system paralleled one previously established for Christian bishop
s in the empire.
(see below). In a broad sense, it falls within the "Sephardi" rather than the "Ashkenazi" family of rituals, but has resemblances to non-standard Sephardi rites such as the Catalonian rather than to the normative Castilian rite.
The following are some of the differences that stand out in the Aram Soba
Mahzor
.
On March 9, 2009, the Sephardic Pizmonim Project posted a scanned PDF of the 1560 Venetian edition of the "Mahzor Aram Soba" to the "Archives" section of its site. A mirror of the work is also available. For further links to both the 1527 and 1560 editions, see below. In addition, a weekday version of Mahzor Aram Soba 1560 can be found here.
A facsimile edition has recently been published by Yad HaRav Nissim, using pages from the best surviving copies of the 1527 edition.
following the expulsion, a compromise liturgy
evolved containing elements from the customs of both communities, but with the Sephardic element taking an ever larger share. One reason for this was the influence of the Shulchan Aruch
, and of the Kabbalistic
usages of Isaac Luria
, both of which presupposed a Sephardic (and specifically Castilian) prayer text; for this reason a basically "Sephardic" type of text replaced many of the local Near and Middle Eastern rites over the course of the 16th to 19th centuries, subject to a few characteristic local customs retained in each country. (See Sephardic law and customs#Liturgy for more detail.)
In Syria
, as in North African countries, there was no attempt to print a Siddur containing the actual usages of the community, as this would not generally be commercially viable. Major publishing centres, principally Livorno, and later Vienna, would produce standard "Sephardic" prayer books suitable for use in all communities, and particular communities such as the Syrians would order these in bulk, preserving any special usages by oral tradition. (For example, Ḥacham Abraham Hamaoui of Aleppo
commissioned a series of prayer-books from Livorno, which were printed in 1878: these were "pan-Sephardic" in character, with some notes referring to "minhag Aram Soba".)
As details of the oral tradition faded from memory, the liturgy in use came still nearer to the "Livorno" standard. Nevertheless a distinction persisted between the "Sephardic" rite (based on the Livorno siddurim) and the "Musta'arabi" rite (basically similar, but retaining some features derived from the older tradition).
In the early years of the twentieth century, the "Sephardic" rite was almost universal in Syria. The only exception (in Aleppo) was a "Musta'arabi" minyan at the Central Synagogue of Aleppo
, but even their liturgy differed from the "Sephardic" in only a few details such as the order of the hymns on Rosh Hashanah. Some differences between the two main prayer books published in Aleppo in the early twentieth century may reflect Sephardi/Musta'arabi differences, but this is not certain: current Syrian rite prayer books are based on both books.
The use of piyyut
im, which was very prominent on the holidays and Shabbat
, was not limited to the Syrian Musta'arabi community, but occurred in most Jewish communities. The earliest piyyutim however, were “overwhelmingly [from] [Eretz Israel] or its neighbor Syria, [because] only there was the Hebrew language sufficiently cultivated that it could be managed with stylistic correctness, and only there could it be made to speak so expressively.” The earliest Eretz Yisrael prayer manuscripts, found in the Cairo Geniza
h, often consist of piyyutim, as these were the parts of the liturgy that required to be written down: the wording of the basic prayers was generally known by heart. The use of piyyut was always considered an Eretz Yisrael speciality: the Babylonian Geonim
made every effort to discourage it and restore what they regarded as the statutory wording of the prayers, holding that "any [hazzan] who uses piyyut thereby gives evidence that he is no scholar". Accordingly, scholars classifying the liturgies of later periods usually hold that, the more a given liturgy makes use of piyyutim, the more likely it is to reflect Eretz Yisrael as opposed to Babylonian influence. This, if correct, would put the Mahzor Aram Soba firmly in the Eretz Yisrael camp. However, the piyyutim in the Mahzor Aram Soba resemble those of the Spanish school rather than the work of early Eretz Yisrael payyetanim such as Eleazar Kalir
: for example, they are in strict Arabic metres and make little use of Midrash
. Also, they are generally placed in a block at the beginning of the service, like today's Baqashot
, rather than expanding on and partially replacing core parts of the prayers. The link with the old Eretz Yisrael practice is therefore not made out.
Following the dominance in Syria of the Sephardic rite, which took the Geonic disapproval of piyyut seriously, most of these piyyutim were eliminated from the prayer book. Some of them survive as pizmonim
, used extra-liturgically.
. (This is said to be in gratitude for their acceptance by the older community. It is not shared with Sephardim in other countries.)
According to Mr. Joey Mosseri, a Sephardic historian living in the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn (USA), the last time the Musta'arabi liturgy was last officially used was during the 1930s. Shelomo Salem Zafrani, of Aleppo, held daily services in the Musta'arabi Jewish rite, until his departure to the Israel in the early 1930s. After his departure, there is no known public usage of this liturgy even in Aleppo itself. Today, Syrian Jews, with the exception of a few individuals living in Damascus, live outside of Syria, and do not distinguish between Musta'arabi and Sephardic Jews.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Jews (today termed Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahiyim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus...
, that is, Jews with an extended history in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
or North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
) who lived in the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
prior to the arrival and integration of Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
(Jews from Spain and Portugal; Ladino
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
is the Judaeo-Spanish language) following their expulsion from Spain
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
in 1492. Following the expulsion, Sephardi exiles moved into the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
(among other places around the world), and settled amongs their Musta'arabi co-religionists.
In many Arab countries, the Sephardi
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
immigrants and the established Musta'arabi communities maintained separate synagogues and separate religious rituals, but often had a common Chief Rabbinate. The general tendency, however, was for both the communities and their customs to assimilate, adopting a mostly Sephardic liturgy and identity. This pattern was found in most Musta'arabi communities in Arab countries. A typical example is in the History of the Jews in Syria
History of the Jews in Syria
Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited Syria from early times and the Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain . There were large communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Qamishli for centuries. In the early twentieth century a large...
, described in more detail in the rest of this article.
In contrast, in Tunisia
History of the Jews in Tunisia
The history of the Jews in Tunisia goes back to Roman times. Before 1948, the Jewish population of Tunisia reached a peak of 110,000. From the 1950s, half this number left for Israel and the other half for France...
there was a strong and enduring social distinction between Tuansa (the established Tunisian Jews) and L'grana (immigrant Livornese Jews
Jewish community of Livorno
The history of the Jews in Livorno, Italy reaches back about 500 years. The Jewish community of Livorno, although the youngest among the historic Jewish communities of Italy, was for some time the foremost because of the wealth, scholarship, and political rights of its members.-History:The first...
to Tunisia). In Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
there were similar distinctions between Sephardi Jews (both Arabic and Ladino speaking) and Berber
Judeo-Berber language
Judeo-Berber , is a term used primarily for the Berber varieties traditionally spoken by the Jewish communities of certain parts of central and southern Morocco. Speakers emigrated to Israel in the 1950s and 1960s. While mutually comprehensible with the Tamazight spoken by most inhabitants of the...
-speaking Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
Background
The word "Musta'arabi" itself, and its HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
equivalent mista'arevim, meaning "those who live among the Arabs", are derived from the Arabic "musta'rib" (مستعرب), meaning “arabized”. Compare with the term "Mozarab
Mozarab
The Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture...
" (mozárabe in Spanish, borrowed from Arabic) to refer to Arabized (but not Islamized) Christian Spaniards in Arab ruled Islamic Spain
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. "Musta'arabi" was also used by medieval Jewish authors to refer to Jews in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
, in what would become the modern states of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
(which also underwent cultural and linguistic Arabization following the Muslim conquest there).
Following the Muslim conquest of Syria
Muslim conquest of Syria
The Muslim conquest of Syria occurred in the first half of the 7th century, and refers to the region known as the Bilad al-Sham, the Levant, or Greater Syria...
, Syria and the surrounding region was brought under Arab rule in the first half of the 7th century, and the Jews of the land, like the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
majority at that time, became culturally Arabized, adopting many of the ways of the new foreign elite minority
Dominant minority
A dominant minority, also known as alien elites if they are recent immigrants, is a group that has overwhelming political, economic or cultural dominance in a country or region despite representing a small fraction of the overall population...
rulers, including the language. Furthermore, some of the Jews, and the greater part of the Christians for that matter, were also Islamized, and these form the ancestors of the bulk of the "Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims are adherents of the religion of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, or genealogically as Arabs. They greatly outnumber other ethnic groups in the Middle East. Muslims who are not Arabs are called mawali by Arab Muslims....
" of the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
.
Musta'arabim, in the Arabized Hebrew of the day, was used to refer to Arabic-speaking
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Jews native to Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
and Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
who were, "like Arabs" or "culturally-Arabic
Arabic culture
Arab culture refers to the culture in Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa, from Morocco to the Persian Gulf. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy, mysticism are all part of the cultural heritage of the pan-Arab world.-Language:The Arabic...
orientated." These Musta'arabim were also called Murishkes or Moriscos by the Sephardi immigrants. This may be either a corruption of "Mashriq
Mashriq
Mashriq or Mashreq is derived from the Arabic consonantal root sh-r-q relating to the east or the sunrise, and essentially means "east"...
is" (Easterners) or a Ladino word meaning "like Moors" or "Moorish" (compare with the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word Morisco
Morisco
Moriscos or Mouriscos , meaning "Moorish", were the converted Christian inhabitants of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam.-Demographics:By the beginning of the...
).
In Palestine
The Musta'arabi Jews in PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
constituted one of the three main components of the Old Yishuv
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv refers to the Jewish community that lived in the Land of Israel from the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE to the First Aliyah in 1881-82, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration....
(Jewish community of Palestine), together with the Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
, and Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
. The latter were a minority whose numbers shrank further due to intermarriage with Sephardim. The Musta'arabi Jews in Palestine were descendants of the ancient Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
who never left the Land of Israel, instead remaining there from the destruction of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
in 70 AD to the First Aliyah
First Aliyah
The First Aliyah was the first modern widespread wave of Zionist aliyah. Jews who migrated to Palestine in this wave came mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen. This wave of aliyah began in 1881–82 and lasted until 1903. An estimated 25,000–35,000 Jews immigrated to Ottoman Syria during the...
in 1881, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
.
Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in the mid-16th century, there were no more than 10,000 Jews divided between numerous congregations in all of Palestine. Within the Jewish community at this time, there was some conflict between the Musta'arabim and Jews who had immigrated to Palestine from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
. Later on, there was also conflict between Jewish citizens of the Ottoman Empire and those who held foreign passports. From 1839 onward, Jewish subjects of the Ottoman Empire, including the Mustarabim, were represented by a locally nominated rabbi, whose appointment to serve as a hakham bashi or "chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
" required approval from the Ottoman authorities. This hierarchical system paralleled one previously established for Christian bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s in the empire.
Old Aleppo rite
The Aleppo Musta'arabim in Syria originally had a distinct way of worship, set out in a distinct prayer book called Mahzor Aram Soba. This ritual is thought to reflect Eretz Yisrael rather than Babylonian traditions in certain respects, in particular in the prominence of piyyutPiyyut
A piyyut or piyut is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times...
(see below). In a broad sense, it falls within the "Sephardi" rather than the "Ashkenazi" family of rituals, but has resemblances to non-standard Sephardi rites such as the Catalonian rather than to the normative Castilian rite.
The following are some of the differences that stand out in the Aram Soba
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
Mahzor
Mahzor
The mahzor is the prayer book used by Jews on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized mahzorim on the three "pilgrimage festivals" of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot...
.
- The order of the Psalms in the morning service is different.
- The following prayers are worded differently (while still preserving the same message of the prayer): Baruch She’Amar, KaddishKaddishKaddish is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between sections of the service...
, Kedusha, certain blessings of the AmidahAmidahThe Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
, TachanunTachanunTachanun or , also called nefillat apayim is part of Judaism's morning and afternoon services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services...
, and the Birkat HamazonBirkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
(grace after meals). - The Kaddish has a long set of “messianic references in the second verse” (unlike the Sephardic riteSephardic JudaismSephardic law and customs means the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim...
where it is much shorter and the AshkenazicAshkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
rite where it is absent). - Psalm 8 was recited each night before the Evening Service, a practice no longer in place anywhere else.
- There was a tradition to recite 72 different verses from the Bible immediately after the Amidah of the Morning Services.
- There is a tradition, still followed by many Syrian JewsSyrian JewsSyrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern...
, called Alpha-Beta, which consists of reciting Psalm 119-134 before the Evening Services on Motzaei Shabbat: this also appears in the prayer book of the Spanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
. - There was also an important tradition pertaining to the month of ElulElulElul is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a summer month of 29 days...
, the month of repentance before the Days of JudgmentTen Days of RepentanceThe Ten Days of Repentance are the first ten days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, usually sometime in the month of September, beginning with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and ending with the conclusion of Yom Kippur.-Introduction:...
. At dawn of Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, special Selichot prayers were recited. There were different selichot prayers, piyyutim, and Biblical verses to be recited for each week of that month. Syrian Jews, like other Sephardim, still recite Selihot during the entire month of Elul. However, the selichot recited by the Syrian Jews are standardized and do not vary from day to day as do the selichot of the Aram Soba Mahzor. - On Tisha B'abTisha B'Av|Av]],") is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date...
, they only read Megillat Eicha at night and not in the morning: Syrian Jews still recite it before rather than after Arbit. - The KiddushKiddushKiddush , literally, "sanctification," is a blessing recited over wine or grape juice to sanctify the Shabbat and Jewish holidays.-Significance:...
for the three pilgrim festivals is very long, and resembles that found in the Siddur of Saadia GaonSiddur of Saadia GaonThe Siddur of Saadia Gaon is the earliest surviving attempt to transcribe the weekly ritual of Jewish prayers for week-days, Sabbaths, and festivals . The text also contains liturgical poetry by Saadia, as well as Arabic language commentary...
and the YemeniteYemenite JewsYemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen . Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet...
tradition.
On March 9, 2009, the Sephardic Pizmonim Project posted a scanned PDF of the 1560 Venetian edition of the "Mahzor Aram Soba" to the "Archives" section of its site. A mirror of the work is also available. For further links to both the 1527 and 1560 editions, see below. In addition, a weekday version of Mahzor Aram Soba 1560 can be found here.
A facsimile edition has recently been published by Yad HaRav Nissim, using pages from the best surviving copies of the 1527 edition.
Influence of the Sephardic rite
After the immigration of Jews from SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
following the expulsion, a compromise liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
evolved containing elements from the customs of both communities, but with the Sephardic element taking an ever larger share. One reason for this was the influence of the Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...
, and of the Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
usages of Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
, both of which presupposed a Sephardic (and specifically Castilian) prayer text; for this reason a basically "Sephardic" type of text replaced many of the local Near and Middle Eastern rites over the course of the 16th to 19th centuries, subject to a few characteristic local customs retained in each country. (See Sephardic law and customs#Liturgy for more detail.)
In Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, as in North African countries, there was no attempt to print a Siddur containing the actual usages of the community, as this would not generally be commercially viable. Major publishing centres, principally Livorno, and later Vienna, would produce standard "Sephardic" prayer books suitable for use in all communities, and particular communities such as the Syrians would order these in bulk, preserving any special usages by oral tradition. (For example, Ḥacham Abraham Hamaoui of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
commissioned a series of prayer-books from Livorno, which were printed in 1878: these were "pan-Sephardic" in character, with some notes referring to "minhag Aram Soba".)
As details of the oral tradition faded from memory, the liturgy in use came still nearer to the "Livorno" standard. Nevertheless a distinction persisted between the "Sephardic" rite (based on the Livorno siddurim) and the "Musta'arabi" rite (basically similar, but retaining some features derived from the older tradition).
In the early years of the twentieth century, the "Sephardic" rite was almost universal in Syria. The only exception (in Aleppo) was a "Musta'arabi" minyan at the Central Synagogue of Aleppo
Central Synagogue of Aleppo
The Central Synagogue of Aleppo, , also known as the Great Synagogue of Aleppo or Joab's Synagogue, has been a Jewish place of worship since the 5th century C.E. When it functioned, it was considered the main synagogue of the Syrian Jewish community. The synagogue is noted as being the location...
, but even their liturgy differed from the "Sephardic" in only a few details such as the order of the hymns on Rosh Hashanah. Some differences between the two main prayer books published in Aleppo in the early twentieth century may reflect Sephardi/Musta'arabi differences, but this is not certain: current Syrian rite prayer books are based on both books.
Use of Piyyut
Approximately 30% of the Mahzor Aram Soba is composed of piyyutim.The use of piyyut
Piyyut
A piyyut or piyut is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times...
im, which was very prominent on the holidays and Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, was not limited to the Syrian Musta'arabi community, but occurred in most Jewish communities. The earliest piyyutim however, were “overwhelmingly [from] [Eretz Israel] or its neighbor Syria, [because] only there was the Hebrew language sufficiently cultivated that it could be managed with stylistic correctness, and only there could it be made to speak so expressively.” The earliest Eretz Yisrael prayer manuscripts, found in the Cairo Geniza
Cairo Geniza
The Cairo Geniza is a collection of almost 280,000 Jewish manuscript fragments found in the Genizah or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, presently Old Cairo, Egypt. Some additional fragments were found in the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and the collection includes a number of...
h, often consist of piyyutim, as these were the parts of the liturgy that required to be written down: the wording of the basic prayers was generally known by heart. The use of piyyut was always considered an Eretz Yisrael speciality: the Babylonian Geonim
Geonim
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
made every effort to discourage it and restore what they regarded as the statutory wording of the prayers, holding that "any [hazzan] who uses piyyut thereby gives evidence that he is no scholar". Accordingly, scholars classifying the liturgies of later periods usually hold that, the more a given liturgy makes use of piyyutim, the more likely it is to reflect Eretz Yisrael as opposed to Babylonian influence. This, if correct, would put the Mahzor Aram Soba firmly in the Eretz Yisrael camp. However, the piyyutim in the Mahzor Aram Soba resemble those of the Spanish school rather than the work of early Eretz Yisrael payyetanim such as Eleazar Kalir
Eleazar Kalir
Eleazar ben Kalir was one of Judaism's earliest and most prolific of the paytanim, liturgical poets. Many of his hymns have found their way into festive prayers of the Ashkenazi Jews synagogal rite....
: for example, they are in strict Arabic metres and make little use of Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
. Also, they are generally placed in a block at the beginning of the service, like today's Baqashot
Baqashot
The Baqashot are a collection of supplications, songs, and prayers that have been sung by the Sephardic Aleppian Jewish community and other congregations for centuries each week on Shabbat morning from midnight until dawn. Usually they are recited during the weeks of winter, when the nights are...
, rather than expanding on and partially replacing core parts of the prayers. The link with the old Eretz Yisrael practice is therefore not made out.
Following the dominance in Syria of the Sephardic rite, which took the Geonic disapproval of piyyut seriously, most of these piyyutim were eliminated from the prayer book. Some of them survive as pizmonim
Pizmonim
Pizmonim are traditional Jewish songs and melodies with the intentions of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, weddings and other ceremonies...
, used extra-liturgically.
Today
The Syrian Musta'arabim have completely assimilated with the Sephardic Jews and are no longer a distinct entity. Certain families identify as "Sephardim" in the narrower sense, and are distinguished by their practice of lighting an extra candle on HanukkahHanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
. (This is said to be in gratitude for their acceptance by the older community. It is not shared with Sephardim in other countries.)
According to Mr. Joey Mosseri, a Sephardic historian living in the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn (USA), the last time the Musta'arabi liturgy was last officially used was during the 1930s. Shelomo Salem Zafrani, of Aleppo, held daily services in the Musta'arabi Jewish rite, until his departure to the Israel in the early 1930s. After his departure, there is no known public usage of this liturgy even in Aleppo itself. Today, Syrian Jews, with the exception of a few individuals living in Damascus, live outside of Syria, and do not distinguish between Musta'arabi and Sephardic Jews.
See also
- Arab JewsArab JewsArab Jews is a term referring to Jews living in the Arab World, or Jews descended from such persons.The term was occasionally used in the early 20th century, mainly by Arab nationalists, to describe the 1 million Jews living in the Arab world at the time...
- Judaeo-Arabic
- Palestinian Jews
- Syrian JewsSyrian JewsSyrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times Syrian Jews are Jews who inhabit the region of the modern...
- PizmonimPizmonimPizmonim are traditional Jewish songs and melodies with the intentions of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, weddings and other ceremonies...
- BaqashotBaqashotThe Baqashot are a collection of supplications, songs, and prayers that have been sung by the Sephardic Aleppian Jewish community and other congregations for centuries each week on Shabbat morning from midnight until dawn. Usually they are recited during the weeks of winter, when the nights are...
- Central Synagogue of AleppoCentral Synagogue of AleppoThe Central Synagogue of Aleppo, , also known as the Great Synagogue of Aleppo or Joab's Synagogue, has been a Jewish place of worship since the 5th century C.E. When it functioned, it was considered the main synagogue of the Syrian Jewish community. The synagogue is noted as being the location...
- Aleppo CodexAleppo CodexThe Aleppo Codex is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the 10th century A.D.The codex has long been considered to be the most authoritative document in the masorah , the tradition by which the Hebrew Scriptures have been preserved from generation to generation...
- Sephardic Pizmonim Project
- Aleppo Codex
Prayer books
- Maḥzor Aram Tsoba (1st edition, VeniceVeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
1527, linked here; 2nd edition, Venice 1560, linked to at vol. 1 and vol. 2) - Bet El (seliḥot and morning service), Abraham Ḥamwi: Livorno 1878 (repr. New York 1982)
- Bet Din (Rosh Hashanah), Abraham Ḥamwi: Livorno 1878 (repr. Jerusalem 1986)
- Bet ha-Kapporet (Kippur), Abraham Ḥamwi: Livorno 1879
- Bet Simḥah (Sukkot), Abraham Ḥamwi: Livorno 1879 (repr. Jerusalem 1970)
- Bet ha-Beḥirah (Pesaḥ), Abraham Ḥamwi: Livorno 1880 (repr. Jerusalem 1985)
- Seder Olat Tamid (minḥah and arbit only): Aleppo 1907
- Olat ha-Shaḥar: Aleppo 1915
Other
- Ades, Abraham, Derech Ere"tz: Bene Berak, 1990.
- Betesh, David, The Aram Soba Mahzor: New York, 2006.