This pioneering study offers a comprehensive account of Syria's key
Jewish communities at an important juncture in their history that
also throws light on the broader effects of modernization in the
Ottoman empire. The Ottoman reforms of the mid-nineteenth century
accelerated the process of opening up Syria up to European
travellers and traders, and gave Syria's Jews access to European
Jewish communities. The resulting influx of Western ideas led to a
decline in the traditional economy, with serious consequences for
the Jewish occupational structure. It also allowed for the
introduction of Western education, through schools run by the
Alliance Israelite Universelle, influenced the structure and the
administration of Jewish society in Syria, and changed the balance
of the relationship between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
Initially Syria's Jewish communities flourished economically and
politically in these new circumstances, but there was a developing
recognition that their future lay overseas. After the opening of
the Suez Canal in 1869, the bankruptcy of the Ottoman empire in
1875, and the suspension of the Ottoman constitution in 1878, this
feeling intensified. A process of decline set in that ultimately
culminated in large-scale Jewish emigration, first to Egypt and
then to the West. From that point on, the future for Syrian Jews
lay in the West, not the East. Detailed and compelling, this book
covers Jewish community life, the legal status of Jews in Syria,
their relationship with their Muslim and Christian neighbours, and
their links with the West. It draws on a wide range of archival
material in six languages, including Jewish, Christian Arab, and
Muslim Arab sources, Ottoman and European documents, consular
reports, travel accounts, and reports from the contemporary press
and by emissaries to Syria of the Alliance Israelite Universelle.
Rabbinic sources, including the archive of the chief rabbinate in
Istanbul, are particularly important in opening a window onto
Syrian Jewish life and concerns. Together these sources bring to
light an enormous amount of material and provide a broad,
multifaceted perspective on the Syrian Jewish community. The Hebrew
edition of the book was the winner of the Ben Zvi Award for
Research in Oriental Jewry in 2004. 'For the first time in the
historiography of the Jews of Muslim countries we are presented
with a rich picture, well written and riveting, of the history of
important Jewish communities in the period of the Tanzimat.' From
the award citation
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