Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean
Not to be confused with Romanian Jews or Italian Jews.
Romaniotes
Ρωμανιώτες
Members of the Romaniote Greek Jewish community of Volos: Rabbi Moshe Pesach (front left) with his sons (back). Prior to 1940.
Regions with significant populations
Greece
1,500+ [citation needed]
Israel
45,000 [citation needed]
United States
6,500 [citation needed]
Cyprus
3,500?[1]
Turkey
500 [citation needed]
Languages
Greek (Yevanic), Hebrew, Ladino
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Jews, Greeks, Constantinopolitan Karaites
The Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes (Greek: Ῥωμανιῶτες, Rhomaniótes; Hebrew: רומניוטים, romanized: Romanyotim) are a Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean.[2] They are one of the oldest Jewish communities in existence and the oldest Jewish community in Europe. The Romaniotes have been, and remain, historically distinct from the Sephardim, some of whom settled in Ottoman Greece after the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal after 1492.
Their distinct language was Yevanic, a Greek dialect that contained Hebrew along with some Aramaic and Turkish words, but today's Romaniotes speak Modern Greek or the languages of their new home countries. Their name is derived from the endonym Rhomanía (Ῥωμανία), which refers to the Eastern Roman Empire ("Empire of the Romans", Βασιλεία Ρωμαίων). Large Romaniote communities were located in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Volos, Chalcis, Thebes, Corinth, Patras, and on the islands of Corfu, Crete, Zakynthos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, and Cyprus, among others.
A majority of the Jewish population of Greece was murdered in the Holocaust after the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II and the deportation of most of the Jews to Nazi concentration camps. After the war, a majority of the survivors emigrated to Israel, the United States, and Western Europe. Today there are still functioning Romaniote synagogues in Chalkis (which represents the oldest Jewish congregation on European soil), Ioannina, Veria, Athens, New York City, and Israel.
^Menelaos Hadjicostis, 'Jewish museum in Cyprus aims to build bridges to Arab world,' Associated Press 6 June 2018.
^Mattheou, Dimitris (April 8, 2010). Changing Educational Landscapes: Educational Policies, Schooling Systems and Higher Education - a comparative perspective. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 160. ISBN 978-90-481-8534-4.
The RomanioteJews or the Romaniotes (Greek: Ῥωμανιῶτες, Rhomaniótes; Hebrew: רומניוטים, romanized: Romanyotim) are a Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community...
case the language is called Karaitika or Karaeo-Greek). The Romaniotes are a group of Greek Jews whose presence in the Levant is documented since the Byzantine...
Romaniote may refer to: RomanioteJews Yevanic language, the language of the RomanioteJews This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the...
has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is predominantly used for any Jew that lives in or originates...
(rite) Jews from Italy and RomanioteJews from Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Both groups are considered distinct from the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim. Jews from...
Greek-speaking RomanioteJews, with a handful of dispersed Karaite communities. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, many Sephardic Jews from Spain...
Sephardi Jews and RomanioteJews from throughout the Ottoman Empire migrated to Eastern Europe, as did Arabic-speaking Mizrahi Jews and Persian Jews. In the...
waves of Byzantine Jews settled there. These newcomers were in most cases merchants from Constantinople and brought with them Romaniote Jewish practices...
Sephardic Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי סְפָרַד, romanized: Yehudei Sfarad, transl. 'Jews of Spain'; Ladino: Djudíos Sefardíes), also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim...
ben Moses Mosconi, a RomanioteJew from Achrida edited and expanded the Sefer Josippon later. This community of Byzantine Jews of southern Italy produced...
Communities of the Greek-speaking RomanioteJews from the Byzantine period have been documented.[citation needed] In 1110 CE, Jews were engaged in tax collecting...
but also western part of Sephardim and Italian rite Jews, a.k.a. Italkim, and Greek RomanioteJews—both last groups are considered distinct from Ashkenazim...
survivor Sephardi JewsRomanioteJews Holocaust Museum of Greece History of Thessaloniki History of the Jews in Greece History of the Jews in Turkey Guelfo...
also popularized Jewish messianism. For 2000 years, Jews lived in Greece and created the Romaniote Jewish community. They spoke Yevanic, a Greek dialect...
Musta'arabi Jews.[citation needed] Gradually, the chief centre of the Sephardic Jews became Salonica, where they soon outnumbered the pre-existing Romaniote Jewish...
it has similarities with the nusach of the Greek RomanioteJews. The RomanioteJews or the Romaniotes (Romanyotim) native to the Eastern Mediterranean...
Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Iberia in the end of 15th century. Present-day Albanian Jews, predominantly of Romaniote[verification needed]...
East and North Africa). RomanioteJews, Tunisian Jews, Yemenite Jews, Egyptian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Bukharan Jews, Mountain Jews, and other groups also...
distinctive as the later language Yevanic, or Judeo-Greek, spoken by the RomanioteJews in Greece. The term "Jewish Koine" is to be distinguished from the concept...
began to differentiate Karaite Jews from Rabbanite Jews, freeing them from various oppressive laws that affected Rabbinic Jews. In the 1830s the Tsarist governor...
tefillot (תְּפִלּוֹת) among Sephardi Jews, tefillah among German Jews, and tiklāl (תכלאל) among Yemenite Jews. The earliest parts of Jewish prayer books...
The history of the Jews in Bulgaria goes back almost 2,000 years. Jews have had a continuous presence in historic Bulgarian lands since before the 2nd...
as well as Sephardi Jews and RomanioteJews migrating there from the Ottoman Empire. Arabic-speaking Mizrahi Jews and Persian Jews also migrated to Poland...
also Judaeo-Italian and so these Jews had often Hebrew or Italian names. The Calabrian Jews followed the Romaniote nusach. A Southern Italian Mahzor...
beef meatballs and beet greens or chard. They also might add sage. RomanioteJews used large cuts of beef, onions and pligouri, a type of cracked bulgur...
century primarily of RomanioteJews. The First Crusade devastated the Jewish population in Pelagonia and Skopje. However, the Jews in North Macedonia continued...
I about the plight of the Jews in the Kingdom of Sicily. In 831, Sicily came under the Arab dominion, which treated the Jews with relative tolerance. In...
was often linked to the advent of the Messiah. Zevi's family were RomanioteJews from Patras; his father, Mordecai, was a poultry dealer in the Morea...
Global Information
Greece
Israel
United States
Cyprus
Turkey