Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 1.pdf/260

214 — Adrianople

Tin:

Adula

JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

(lovibt thnt surli ii colony existed about this lime, for family names such as ('alio. I'olicar. Papo. Pilosophc. Iliiursi. ZaUini. and even common names such as jxipjxm (grandfather), miiiin (mother). ]>iij)<i»

no

(priest), tniiKliiJiiii (rose), plainly of Greek orijriu

xhiiiliintui (earriuir). etc.

— are prevalent to this day.

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Moreover, there exists also a synajro!;ie of the ' Gregos." or Greek-speaking .lews, having a special ritual, concerning which there is the following legend of Uyzanlinc limes; The sexlon of a neigh boring church noticed that after the ceremony of the /iii/xlii/ii/i. formerly held in the synagogue itself, the wincfiUcd chalice used in the .service was secreted He. therefore, clandestinely entered the in a closet. synagogue and substituted blood for Legendary the wine; then he hastened to inform Blood Ac- the judge of the blood tilled chalice cusation. and to accuse the .Ji'ws of ritual murder. During thcsame night the beadle of the synagogue had a dream in w hich the scheme was revealed to him, and he hurried to relill the challlius enabling the Jews to establish ice with wint their innocence. The rich Jews of Adrianople and other cities of the interior, wearied with the exactionsof the governors of the province am! tlie zealous proselyting of the priests of the GreeU Orthodox Church, removed to the cities of the coast, w here they could live in comIn parative quiet anil greater comfort and security. 1361, when Amurath I. ca|)tured Adrianople. he found there only a smnll and impoverished Hebrew conununity, which hailed as tlieir .s;iviora coiupieror whose religion so nearly resembled theirown. They appealed to their coreligionists of Brusji to come and

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settle in tlie new Ottoman cajiital and Rabbinical teach them the language of tlieir newwho had been inmasters. The rabbi College, vested by the sultan w ith administrative and judicial powers over the connuiuiities of

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Rumelia

—established

in Adrianojile a rabbinical col-

which all religions (luestions were referred by the Jews of Buda. Jassy. Galatz, and elsewhere. This college also received students from Russia. Poland, and Hungary. A group of Jews, expelled from Hungary in 1376 by I,ouis I., took refuge there under the protection of the Crescent. To this Hungarian influx the Synagogue Budoun (of Buda) owes its existence, and this name, like the family name "Magyar" still existing, shows the lege, to the facidty of

The Hebrew soldiers origin of the congregation. who began to serve in the Turkish army from the beginning of the Ottoman empire were enrolled in the ff/iiinibii (non-Mussulmans, or strangers) organized by Amurath II. (1421-.51). As a conununity. the Jews took DO part in the riots of the dervishes under Mohammed I. (1413-21) fomented by Bedreddin, a resident of Adrianople, who used as his tool TorlakKiamal. a converted Jew. The Jews of Adrianople have always remained loyal to the sultans, and many of tliem have become distinguished scientists, so that Mohanuued II. (U.53) even made a Jew, Hakim Yaakub. his physician, and afterward appointed him minister of finance (ihfterdar). The Karaitic community of Adrianople. one of whose members. Judah Ij. Elijah (1363-90). removed to the Crimea (see Oeinard. "Massa Krim.'' p. 66). throve and. by additions from the CriKaraitic niea and the south of Poland, greatly Comtnu- increased in numbers. Through the nity. teachings of the rabbis and constant contact with the rabbinical Jews and their professors, such as H""ok Sasporta of Catalonia, ami more especially the tolerant Jlordecai b. Eliezer Comtiuo (1460-90), an astronomer, mathema-

214

tician, and logician, the community was aroused front itssjiiritual lethargy. Sinirred on by itslea<lingmen,

Menahem Bashyatzi and

his sons Moses, Jlenahem Maroli. Miihael the Elder, and Michael's son Joseph, this Karaitic band instituted a riform in their ritual which permitted the use of a lighti-d lamp on Friday evenings and a tire on the Sabbath a reform which triumidied over all the objections of the conservatives. After thec(in(|Uest of Constantinople in U.IS, the members of this sect nngratid in a body lo that city, leaving behiiul them no other traces of their former presence than the ejiitaph on a tombstone of a certain Moses Y<rushalmi, Nnpo 'J3D ("of the Karaites"), in the Rabbinitc cemeterv, dated Tuesday, !tth of Heshwaii, .")463 (17U2). The Rabbinitc community, on the contrary, remained at Adriano])le and increased in ntnnbers and in influence. Groaning under the burden of l)ersecntionsand l)eing attracted by the glowing accounts of the kindness of the sultans ami (he liberties and favors which the Jews enjoyed in Turkey graphically describeil in letters from Isjiae Zarfati in 14.")4 the Ashkenazim flocked to Adrianople from Bavaria, Swabia, Bohenda, Silesia, and elsewhere, and there foundeil an Ashkenazie synagogue. Traces of the iiresence of German Jews ajipear in certain words of JmUeoGerman origin, like roubisen (rabbi's

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wife. n'J3^). bniiliKud (housekeeper, landlady, n7V3 n'3n). imd in family names like Ashkenazi. as well as in ritualistic usages. The only actual jiroof. however, is to be found in the ei)ilaph of Moses Levi Ashkenazi Nasi (Prince) ben Eliakim (1466 or 1496). These settlers, together with a contingent which came a little later from Italy and foiuidecl the three synagogues of Italy. A|)ulia. and Sicily, joined forces with the Jews banished from Sjiain in 1492. who founded seven other .synagogues under the names of Aragon. Catalonia. Evora. Gerush ("Exiled"), MaThis increased the jorca, Portugal, and Toledo. number of synagogues to thirteen. The Sephardim impo.sed upon the native and German Jews the language, manners, and customs of Spain, which wcreadopteil by all rcfuInfluence gees arriving after the Spanish Jews, especially by the family Alamano. of the Sephardim. which, on account of the loyalty of its head. Joseph b. Solomon, at the capture of the city of Budapest by Solyman II. (the Magnificent) in i.")26, obtained special exempt ion from Descendants of this family imjiosts and service. Influenced by these immistill live in Adrianople. grants, the students gradually lost interest in Talmudic studies and were thoroughly captivated by the Cabala, one of whose representatives, Abraham b. Eliezer ha-I.evi. was the author of .several mystic works. The ground was now prepared for the reception of the seed of the Messianic ideas of the

dreamer Solomon Molko, who. in l.")29, came to Adrianople to win over Joseph Cam, the well-known casinst, who was a friend of Aaron de Trani, the president of the college, and pcrhajis also of Yom-Tob Cohen and Abraham Saba, rabbis of that time. In 1.522 Caro began his commentary ("Bet Yosef ") on the " Turim " of Jacob ben Asher. which was finished later at Safed. A printing-press, established by the brothers Solomon and Jo.seph Jabetz, existed at subsequently it was transAdrianople before ferred to Salonica. on account of a plague raging No other printing press was in the former jilace. I.').").');

established there till 1888. when " Yosef^Da'at " (EI Progreso). a periodical, appeared. The study of history was encouraged at Adrianojjle



ibuVerga, a Talmudist. finished famcms chronicle ("Shebet Yehudah")

for ."loseph

there the