North African Sephardim

===Sephardi Jews=== By the end of the Reconquista in 1492, 100,000 Jews converted and 175,000 left in exile, as they were forced to either leave or convert under the Spanish Inquisition. The expulsions from Spain and Portugal were echoed in Sicily and many Italian states during the sixteenth century. Sicily's Jews suffered expulsion in the summer and autumn of 1492. Naples, in turn, expelled its Jews in 1497. Sephardi Jews faced great obstacles after their exile. France refused Jewish immigrants, and the nearest refuge in North Africa was barred to Jews, as the Spanish occupied the ports of Algeria and Tunisia, and the Portuguese occupied northern Morocco.Despite each group's initial recognition of one another as the outsiders, Maghrebi Jews aided Sephardim who came to Morocco. The Berber King of Fez, Mulai Muhammed esh-Sheikh, agreed to let Sephardi Jews settle outside the city walls, attracting 20,000 refugees alone. As Sephardi Jews arrived, local Maghrebi Jews welcomed them, paid their ransoms, and supplied them with food and clothing despite the cholera with which Sephardi Jews came. Additionally, Fez provided a place for New Christians, who were previously Sephardi Jews that were forced to convert to Christianity in Spain, to reconvert to Judaism. Sephardi Jews also spread Sephardic culture and customs to the Maghreb. For example, Sephardim brought with them new methods of practicing the Ketouba and the ritual slaughtering of animals. Although Maghrebi Jews initially challenged Sephardi customs, with the struggle between the competing cultures lasting for over four centuries, the large influx of Sephardi Jews who settled in the Maghreb outnumbered the small number of Jews currently living in this area. ==Meaning of Sephardim==

The term Sephardi means "Spanish" or "Hispanic" and is derived from Sepharad, a Biblical location most commonly identified with Hispania, that is, the Iberian Peninsula. However, the Sephardi label has been described as misleading by Christopher L. Campbell et al., who argue that although the expulsion from Spain and Portugal led to the conglomeration of Jewish groups, many Jewish communities were formed before Jews reached the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, Sepharad still refers to "Spain" in modern Hebrew, but, today, the notion of a Sephardic Jew has expanded, as the Sephardi Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 mixed with the Maghrebi Jews of North Africa. == Language ==

Sephardi Jews who first settled in North Africa spoke Haketia, a Romance language also called "Ladino Occidental" (Western Ladino). Haketia is a Judaeo-Spanish variety derived from Old Spanish, plus Hebrew and Aramaic. Maghrebi Jews, on the other hand, spoke Maghrebi Arabic and Judeo-Arabic languages. Today, few people speak these languages, as the use for them is rapidly declining. However, they are still spoken among the more elderly members of the community, and some Sephardi Jews in Morocco recently have made efforts to preserve Haketia and its cultural influence. ==Surnames==

North African Sephardim have a blend of surnames that vary in origin. The first layer corresponds to Sephardim who after the Jewish massacre of 1391 came from northern Spain to the territory of modern Algeria. Among these families were those bearing such surnames as Astruc, Barsessat, Cohen Solal, Duran, Efrati, Gabbay, and S(a)tora. The second layer of original Sephardim came from Spain at the end of the 15th century. These migrants also carry surnames based either on various Iberian idioms, Arabic or Hebrew languages (such as Abensur, Abravanel, Abulafia, Albaranes, Almosnino, Amigo, Bensussan, Biton, Corcos, Gabbay, Nahon, and Serfaty). These names have since disappeared from the Iberian Peninsula when those that stayed behind as conversos received at the moment of their conversion surnames used by Spanish or Portuguese Christians. Among surnames used by local Jews that were formed in North Africa are such names based on male given names as Benhamou and Benishu, those derived from local place names as Dray, Gamrasni or Messalati. A few surnames in Algeria are based on local Berber idioms: Amrai, Attelan, Zemmour. Several dozens of surnames of Jewish surnames from Morocco are drawn or at least have prefixes taken from Berber dialects of that country: Aferiat, Assulin, Azencot, Azulay, Buganim, Timsit, Ohana, Ohayon, Ouaknin, Wizman. == Relation to other Sephardic communities ==

The relationship between Sephardi-descended communities is illustrated in the following diagram: ==See also==