Sephardic Immigration

Who are Sephardim?

“The Jews of Spain,” Sephardic Jews make up a small percentage of the global Jewish population, especially when compared to Ashkenazi Jews. Sephardic Jews, however, are not restricted to possessing genealogical roots in Spain; a Sephardi Jew formally refers to a descendant of an ethnic and religious community historically originating in the Iberian Peninsula (present day Spain and Portugal), dispersed as a result of Alhambra Decree in 1492¹.

Figure 1: Basic geographic map of the Iberian Peninsula, formally where Sephardi Jews originated¹⁹.

It is important to note there exist many other definitions of Sephardi Judaism, held by Israelis, Mizrahis (another intra-ethnic of Judaism), and Sephardis themselves, which is beyond the scope of this page. However, the purpose of differentiating between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Judaism is to understand a bit about how the two largest populations of Jews worldwide differ in their genealogical roots and how these distinctions lead to differing religious practices and traditions¹. These two distinct ethnic sub-communities (Ashkenazim and Sephardim) can most easily be represented by differences in cultural and religious traditions, such as the use of Ladino by Eastern Sephardim, a combination of Hebrew and Spanish which differs from the common language among many traditional Ashkenazim–Yiddish. Similar differences between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Judaism include religious prayer melodies, traditional cuisine, as well as customs regarding observance of holidays¹ .

Due to their regional differences, Sephardim faced different social and political environmental influences than Ashkenazim, specifically in relation to persecution resulting in immigration. Further information regarding persecution toward Ashkenazim as well as Sephardim can be found on our website pages for The Holocaust and The AMIA. In fact, there were three main events which sparked large waves of Sephardi Immigration to Latin America, the first being in the 17th and 18th centuries from Holland, England, and Spain, the second in 1880 to 1924 from North Africa (Morocco), Syria, and the Western coast of Europe², where many Jews immigrated to the United States, Argentina, and Brazil, and the third significant wave of Sephardi Immigration to Latin America followed the Holocaust in the mid 1940s to late 1950s³.

First Wave: Precolonial Immigration

The first major wave of Sephardic immigration occurred in the precolonial time, most prominently in 1492 after Jewish people were exiled in Spain. The year 1492 is also historically significant and familiar to many people as the year that Christopher Columbus embarked on his exploration from Spain to the Americas. Spanish Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492 as a result of Spain unifying as a Christian nation after defeating Muslim forces in January of 1492. Isabella and Ferdinand then made the decision to expel Spanish Jews from Spain as had been proposed by Father Tomas de Torquemada⁵. As the Jews had been exiled from Spain during that year, it is likely that some of the passengers on Columbus’s ships were Sephardic Jews coming to the Americas. The only confirmed Jewish passenger on Columbus’ ship was a recent converso and interpreter, Luis de Torres, but as the Jewish people of the time were known to excel in mapmaking, the presence of other Jews on board is not implausible⁴. Many of the Jews living in Spain escaped to Turkey, Portugal, North African and Italy, where they, and their descendants thereafter, received the title of “Sephardim” referring to their Spanish origins⁵.

For Jews who moved to Portugal following the Spanish Inquisition, their stay was cut short as a Portuguese Inquisition was also put into place as a result of the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinands daughter to the King of Portugal in 1496, who agreed to expel the Sephardim as a condition of the marriage. Both of these inquisitions, led to the Sephardim dispersing and living in areas such as Turkey, Egypt, North Africa and Italy⁵. 

The Sephardic Jews who continued living in Portugal had been forced to live as Catholics although they secretly maintained their Jewish practices. In the 17th century, the Portuguese Jews began to look for new communities in other parts of Europe where they could live freely as Jews and abandon their Catholic masks. In 1630, part of Northern Brazil that had been Portuguese territory was taken by the Dutch. The Jews were able to live freely as Jews in the Dutch territory which created a movement of Jews to the Northern area of Brazil controlled by the Dutch. Later on the Portuguese were able to reconquer Northern Brazil in 1656, and ended up expelling the Jews living there. At that point the Sephardim living in Northern Brazil travelled into the countries we now know to be called Suriname and Guyana and continued the presence of Jews in Latin America⁶.

Find out more about Precolonial Immigration

Second Wave: The Amazon 1890-1924 

In the late 19th century, several different regional factors affecting the economic situation of Sephardic Jews in North Africa and Syria as well as Turkey resulted in a spike of immigration of Sephardic Jews to the Brazilian Amazon in search of economic respite⁷. At that time (specifically 1890), the Brazilian Amazon was an exploding source of rubber, taken from the Amazonian rubber trees⁸. As the automobile industry began its exponential growth in the early 1900s, so did the world’s need for rubber. In short, a massive immigration to the Amazon took place in search of developing wealth by cultivating rubber.

Figure 2: Image of a man cultivating rubber in the Brazilian Amazon, in which sap is drained from a deep cut in a rubber tree²⁰.

 This economic opportunity attracted the young, able-bodied Sephardi teenagers in Morocco, whose families were caught in an economic depression. With economic depression often comes worsening living conditions, scarcity of resources, and disease, all of which drove the Moroccan Sephardi community to send their youth to the Amazon to reap economic gains from the rubber boom⁷. Until 1910, three-week steamship voyages brought Sephardi Moroccan teenagers back and forth from the Amazon, along with their accumulated wealth which would feed their families⁷ . 

One specific story involves Rabbi Shalom Imanuel Muyal, a Moroccan Rabbi who was sent to the Amazonian Rainforest in order to ensure the continuation of Jewish practices and tradition of the growing population of Jewish Moroccan Immigrants in the early 1910s. Rabbi Muyal became so revered amongst the native Amazonian people he is referred to as “Santo Moisézinho” or “Saint Little-Moses” because of his deep and spiritual connection he made with them, despite religious differences⁹. Below is a Story Map of Rabbi Muyal’s Journey and experience.

In 1910, however, the rubber economy crashed with the introduction of significantly cheaper rubber cultivated in southeast Asia, putting an end to the second wave of Sephardic immigration to Brazil¹⁰. This immigration boom was a primary factor in the (relatively) significant population of Sephardi Jews in Brazil and surrounding countries, including but not limited to Argentina and farther north, Mexico.

In Syria and Turkey, a different but comparable story resulted in significant Sephardi Immigration to the western hemisphere. Before 1908, a wave of immigration followed from economic hardship in the northernmost region of the Ottoman Empire, which is present day Turkey and Syria². Among those moving west included 5,444 Sephardi Jews. These immigrants were primarily young able-bodied men, in search of reaping economic benefit from Argentina’s fertile agricultural economy. For more information on Jewish Argentinian’s relationship to agriculture, visit Agricultural Colonies in Latin America. Additionally, Argentina had relaxed immigration policy, allowing these Sephardi immigrants to enter the country with little documentation, and stay for an indeterminate amount of time². However, from 1908-1914, The Balkan wars induced a major wave of westward immigration, as the region was economically and politically destabilized by what would signify the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire¹¹. In 1908, a significant coalition of young Turks staged a revolution with hopes of establishing a constitutional government². Specifically, the Young Turks Revolution dismembered a previously established law that exempted Jews (and Christians) from mandatory military service. Luckily, many of the young men who would have been affected by this change had already left, but those who stayed were now pressured to leave in order to escape military service as well as economic hardship of wartime.

As the Balkan Wars progressed, they drove away the majority of the leftover Sephardi Jews who had not already immigrated out of the Empire, and where else to go (given financial capabilities) but where they already had family². Over 10,000 Sephardi Jews were driven out of what is now Turkey and Syria, many immigrating West, to the United States, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil¹². 

 

Third Wave: 1930-1960

Since the 1930s, Jewish Immigration to Latin America diminished significantly as Western countries had decided to close their doors to Jewish immigrants. The number was even smaller for Sephardi Jews immigrating to Latin America. Some Jews were able to escape during the Holocaust. Following the Holocaust, few Sephardi Jews survived, which led to a decrease in numbers of Sephardic immigrants to Latin America. Western countries had decided to close their doors to Jewish immigrants¹³.

There was a boom of immigration following the Suez Crisis and Sinai Campaign of 1956, in addition to political change in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia  leading up to the Holocaust and led to immigration of Sephardic Jews to Latin America and the United States.

 

POLITICAL CHANGE IN MOROCCO, ALGERIA and TUNISIA AND POST HOLOCAUST

Leading up to World War II and the Holocaust,  governmental and political conflict was occurring in the French colonies of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria which were home to many Sephardim who had descended from those who had experienced the Inquisitions and sought refuge in the North African colonies. With French as the ruling power over these colonies, they were subject to some extreme policies that targeted Jews. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, France joined forces with Germany and adopted the Vichy  governmental style and enacted legislative measures which targeted Jews¹⁴.Under the law, Jews had their personal properties takes from them and were defined as Jewish or non-Jewish by the French government and citizenship was granted and not granted to many Jews. Further restrictions in 1941 created quotas for how many Jews were allowed to work in a specific profession and in some cases like for Jews in Algeria, they were not able to work at all. 

Later on in 1942, an invasion of Tunisia by Germany and Italy called Operation Torch occurred causing Germany to take full power in Tunisia and implement antisemitic policies. Jews living in France and in the colonies like Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria,  were sent to internment camps¹⁴.  This political turmoil which specifically targeted the Jews prompted movement of the Sephardim, some to Germany, forced by the Vichy and Nazi regime, and some to areas like Latin America and the United States in an attempt to flee the oppressing powers. Survivors following the Holocaust also chose to immigrate to Latin American countries, mainly Argentina as well as other countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay etc. More than 20,000 Jewish Displaced Persons chose to move to Latin America during the time period of around 1947 and 1953¹⁵.

SUEZ CRISIS

The Suez Crisis which occurred in Egypt, was a result of an effort to decolonize Egypt and create Egyptian nationalism led by the then President of Egypt, Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was also an advocate for a unified and more widespread Arab world. Nasser planned to do so by establishing the Suez Canal as Egyptian.  The British who wanted to maintain their control in the Suez Canal, and the French who were upset that Egypt had given aid to Algerian rebels, joined forces with Israel who did not want to support and expansion of Arab presence in opposition to Egypt’s efforts. The main event of the Suez crisis took place on October 29, 1956 when Israel initiated its attack, focusing on the Sinai peninsula which was an integral part of the Jewish community in Egypt. Shortly after, France and Britain attacked Egypt as well, which resulted in the failure of Egypt to nationalize the canal. However, the conflict progressed into Nasser taking an approach to cut off oil supplies from many Western countries, asserting Nasser as the head of a new nationalized and powerful Egypt that was linked to a strong Arab cause¹⁶. 

These events in Egypt linked to the Suez Crisis resulted in the immigration of Egyptian Jews to Israel, Central and South America as well as Western Europe and the US . While some of the Jews voluntarily left Egypt due to the unrest and conflict occurring at the time, Nasser had also ordered for the expulsion of British and French people living in Egypt and later extended the expulsion to Jews living in Egypt, even those who were Egyptian. All in all the Suez crisis resulted in an estimated 23,000-25,000 Jews leaving Egypt¹⁷. Following the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions of 1492, Egypt had previously been a destination where Sephardim set ought to flee the inquisitions. Home to many, Sephardim, the exile and immigration that occurred following the Suez Crisis led to the immigration of Sephardim to Latin America, as well as Israel and the other previously mentioned countries¹⁷. 

Recent Developments for Sephardim

Through this exploration of Sephardic immigration, it is evident that the Sephardim underwent centuries of oppression and exile which prompted the need for movement to other countries to begin with. There has been a recent development however, which has welcomed Sephardim instead of expelling them. In 2015, Spain made the decision to offer citizenship to descendants of the Jewish families that were expelled during the Inquisition¹⁸.

 

Footnotes

  1. Weiner, Rebecca. Sephardim. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sephardim.
  2. Mirelman, A. Victor. Jewish Buenos Aires 1890-1930, In Search of an Identity. Wayne State University Press, Michigan, 1990. https://digital.library.wayne.edu/item/wayne:WayneStateUniversityPress4448/file/HTML_FULL
  3. Zollman, Joellyn. Jewish Immigration to America: Three Waves. My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-immigration-to-america-three-waves/.
  4. “In the New World: Columbus Sets Sail.” n.d. Columbus Sets Sail – Judaic Treasures. Jewish Virtual Library . Accessed March 11, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/columbus-sets-sail-judaic-treasures.
  5. “Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion.” n.d. The Spanish Expulsion (1492). Jewish Virtual Library . Accessed March 10, 2020. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-spanish-expulsion-1492.
  6. Greguska, Emma. 2020. “Illuminating the History of Jews in the Caribbean.” ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. ASU News. February 6, 2020. https://asunow.asu.edu/20200206-discoveries-illuminating-history-jews-caribbean.
  7. Malka, Jeff. Moroccan Jews in the Amazon. Sephardic Genealogy Resources. https://www.jewishgen.org/Sephardic/amazon.HTM.
  8. Aitchison, Mark. The Tree That Weeps: A History of Amazon Rubber – Brazilmax.Com. Sep. 28, 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720075509/http://www.brazilmax.com/columnist.cfm/idcolumn/38.
  9. The Jewish Community of Brazil. BH Open Databases. https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/brazil.
  10. Malka, Jeff. Sephardim and Their History. Sephardic Genealogy Resources. https://www.jewishgen.org/Sephardic/SEPH_who.HTM.
  11. Ferarro, Vincent. The Formation of the Balkan Alliance of 1912. 2010. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/boshtml/bos143.htm
  12. Sachar, Howard. Sephardic Jewish Immigrants: The Second Wave. My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/sephardic-jewish-immigrants-the-second-wave/.
  13. Mirelman, A. Victor, 1992. Sephardim in Latin America After Independence. American Jewish Archives, 44(1), pp.235-267
  14. “Anti-Jewish Legislation in North Africa .” n.d. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed March 11, 2020. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/anti-jewish-legislation-in-north-africa.
  15. “Refuge in Latin America .” n.d. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed March 11, 2020. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/refuge-in-latin-america.
  16. “The Suez Crisis – Decolonisation: Geopolitical Issues and Impact on the European Integration Process.” CVCE Website. The Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l’Europe (CVCE), January 3, 2017. https://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/dd10d6bf-e14d-40b5-9ee6-37f978c87a01/003be399-1fcb-4a0b-bf84-70781e403376.Argentina’s German Jewish Cultural Heritage | Arts 21. DW News. Jan. 13, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpnnJrIPJ8
  17. Julius, Lyn. “The Suez Crisis and the Jews of Egypt.” Fathom. Fathom Journal , October 2017. https://fathomjournal.org/the-suez-crisis-and-the-jews-of-egypt/
  18. Adatto, Kiku. 2019. “Spain’s Attempt to Atone for a 500-Year-Old Sin.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company. September 21, 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/09/spain-offers-citizenship-sephardic-jews/598258/.
  19. Iberian Peninsula Map and Information Page. https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/iberian.htm#
  20. Rubber Cultivation An Untapped Opportunity For US Economy. Image. https://www.ibtimes.com/rubber-cultivation-untapped-opportunity-us-economy-2767141.