Yitzhak Sarfati also spelt Tsarfati (
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 ...
: יצחק צרפתי) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-born,
Ashkenazi rabbi
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 of ...
who settled in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
prior to the
fall of Constantinople, and served as the
Chief Rabbi of
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
.
Biography
Born in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
sometime in the early 15th century, Sarfati was originally of
French descent (his surname "Sarfati" means "French" in Hebrew). Not much is known of his early life but in , Sarfati moved to the Ottoman Empire where he was eventually made the Chief Rabbi of
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
.
That following year, he sent out a letter to the Jews of the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
,
Swabia,
Styria,
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The m ...
, and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
in which he spoke with great enthusiasm of the fortunate conditions of the Jews under Ottoman control, stating; "I proclaim to you that Turkey is a land wherein nothing is lacking, and where, if you will, all shall yet be well with you."
[{{Citation, last=Spolsky, first=Bernard, title=Jews in Slavic lands, url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781107295292.014, work=The Languages of the Jews, year=2014, pages=171–189, publisher=Cambridge University Press, doi=10.1017/cbo9781107295292.014, isbn=978-1-107-29529-2, access-date=2020-05-17] The following years witnessed a massive emigration of Jews to the Turkish lands, considered the third main wave of Jewish immigrates to Turkey.
See also
History of the Jews in Turkey
The history of the Jews in Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Yahudileri or ; he, יהודים טורקים, Yehudim Turkim; lad, Djudios Turkos) covers the 2400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in An ...
History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire
By the time the Ottoman Empire rose to power in the 14th and 15th centuries, there had been Jewish communities established throughout the region. The Ottoman Empire lasted from the early 14th century until the end of World War I and covered par ...
Letter of Rabbi Yitzhak Sarfati
References
15th-century German rabbis
Turkish rabbis
Turkish Ashkenazi Jews