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Letter by the Smyrna Jewish Community concerning a family matter. The Jewish community in Smyrna dates from the beginning of the 17th century, when it was a flourishing center of Mediterranean commerce. The Jewish community increased in numbers and became one of the most important of the Ottoman Empire. Jews from Salonika, Constantinople, and neighboring towns also settled in Izmir. The new settlers established their own communities (Ez Hayyim, Gerush, Portugal, etc.) and appointed R. Joseph Escapa of Salonica as their rabbi (before 1630). After some time R. Azariah Joshua Ashkenazi, also from Salonika, arrived in the town.
This period was the golden era of the Izmir community. Large yeshivot, schools, synagogues (i.e, the Portuguese synagogue in 1710, the Algazi synagogue – Kal de Ariva – in 1728, etc.) and a Hebrew printing press (1658) were founded. The local Jewish population included prosperous merchants, translators, agents of European merchants, banks and consulates, customs offıcials, usurers and eminent rabbis who ranked among the most distinguished of that generation – R. Aaron Lapapa, R. Solomon Algazi, and R. Hayyim Benveniste, all of them during the 17th century. |
