Jews of Catalonia (Catalonian Jewry, Catalonian Judaism, in Hebrew: יהדות קטלוניה) is the Jewish community that lived in the Iberian Peninsula, in the Lands of Catalonia, Valencia and MallorcaSee: Yitzhak Baer, A history of the Jews in Christian Spain, Philadelphia : Jewish Publication Society of America, 1961-1966. until the expulsion of 1492. Its splendor was between the 12th to 14th centuries, in which two important Torah centers flourished in Barcelona and Girona. The Catalan Jewish community developed unique characteristics, which included customs, a prayer rite (Nusach Catalonia),According to Rabbi Yitzhaq Luria Ashkenazi (Arizal), nusach Catalonia is one of the 12 existing nusachim that correspond to the 12 tribes of Israel (Rabbi Chayim Vital, Sefer Shaar ha-Kavanot, nusach ha-tefillah, the secret of the 12 doors). Regarding the different traditions and customs, the Arizal divides the people of Israel into four major families: Sepharad, Ashkenaz, Catalonia and Italy (Sheneh Luchot ha-Berit, Torah she-bikhtav, Bemidbar). and a tradition of its own in issuing legal decisions (Halakhah).Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach Duran (Rashbatz) mentions on several occasions that in Catalonia tradition was ruled according to the opinions of Rabbi Shelomoh ben Adret (Rashba) while in Sepharad was ruled according to the opinions of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (Rosh), Rabbi Yaaqov ben Asher (Baal ha-Turim) and Rabbi Moshe ben Maymon (Rambam): «In Catalonia the halachic decisions are followed according to Rashba, while in Sepharad are followed according to Baal ha-Turim and Rambam» (reference: Tashbetz, vol 3, 257, see also: Tashbetz vol 2, 141, vol 3, 86, vol 3, 118, vol 4, column 3, 10). Although the Jews of Catalonia had a ritual of prayerRecently, has been published the Sidur Catalunya, which constitutes the first reconstruction of the old nusach Catalonia. The siddur is based on six medieval Hebrew manuscripts (from the 14th to the 16th century) and also includes a series of commentaries, laws and customs compiled by a disciple of Rabbi Yona Girondi at the Talmudic academy of Barcelona. and different traditions from those of SepharadIn the halakhic and Responsa literature of the Rishonim, a clear distinction between Sepharad and Catalonia is made, both in customs and rites of prayer. See: Responsa of Rabbi Avraham ben David (Raabad) 131, Responsa of Rabbi Shelomoh ben Adret (Rashba) new 345, Responsa of Rabbi Yitzchaq bar Sheshet (Ribash), 79, 369. Responsa of Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach Duran (Rashbatz), Tashbetz vol. 3, 118; vol. 4 (Chut ha-Meshulash), column 3, 10; vol 3, 257; vol. 2, 141, vol. 3, 86, vol. 3, 118, vol. 4, column 3, 10. For more information about the differences between the customs of Catalonia and Sepharad see: Aharon Gabbai, «Hanachat Tefillin be-chol ha-moed». Haotzar 16 (5778), pp. 366-379 (in Hebrew). Aharon Gabbai, «Nusach chatimat birkat ha-erusin», Moriah year 36, 1-2 (5778), pp. 349-369 (in Hebrew)., today they are usually included in the Sephardic Jewish community.
Following the expulsion of 1492, Jews who did not convert to Christianity were forced to emigrate to Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Maghreb, North Africa and the Middle East.
Early history
Historians affirm that Jews arrived at the Iberian Peninsula before the destruction of the Second Temple, although the oldest gravestones date from the third century.
Aspamia, derived from Hispania, refers to the Roman Iberia.Third century BCE - 5th century CE. At the beginning of the 5th century, the peninsula was conquered by the Visigoths. During this period, numerous decrees were issued against the Jews, who were forcibly converted or expelled .
In 711, Muslims conquered Iberia. The areas under their rule were called al-Andalus. While little is known about the history of the Jews at the beginning of Islamic rule, we know the Jews began to use the term Sepharad.
In a process of territorial reoccupation known as the Reconquista, the Christian kingdoms progressively conquered all Islamic territories from north to south. With the Christian Reconquista, the territories occupied by the kingdoms of Castile and Portugal were also called by the Jews Sepharad, while Catalonia and the other kingdoms of the north were called Edom or named after Esau.So, Rabbi Moshe ben Maymon (Maimonides) writes in his book Mishneh Torah: «Synagogues and study houses must be treated with respect and must be sprinkled (cleaned up). In Sepharad and in the West (Morocco), in Babylon and in the Holy Land, it is customary to light the candles in the synagogues and extend the blinds on the floor on which the parishioners sit. In the lands of Edom (Christian lands) in the synagogues people sit on chairs [or benches]». (Hilkhot Tefillah, 11, 5).
The reconquest of Catalonia began under the auspices of the Frankish kings, who forced the Muslims who had managed to cross the Pyrenees to retreat southward with the 732 Battle of Poitiers. All the lands they seized became counties and remained under the administrative organization of the Franks.
The Catalan counties, led by the counts of Barcelona, slowly broke free from Francia and began to govern themselves independently. Old Catalonia became a zone of containment, the "Spanish March", against the spread of Islam. Jews often moved from Sepharad (the Muslim zone) to the northern lands (the Christian kingdoms), and vice versa. The fact that many of them spoke Arabic and also the vernacular Romance languages enabled them to serve as translators and acquire important positions in both Muslim and Christian governments. Jews owned fields and vineyards, and many engaged in agriculture.
In this early period, the Jewish scholars of Catalonia who sought advanced Talmudic studies studied at Talmudic academies in the south. Those who wished to study science or linguistics went to Sepharad, as did Menahem ben Saruq (920-970), who was born in the Catalan city of Tortosa and moved with his family to Cordoba to study the Hebrew language under the patronage of Governor Samuel ibn Naghrillah.
Barcelona and Girona were known as important Jewish communities from the 9th century. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Barcelona was home to a beth din (rabbinical court) and an important center of Torah study. During this period, Barcelona became a link in the chain of transmission of the teachings of the GeonimThe period of the Geonim dates from the end of the 6th century to the middle of the 11th century..
Important Catalonian rabbis from this time are Isaac ben Reuben Albargeloni (1043 -?), Judah ben Barzillai, called Yehudah ha-Nasi of Barcelona (late 11th century, beginning of the 12th century) and Abraham bar Hiyya (late 11th century, first half of the 12th century). Barcelona was well-known as the city of the Nesiʾim (, plural of Nasiʾ), due to the great number of personalities who enjoyed this honorific title. We know that two of the great Hakhmei Provence, Isaac ben Abba Mari (1122-1193) and Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (1110-1179), moved to Barcelona.
Catalonia joined Provence in 1112 and Aragon in 1137, and thus Barcelona became the capital of the unified realm called the Crown of Aragon. The kings of the Crown of Aragon extended their domains to Occitania.
12th and 13th centuries
] In the 12th and 13th centuries the Catalonian Talmudic academies thrived. The great Rabbis and kabbalists Ezra and Azriel bene Shelomoh (late 12th century, beginning of the 13th century) disciples of the famous Rabbi Yitzchaq el Cec (the Blind) (1160-1235), son of Rabbi Avraham ben David (Raabad) of Posquières (1120-1198), stood out in the city of Girona. We can also include Rabbi Yaaqov ben Sheshet (12th century) among the Girona kabbalists of this period. Also, from Girona was Rabbi Avraham ben Yitzchaq he-Hazan (12th-13th centuries) author of the piyyutLiturgical poem. Achot qetanah (little sister). From the city of Girona was the greatest of Catalonian sages, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban, or Nachmanides) (1194-1270), whose Catalonian name was Bonastruc ça Porta.
Although the city of Girona was an important center of Torah that had a Bet Midrash (House of Study) dedicated to the study of the Kabbalah, the main city was Barcelona, where the Ramban served as the head of the community. During this period, Rabbi Yona Girondi (1210-1263) and his famous disciples Rabbi Aharon ben Yosef ha-Levi of Barcelona (Reah) (1235-1303) and Rabbi Shelomoh ben Adret (Rashba) (1235-1310). Also, Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (Rosh) (1250-1327), his son Rabbi Yaaqov ben Asher (Baal ha-Turim) (1269-1343), and Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham ha-Sevilli (Ritba) (1250–1330), disciples of Rashba and Reah. We can say that at that time Barcelona became the most important Talmudic study center in all of the European Jewry. It was also during this time that certain Catalan Jewish families occupied key positions in the Catalonian economy, such as the Taroç family of Girona.
In Catalonia in the 13th century Jews were victims of blood libels and were forced to wear a distinctive sign called Rodella. The authorities prohibited Jews from performing public office and were forced to participate in public disputes with representatives of Christianity, such as the Barcelona Disputation of 1263 in which the Ramban participate as a representative of Judaism. The Jews were private property of the monarchy who charged them taxes in exchange for protection.
The kings of the Crown of Aragon expanded the Catalan domains and conquered Mallorca, Valencia, Ibiza and Menorca. In 1258 they signed the Corbeil treaty with the French king for which they renounced to their rights over the Occitan lands. In return, the Franks resigned their demands on the Catalan lands.
14th century
In the 14th century Christian fanaticism prevailed throughout the Iberian Peninsula and there were many persecutions against the Jews. We can mention among Catalonian sages of this period Rabbi Peretz ben Yitzchaq ha-Kohen (1304-1370) who was born in Provence but dwelled in Barcelona, Rabbi Nisim ben Reuven Girondi (Ran) (1315-1376) who served as a Rabbi in Barcelona, Rabbi Chasday ben Yehudah Cresques (the elder), Rabbi Yitzchaq bar Sheshet Perfet (Ribash) (1326-1408), Rabbi Chasday Cresques (Rachaq) (1340-1412), Rabbi Yitzchaq ben Moshe ha-Levi (Profiat Duran, ha-Ephody) (1350-1415), Rabbi Shimon ben Tzemach Duran (Rashbatz) (1361-1444). From this same period, we can include the cartographer of Mallorca Avraham Cresques (14th century) and the poet Shelomoh ben Meshullam de Piera (1310/50-1420/25).
Rabbi Nisim ben Reuven Girondi (Ran) resumed the activity of the Barcelona Yeshivah in the 50s and 60s, after the Jewish community was heavily affected by the Black Death in 1348. In 1370, Jews of Barcelona were victims of attacks instigated by a blood libel; a few Jews were assassinated and the secretaries of the community were imprisoned in the synagogue for a few days without food. Following the succession of John I of Castile, conditions for Jews seem to have improved somewhat. With John I even making legal exemptions for some Jews, such as Abraham David Taroç.
The end of the century brought the revolts of 1391. As a result of the riots, many Jews were forced to convert to Christianity and many others died as martyrs. Others succeeded in fleeing to North Africa (such as Ribash and Rashbatz), Italy and the Ottoman Empire. It was the end of the Jewish communities of Valencia and Barcelona. The community of Mallorca held out until 1435, when Jews were forced to convert to Christianity; the community of Girona barely endured until the expulsion of 1492.