History of The Jews in The Republic of Macedonia - Ottoman Rule and Sephardic Migrations

Ottoman Rule and Sephardic Migrations

See also: History of the Jews in Turkey and History of the Jews in Monastir

The area's Jewish community remained small well into Ottoman times, with the next major influx of Jews to the area coming with the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, and Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire welcomed Jews who were able to reach his territories. They were granted significant autonomy, with various rights including the right to buy real estate, to build synagogues and to conduct trade throughout the Ottoman Empire. Wealthy merchant cities in the present-day Republic of Macedonia such as Skopje, Bitola and Štip attracted many Jews. Jews in this area prospered in the fields of trade, banking, medicine, and law, with some even reaching positions of power. The Jewish cemetery in Bitola was established in 1497, soon after the first Sephardic Jews moved to the area. The cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Macedonia, if not in the Balkans overall.

Relations between the Jews and the local non-Jewish population were generally good. Confirmation of good conditions for Jews in Macedonia and Ottoman Europe in general comes from a 15th century letter from the Macedonian Jew, Isaac Jarfati, sent to German and Hungarian Jews advising them of the favorable conditions in the Ottoman Empire, and encouraging them to immigrate to the Balkans. An Italian traveler wrote in 1560 that in Skopje Jews exceeded other populations in number. In the 17th century, there were 3,000 Jews and two synagogues in Skopje, Beit Aron and Beit Yaacov. In 1680, Nathan of Gaza died and was buried in Skopje. His burial place was a pilgrimage site after his death, but it would not become a permanent pilgrimage site, since it was destroyed in World War II.

At one point, Bitola had nine synagogues, Skopje three and Shtip had two.

Several notable Jewish philosophers are born or lived for a time in Macedonia, including Samuel de Medina, Josef ben Lev, Shlomo Koen, Jaakov tam David Yahia, Ishaak ben Samuel Adrabi, Aharon ben Josef Sason, and Sal- amon.

Piccolomini's burning down of Skopje in 1688-1689 and a massive fire in Bitola in 1863 significantly diminished the Jewish population in Macedonia in the two largest Jewish centers.

The Jewish community was almost entirely Sephardic, and most spoke Ladino at home as opposed to Hebrew. 1895 the Alliance Israelite Universelle established a school in Bitola. More than 30% of Macedonian Jews spoke French at this time.

Jews also took part in the liberation movement against Ottoman rule. A great number of Macedonian Jews participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising. One of the most notable participants was Rafael Moshe Kamhi who led one of the rebel groups. It was him who took part in the early activities of the movement under the nickname Skandereg (Skender-beg). He headed a unit in Debar during the uprising of 1903. Mentes Kolomonos, Santo Aroesti, the Muson brothers and Avram Nisan are other known participants in the uprising who collected weapons and provided rebels with money.,