Western Anatolia — major Sephardic port
8 teachers
Izmir (Smyrna) through the eras
Izmir (Smyrna) under Byzantine and early Ottoman rule (until the 16th century) supported only a small Jewish community. The city's modern Jewish history begins with the 16th century Sephardic settlement, which transformed it rapidly into one of the most important Sephardic-Ottoman centers.
Izmir from the 17th through 19th centuries was a major Sephardic halachic and commercial center, serving as the principal Ottoman port of Levantine trade with Western Europe. Spanish-exile families (Palaggi, Yedid, Hazan, Benveniste) anchored the rabbinate. R. Chaim Benveniste (Knesset HaGedolah, Chief Rabbi 1660-1673), R. Eliyahu HaCohen (Shevet Musar, fled Aleppo for Izmir), R. Hayyim Palaggi (Chief Rabbi 1855-1868, with over 70 books to his name), and dozens of major poskim made Izmir one of the most-cited Sephardic centers of acharonic responsa. The community was also the epicenter of the catastrophic Sabbatean movement: Sabbatai Zvi (1626-1676) was born and active here. The Izmir community produced its own Hebrew printing presses from the 17th century, publishing major Sephardic responsa and homiletics.
Izmir's Jewish community in the late Ottoman and Turkish-Republican eras numbered around 35,000 at its peak. The community supported the famous Beit Israel synagogue complex, multiple Talmud Torah schools, and a vibrant Ladino press. The Population Exchange of 1923 and rising Turkish nationalism gradually pressured emigration; the 1948 establishment of Israel and the 1955 Istanbul pogrom (which spilled over) drove most of the community to Israel. Today perhaps 1,000 Jews remain, served by the historic Bikur Holim synagogue.
Teachers who lived here
Rabbi Yosef Escapa (1572–1662)
death 1620–1662
R. Chaim Benveniste (1603–1673)
death 1655–1673
Shabbetai Tzvi (the false messiah) (1626–1676)
born, mystic 1626–1662
R. Eliyahu HaKohen of Aleppo (1659–1729)
darshan, posek 1700–1729
R. Chaim Abulafia (1660–1744)
Chief Rabbi of Izmir 1721–1740
R. Yom Tov Algazi (1727–1802)
born, studied 1727–1745
Rabbi Chaim Palagi (1778–1868)
death 1788–1868
R. Hayyim Palaggi (1788–1868)
born, served, died 1788–1868