Sephardi Lives A Documentary History, 1700}}}1950 [Hardcover]

This ground-breaking documentary history contains over 150 primary sources originally written in 15 languages by or about Sephardi Jewsdescendants of Jews who fled medieval Spain and Portugal settling in the western portions of the Ottoman Empire, including the Balkans, Anatolia, and Palestine. Reflecting Sephardi history in all its diversity, from the courtyard to the courthouse, spheres intimate, political, commercial, familial, and religious, these documents show life within these distinctive Jewish communities as well as between Jews, Muslims, and Christians.Sephardi Livesoffer readers an intimate view of how Sephardim experienced the major regional and world events of the modern eranatural disasters, violence and wars, the transition from empire to nation-states, and the Holocaust. This collection also provides a vivid exploration of the day-to-day lives of Sephardi women, men, boys, and girls in the Judeo-Spanish heartland of the Ottoman Balkans and Middle East, as well as the ?migr? centers Sephardim settled throughout the twentieth century, including North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. The selections are of a vast range, including private letters from family collections, rabbinical writings, documents of state, memoirs and diaries, court records, selections from the popular press, and scholarship.In a single volume,Sephardi Livespreserves the cultural richness and historical complexity of a Sephardi world that is no more. Sephardi Livescovers a vast territory chronologically, geographically, and topically, ranging from secular and religious politics to everyday life. Highly engaging voices from eighteenth-century scholars and nineteenth-century divorc?es to twentieth-century Ottoman draftees inform readers of the vast variety and richness of Sephardi experiences. For scholars as well as students, a pleasure to read. This collection is a most welcome contribution to Jewish studies in general and Sephardi studies in partils,