The Sephardi Heritage in Libya

90 SHOFAR THE SEPHARDI HERITAGE IN LIBYA by Rachel Simon Rachel Simon holds the Ph.D. from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Department of the History ofMuslim Countries and does research on the Middle East and North Mrica, including the Jews of Libya. She has published numerous articles, reports, encyclopediaentries, book reviews, and the books Libya Between Ottomanism and Nationalism: tbe Ottoman Involvement in Libya During the War with Italy, 1911-1919 (Berlin, 1987) and Change Within Tradition AmongJewish Women in Libya (Seattle, 1992). From 1979 to 1986 she was the editor ofMideast File, a computerized database and reference quarterly. Libyan Jews lacked many of the external characteristics of Sephardim elsewhere, yet their Sephardi heritage was deep rooted and embracing. In contrast to many other Jewish centers, there were no separate communities in Libya based on place of origin outside the country, and consequently one cannot speak of distinctive Sephardi communities and their synagogues , rabbis, yeshivot, etc. Furthermore, Judeo-Spanish was not spoken in Libya, and its influence is hardly felt in Libya's Judeo-Arabic. As a result, traditions which continued elsewhere could not develop in a similar manner in Libya. Nonetheless, beyond that surface, one can find a deep cultural influence in prayer, religious practices, scholarly orientation, belief patterns, and self identity. Sephardi immigration to Libya was relatively small and spread out from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, but it had a distinctive qualitative effect on the indigenous Jews due to the cultural level of the immigrants and that of the Libyan Jewry. Thus, Sephardi settlers set the tone in religious development, were often influential spiritual leaders, and frequently held important economic positions and consequently became role models for cultural inclination, social behavior, and political orientation. Vol. 10, No. 3 Spring 1992 91 Political Developments in libya During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Their Implications on Sephardi Influence Libya had been under Muslim influence and rule since the midseventh century. Being located in the middle of the southern Mediterranean shore on the trans-Saharan trade route and close to Italy made it a natural target for Christian European interests. With the increased power of Christian Spain in the fifteenth century, Libya became an arena for Muslim-Christian religious and political rivalry. Libya was under Muslim rule during the 1492 expulsion, but a drastic change took place in 1510, when Spain conquered Tripoli and its vicinity. Nonetheless, parts of the hinterland and the coast (e.g., Jabal Gharyan, Misratah, Tajurah) remained under Muslim rule, and many Muslims and Jews escaped to find refuge there.t Carl V, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1530, gave Tripoli to the Knights of St. John (who moved from Rhodes to Malta in 1520)/ but the region continued to be under overall Spanish rule and policy. In 1551, a combined sea-land attack by Turgut Pasha, the naval commander, and Murad Bey, the governor of Tajurah, conquered Tripoli for the Ottomans.3 The forces under Turgut's command were mainly Muslim pirates who received Ottoman recognition for their operations and put their conquests within the Ottoman realm. Tripoli and places in Tunisia which had been ruled by Spain from Tripoli came under the governorship of Turgut Pasha, who represented Ottoman rule in Tripoli.4 These North African conquests brought Libya under the Ottoman legal system, including the regulations governing non-Muslims in general and the welcoming attitude toward Sephardi immigrants in particular, which had been in force since the days of Sultan Bayezid II, who ruled during the time of the expulsion. Thus, the Jews could keep their faith and have their internal autonomy in matters of religious practices, study, and organization (although, according to the "Covenant of 'Umar," they had to accept several discriminatory regulations regarding their religious behavior, their life pattern, and their economic obligations toward the state). 'Mordecai ha-Cohen, J-liggid Mordecai Oerusalem: Ben Zvi Institute, 1978): pp. 78-79; S. Mendelssohn, Thejeuls ofAfrica (London: Kegan Paul, 1920): p. 60. 2Nahum Siousch, Sefer ha·Masa'ot (Tel-Aviv: Dcvir, 1938-1943): v. 2, p. 27-28. 3Higgid Mordecai, p. 79-80. 'Higgid Mordecai, p. 81. 92 Demographic Trends Among the Jews of Libya SHOFAR Although population data regarding Libyan...