North African Sephardim

North African Sephardim are a distinct sub-group of Sephardi Jews, who descend from exiled Iberian Jewish families of the late 15th century and North African Maghrebi Jewish communities.

Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries, most North African Sephardim have relocated to either Israel, France, the US and other countries. Several Iberian Jewish families also emigrated back to the Iberian Peninsula to form the core of the Jewish community of Gilbraltar.

There are many Jewish communities in North of Africa, including the communities of the Maghreb, Egypt, and the Horn of Africa. However, it is generally agreed today that North African Sephardic communities include a fraction of those of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya due to their historical ties with Spain and the greater Iberian peninsula.

Sephardi Jews
By the end of the Reconquista in 1492, 100,000 Jews converted and 175,000 left in exile, as they were forced to either leave or convert under the Spanish Inquisition. The expulsions from Spain and Portugal were echoed in Sicily and many Italian states during the sixteenth century. Sicily's Jews suffered expulsion in the summer and autumn of 1492. Naples, in turn, expelled its Jews in 1497.

Sephardi Jews faced great obstacles after their exile. France refused Jewish immigrants, and the nearest refuge in North Africa was barred to Jews, as the Spanish occupied the ports of Algeria and Tunisia, and the Portuguese occupied northern Morocco. Furthermore, the independent Sheikhs of the coastal regions refused to grant access to the interior.

When Sephardim finally reached North Africa, many encountered harsh living conditions. As Judah Hayyat, a refugee intellectual, recalled:

"They smote me, they wounded me, they took away my veil from me and threw me into a deep pit with snakes and scorpions in it. They presently sentenced me to be stoned to death, but promised that if I changed religion they would make me captain over them...But the G-d in whom I trust frustrated their design....G-d stirred up the spirit of the Jews in Chechaouen, and they came thither to redeem me'''"

Maghrebi Jews
Apart from being Jewish and Arabic-speaking, Jews from the Maghreb have varying origins and came to North Africa at different times for different reasons. For more information on various groups please refer to the following links:


 * Morocco: History of the Jews in Morocco
 * Algeria: History of the Jews in Algeria
 * Tunisia: History of the Jews in Tunisia
 * Libya: History of the Jews in Libya

Relationship between Sephardi Jews and Maghrebi Jews
When Sephardi Jews emigrated to the Maghreb following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Maghrebi Jews referred to Sephardi Jews as rumiyyin, Arabic for "European," or megorashim, Hebrew for "expelled." Similarly, the Sephardi referred to the Maghrebi as forasteros, Spanish for "foreigners," or toshavim, Hebrew for "local community." Despite each group's initial recognition of one another as the outsiders, Maghrebi Jews aided Sephardim who came to Morocco. The Berber King of Fez, Mulai Muhammed esh-Sheikh, agreed to let Sephardi Jews settle outside the city walls, attracting 20,000 refugees alone. As Sephardi Jews arrived, local Maghrebi Jews welcomed them, paid their ransoms, and supplied them with food and clothing despite the cholera with which Sephardi Jews came. Additionally, Fez provided a place for New Christians, who were previously Sephardi Jews that were forced to convert to Christianity in Spain, to reconvert to Judaism.

Sephardi Jews also spread Sephardic culture and customs to the Maghreb. For example, Sephardim brought with them new methods of practicing the Ketouba and the ritual slaughtering of animals. Although Maghrebi Jews initially challenged Sephardi customs, with the struggle between the competing cultures lasting for over four centuries, the large influx of Sephardi Jews who settled in the Maghreb outnumbered the small number of Jews currently living in this area. Thus, according to Schroeter, many Maghrebi Jews ultimately assimilated into the Sephardi community, which accounts for the popularity of Sephardic customs in this area today.

Meaning of Sephardim
The term Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic" and is derived from Sepharad, a Biblical location most commonly identified with Hispania, that is, the Iberian Peninsula. However, the Sephardi label has been described as misleading by Christopher L. Campbell et al., who argue that although the expulsion from Spain and Portugal led to the conglomeration of Jewish groups, many Jewish communities were formed before Jews reached the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, Sepharad still refers to "Spain" in modern Hebrew, but, today, the notion of a Sephardic Jew has expanded, as the Sephardi Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 mixed with the Maghrebi Jews of North Africa.

Language
Sephardi Jews who first settled in North Africa spoke Haketia, a Romance language also called "Ladino Occidental" (Western Ladino). Haketia is a Judaeo-Spanish variety derived from Old Spanish, plus Hebrew and Aramaic. The language was taken to North Africa in the 15th century where it was heavily influenced by Maghrebi Arabic. Maghrebi Jews, on the other hand, spoke Maghrebi Arabic and Judeo-Arabic languages.

Today, few people speak these languages, as the use for them is rapidly declining. However, they are still spoken among the more elderly members of the community, and some Sephardi Jews in Morocco recently have made efforts to preserve Haketia and its cultural influence.

Surnames
North African Sephardim have a blend of surnames that vary in origin.

The first layer corresponds to Sephardim who after the Jewish massacre of 1391 came from northern Spain to the territory of modern Algeria. Among these families were those bearing such surnames as Astruc, Barsessat, Cohen Solal, Duran, Efrati, Gabbay, and S(a)tora. The second layer of original Sephardim came from Spain at the end of the 15th century. These migrants also carry surnames based either on various Iberian idioms, Arabic or Hebrew languages (such as Abensur, Abravanel, Abulafia, Albaranes, Almosnino, Amigo, Bensussan, Biton, Corcos, Gabbay, Nahon, and Serfaty). These names have since disappeared from the Iberian Peninsula when those that stayed behind as conversos received at the moment of their conversion surnames used by Spanish or Portuguese Christians.

Among surnames used by local Jews that were formed in North Africa are such names based on male given names as Benhamou and Benishu, those derived from local place names as Dray, Gamrasni or Messalati. A few surnames in Algeria are based on local Berber idioms: Amrai, Attelan, Zemmour. Several dozens of surnames of Jewish surnames from Morocco are drawn or at least have prefixes taken from Berber dialects of that country: Aferiat, Assulin, Azencot, Azulay, Buganim, Timsit, Ohana, Ohayon, Ouaknin, Wizman.

Relation to other Sephardic communities
The relationship between Sephardi-descended communities is illustrated in the following diagram: