Alfandari was a family of eastern

rabbis A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries, found in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The name may be derived from a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

locality, perhaps from

Alfambra Alfambra is a municipality located in the province of Teruel, Aragon, Spain. , the municipality has a population of 676 inhabitants. This locality is famous for the Battle of Alfambra fought in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War Historical Ori ...

. The following is a list of the chief members of the family: * Aaron ben Moses Alfandari * Elijah Alfandari * Ḥayyim ben Isaac Raphael Alfandari the Younger * Ḥayyim ben Jacob Alfandari the Elder * Isaac Raphael Alfandari * Jacob ben Ḥayyim Alfandari *

Solomon Eliezer Alfandari Solomon Eliezer Alfandari ( he, שלמה אליעזר אלפנדרי) ( 1826 – 22 Iyar 1930), also known as the Saba Kadisha ("Holy Grandfather"), was a distinguished rabbi, kabbalist and rosh yeshiva in his native home of Constantinople, and ...

Members of this family were to be found as of 1906 in Constantinople and in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. A

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

family of the name Alphandéry still exists, as of 1906, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

. In Avignon there was a physician, Moses Alphandéry, in 1506, and a Lyon Alphanderic, in 1558. Compare the names Moses אלפנדריך and Aaron אלפנדארק. In addition to the persons mentioned above, there is known a Solomon Alfandari (Valencia, 1367), whose son Jacob assisted Samuel Ẓarẓa in tranṣlating the ''Sefer ha-'Aẓamim'' of pseudo-ibn Ezra from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

into

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. A merchant, Isaac Alfandari, was wrecked in 1529 on the

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

n coast. In Israeli popular culture, the principal family in the 1973 film ''

Daughters, Daughters ''Daughters, Daughters'' ( he, Abu el Banat) is a 1973 Israeli film directed by Moshé Mizrahi. It was entered into the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Cast * Shaike Ophir - Sabbatai Alfandari * Zaharira Harifai - Bianca Alfandari * Joseph Sh ...

'' is named Alfandari. For a possible explanation of the name, see

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

.''Jew. Quart. Rev.'' xi. 591.

References

*{{JewishEncyclopedia, url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=A&artid=1183, article=Alfandari Jewish families Sephardi families Early Acharonim

See also

References