Španski Jevreji južnoslovenskih zemalja

Abstract

Posle više od jednog milenijuma života na Iberskom poluostrvu, velika zajednica španskih Jevreja našla se 1492. godine pred teškim izborom: ili da prihvati katolicizam i ostane u Španiji, ili da bude privržena veri svojih praotaca i napusti zemlju. Te godine, posle ujedinjenja Kastilje i Aragona, španski kralj Ferdinand i kraljica Izabela su izdali edikt po kojem je svima koji ne prihvate ponudu o konverziji naređeno da napuste Španiju. Devetog Ava, u vreme obeležavanja godišnjice razorenja Jerusalimskog hrama, hiljade Jevreja oprostile su se od grobova svojih predaka i krenule u izgnanstvo: jedan deo u susednu Portugaliju, odakle je već posle nekoliko godina moгао dalje; drugi deo je pošao u pravcu Francuske, Engleske i Holandije. Treći, najbolji deo, uputio se ka Italiji, Turskom Carstvu i zemljama severne Afrike. Na područje južnoslovenskih zemalja, Sefardi su se počeli naseljavati u prvoj polovini XVI veka, najpre pojedinačno, potom u većim grupama. Oni koji su došli preko Italije, mahom su se zadržali na obalama Jadranskog mora. Naselili su se na području Dalmacije, tada pod vlašću Venecije, i na teritoriji samostalne Dubrovačke Republike. Otud i različiti uticaji na duhovni, kulturni i privredni razvoj Sefarada u Primorju i Sefarada u kontinentalnom delu Balkana.

After living nearly a millennium on the Iberian Peninsula the Jewish community in 1492 faced a difficult choice: either to convert to Catholicism and stay in Spain or to be faithful to the religion of their forefathers and leave the country. It was the уеаг when Castile and Aragon were united and the Spanish king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the edict whereby those who did not wish to convert were obliged to leave Spain. On the day of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, on the 9th of Av, thousands of Jews took leave of their ancestors’ tombs and fled into exile: one group found refuge in neighbouring Portugal, which they very soon had to leave; another group made its way to France, England and Holland. The third group - the largest in number - headed for Italy, the Ottoman Empire and Northern Africa. The Sephards began to settle in South Slav lands in the first half of the XVI century, first individually later in larger groups. The ones who came via Italy generally stayed on the Adriatic coast. They settled in Dalmatia, then under Venetian rule, and on the territory of the independent Republic of Dubrovnik. Hence different in influences on the spiritual and cultural life and economic progress of the Sephards in the Adriatic coast and on the continental part of the Balkans.