In the 20th century, approximately 900,000 Jews migrated, fled, or were expelled from Muslim-majority countries throughout Africa and Asia. Primarily a consequence of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the mass movement mainly transpired from 1948 to the early 1970s, with one final exodus of Iranian Jews occurring shortly after the Islamic Revolution in 1979–1980. An estimated 650,000 (72%) of these Jews resettled in Israel.
Charoset, haroset, or charoises is a sweet, dark-colored paste made of fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud its color and texture are meant to recall mortar which the Israelites used when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt as mentioned in Tractate Pesahim of the Talmud. The word charoset comes from the Hebrew word cheres ".
The history of the Jews in Turkey covers the 2400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey.
Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population. Other faiths in the country include Islam, Christianity and the religion of the Druze people. Religion plays a central role in national and civil life, and almost all Israeli citizens are automatically registered as members of the state's 14 official religious communities, which exercise control over several matters of personal status, especially marriage. These recognized communities are Orthodox Judaism, Islam, the Druze faith, the Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Anglicanism, and the Baháʼí Faith.
Zablon Simintov, also known as Zebulon Simentov, is an Afghan Jewish former carpet trader and restaurateur. Between 2005 and his evacuation from Afghanistan to Israel in 2021, he was widely believed to be the only Jew still living in Afghanistan. He was also the caretaker of and lived in the Kabul synagogue, the only synagogue in the capital city of Kabul. On 7 September 2021, shortly after the Taliban takeover, he left Afghanistan with the help of a private security company organized by Israeli American businessman Mordechai Kahana and Rabbi Moshe Margaretten from the Tzedek Association. A month later, it was discovered that Simentov may not have been the last Jew living in Afghanistan; a distant relative of Simintov, Tova Moradi, fled Afghanistan for Albania in October 2021 with her twenty grandchildren.
Rabbi Yehuda Chitrik was an author and Mashpia in the Chabad Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York.
Syrian Jews had predominantly two origins: those who inhabited Syria from early times and the Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 CE. There were large Jewish communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Qamishli for centuries. In the early 20th century, a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to Palestine, the U.S. and Latin America. The largest Syrian-Jewish community is now located in Israel and is estimated to number 80,000.
Mimouna is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish celebration dinner, that currently takes place in Morocco, Israel, France, Canada, and other places around the world where Jews of Maghrebi heritage live. It is held the day after Passover, marking the return to eating hametz, which is forbidden throughout the week of Passover.
The State of Israel and the Republic of Turkey formally established diplomatic relations in March 1949. Less than a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence, Turkey recognized Israeli sovereignty, making it the world's first Muslim-majority country to do so. Both countries gave high priority to bilateral cooperation in the areas of diplomacy and military/strategic ties, while sharing concerns with respect to the regional instabilities in the Middle East. In recent decades, particularly under Turkey's Erdoğan administration, the two countries' relationship with each other has deteriorated considerably. However, diplomatic ties were reinstated after a successful normalization initiative in mid-2022.
Ishak Haleva is the current Hakham Bashi of Turkey. Haleva was the deputy to David Asseo for seven years and became the new chief rabbi after he died in 2002. He has been a member of the Presidium Council of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
The Ashkenazi Synagogue is an Ashkenazi synagogue located near the Galata Tower in Karaköy neighborhood of Beyoğlu in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the only currently active Ashkenazi synagogue in Istanbul open to visits and prayers. The synagogue was founded by Jews of Austrian origin in 1900. It is also the last remaining synagogue from a total of three built by Ashkenazim, as the population of Ashkenazi Jews accounts for 4 percent of the total Jewish population of Turkey. Visits to the synagogue can be made during weekday mornings and for Shabbat services on Saturday mornings.
Moroccan Jews are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were later met by a second wave of migrants from the Iberian peninsula in the period which immediately preceded and followed the issuing of the 1492 Alhambra Decree, when Jews were expelled from Spain, and soon afterward, from Portugal. This second wave of immigrants changed Moroccan Jewry, which largely embraced the Andalusian Sephardic liturgy, to switch to a mostly Sephardic identity.
Antisemitism in Turkey refers to acts of hostility against Jews in the Republic of Turkey, as well as the promotion of antisemitic views and beliefs in that country.
By the time the Ottoman Empire rose to power in the 14th and 15th centuries, there had been Jewish communities established throughout the region. The Ottoman Empire lasted from the early 14th century until the end of World War I and covered parts of Southeastern Europe, Anatolia, and much of the Middle East. The experience of Jews in the Ottoman Empire is particularly significant because the region "provided a principal place of refuge for Jews driven out of Western Europe by massacres and persecution."
The Holocaust Museum of Oporto is a Holocaust museum founded in 2021.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Chitrik, better known as Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, is an American, Israeli, and Turkish Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Turkey since 2003. He became the chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States in 2019.
Levi Duchman is the first resident chief rabbi of the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as the head of the Jewish congregation of Abu Dhabi, of the Jewish Community Center of UAE in Dubai, and as a member of the executive board of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
Rabbi Avraham Hamra was a Syrian-Israeli rabbi. He served as chief rabbi of Syrian and Lebanese Jews and was the last chief rabbi of Syria.
Yehuda Gerami is the Chief Rabbi of Iran and spiritual leader for the Jewish community of Iran since 2011.
Events in the year 2022 in Israel.
