Her paper is on the influx of Sephardi Jews to Greece after the expulsion from Spain in 1492. Upon arrival in Greece, these Jewish communities in some cases merged with and in some cases overtook the existing Jewish communities in Greece, called Romaniote. Romaniote Jewish customs were distinct from other global Judaisms. They spoke and prayed in Yevanic (Judeo-Greek), a Greek dialect written in Hebrew characters. They also built their synagogues in a distinct way, with benches along the walls, facing each other, in order to have a large aisle for elaborate parading with the Torah.
In the northern city of Thessaloniki, the Sephardic customs almost completely overtook the Romaniote customs. Nearly 20,000 Sephardi Jews moved to Thessaloniki and established 30 new synagogues based around their Sephardi traditions, naming each synagogue after the city in Spain from which they fled. The city which had once only had 500 Jews was suddenly home to 15,700 Jews, more than 50% of the population. The Sephardim brought with them Ladino (Judeo-Spanish). They looked down upon their Romaniote brothers who did not share the language, and called them "Gregos," a derogatory word that lumped them with the rest of the Greeks. The two communities formed a Jewish Federation, but due to the heavy volume of Sephardi Jews, it wasn't long before Ladino became the working language of the federation.
By contrast, in the western city of Ioannina, the Romaniote communities much more successfully retained their identity. Ioannina had long been home to a thriving Jewish community, and Jewish involvement in civic life made Ioannina an important commercial center for all of Greece. The Kahal Kadosh Yashan, or Old Synagogue, had housed the Jewish community for centuries, and the community spoke Yevanic (Judeo-Greek). After the expulsion from Spain, Romaniote Jews in Ioannina tried (unsuccessfully) to petition the chief rabbi of Greece to forbid other Jews from doing business in Ioannina. Instead, the head rabbis of Ioannina forbade the formation of new synagogues, so Sephardic immigrants chose to pray at the Old Synagogue and in Yevanic. Eventually, due to population growth, a new synagogue was founded outside the city walls, mainly by immigrants, though the synagogue adopted Romaniote customs.
Reading Ms. Marcadis' paper, I was struck at several of her findings, and sometimes even moved to tears. First, even in Ioannina, the Romaniote community adopted some Spanish words, namely the word libro, meaning "book." Haven't we Jews been called the "People of the Book?" Of all the words to be absorbed, the word "book" demonstrates a continued emphasis on learning, thinking, and engaged living. Second, consider the lives the Sephardic Jews left behind when they fled Spain. For 300 years (from the 700s-1000s), the Jews of Spain had been the world's most successful Jewish community to date, a golden age of thinkers, writers, religious scholars, and civic leaders--not unlike the American Jewish community today. It astounds me that 400 years later they would have to flee, and as Ms. Marcadis notes, sometimes bring with them the keys to their homes, as if hoping to soon return. This image is very moving. Third, the Sephardic immigrants thrived in the textile industry, an industry that followed my family all the way to my grandfather in New York in the 1950s.
Lastly, Ms. Marcadis cites some of the names of Sephardic immigrant families in Ioannina, and names "Koffina." My mom's mom's maiden name was Betty Cofino. She spoke Ladino. This leads me to believe that at least this branch of my family were Sephardic and not Romaniote Jews, and that they came from Spain before Greece. To read their history, to uncover their story--that they easily adapted to the existing Romaniote community in Ioannina, and yet retained their Ladino language--is to me a symbol of Jewish unity.
As I dream of the future of a Jewish Student Union at Emory--a federation of Hillel, Chabad, Meor, Emory Students for Israel, AIPAC, SHOAH, AEPi, AEPhi, ZBT, Kol HaNesher, and other groups--I am inspired by my mother's Spanish-Greek ancestors. I look forward to learning and seeing more while I am there.
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