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Edirne

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Ṭrani, Baruch ben Isaac di, Danon, Abraham, Halevy, J.
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Edirne (Adrianople), is a town in Turkey located in eastern Thrace near the Turkish-Greek-Bulgarian frontier. It was an important center of Jewish life and learning in the Ottoman Empire. During the 19th century, owing to the decline of the Ottoman central authority, the Jews suffered from blood libels spread by the Armenians (1871–1872), and at the beginning of the 20th century they were affected by the rise of nationalism in the Balkans and the invasion of the Bulgarians in 1913. The Jews of Edirne played an important part in the city's economy and the Jewish economic elite was composed of moneylenders and traders. The Jews lived in various neighborhoods in the city according to their professions, and each neighborhood maintained its own community organization, synagogue, and bet din under the general supervision of the Hakham Bashi (chief rabbi). The first Hakham Bashi, was appointed in 1836 as part of the formal recognition of the Ottoman Jewish community. Until the end of the 19th century, there was also a Karaite community in Edirne. The collection includes materials that reflect a wide range of religious, social, economic and cultural aspects of Jewish life in Edirne during the 19th-20th centuries. It includes numerous records regarding the organization of the community, its management and its welfare system: the rabbinate's correspondence with communities and individuals in different places in Turkey and the world (including Istanbul, Paris, Barcelona, Plovdiv, New York, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and more); the rabbinate's and council’s financial documents and papers on taxation; minutes of the community’s council and its correspondence; records of the Bikur Holim (aid to the sick) society. An important part of the collection is materials related to Jewish religious life and education: papers of the Great Synagogue; providing matzah and kosher meat; records concerning matrimonial matters; materials regarding the Jewish school. There are also documents of Jewish merchants (ledgers, papers on property, etc.), various printed materials, vital data of the Jewish residents, and photographs connected with Jewish institutions and Jewish life in Edirne --

Reference Code
TR-Ed
Dates
1800-1960
Consists of
353 files.
Languages
tur; Hebrew; lad; French; ota;
Description
The collection includes materials on the life of Edirne’s Jews: organization and general management of the community; religious life; social and economic activities; education and cultural phenomena. The collection contains minutes of the community’ council from 1923 and 1929, and extensive correspondence of the rabbinate and several Jewish associations. The letters are within the community or to/from other communities, institutions and individuals in different towns and countries. For example, there are letters from/to Istanbul, Izmir, Kirklareli, Budapest, Zurich, Barcelona, Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Petah-Tikva, Paris, Plovdiv, Casablanca, Djerba, New York and more. Correspondence from 1940 mentions Jewish refugees from Bulgaria. Some of the letters include answers to Halachic questions. The collection includes letters from Paris dated 1929 to the association “Cercle israélite d'Edirne”, and contain records of the local “B'nai B'rith” association from 1930-1934 (register, repertoire booklet, a catalog of books in the association’s library). The collection includes numerous financial documents of the community and its council, papers on taxation, records on philanthropy and the welfare system in the town. There are numerous records of the Bikur Holim (aid to the sick) society including records of support for soldiers' wives and immigrants in 1941-1942. And there are also materials of The Small Loans Fund. An important part of the collection is materials related to the Jewish religious life and the Great synagogue. For example, it includes documents on providing matzah and kosher meat (such as the kosher meat sales register from 1934-1935), records concerning matrimonial matters of the Jewish residents with personal vital data (for example, dowry register and conditions of financial obligations of the couple from Haskoy-Balat); notebook for registering seats for women in the Great Synagogue (1946-1949) and register of the Great Synagogue from 1951. Materials regarding the Jewish school from the 1930s include: register of reports to the Education Administration in Edirne; students’ list books; correspondence (including five letters of Alliance School dated 1934-1935); examinations registers; students’ attendance registers; minutes of teachers' meetings (1932, 1937); teachers' work tracking register (1920-1939); data on lessons and their content; circulars from the Turkish Ministry of Education (1938-1940). The collection includes papers of Jewish merchants (ledgers, papers on property, etc.), various printed materials, and vital data of the Jewish residents (such as identity cards of merchants and registration sheets of residents). There are also private papers of people (Judah Romano) and photographs connected with Jewish institutions and Jewish life in Edirne.
Title Edirne.
Contributors Baruch ben Isaac di,Ṭrani 1847-1919
Abraham,Danon 1857-1925
J.Halevy (Joseph), 1827-1917
Cercle israélite d'Edirne
Alliance israélite universelle (Turkey)
Host Item Edirne - Jewish Community
Level of Description Fonds Record
Biographical summary Edirne (Adrianople), is a town in Turkey located near the Greek frontier. The town was an important center of Jewish life and learning in the Ottoman Empire. In 1873 there were approximately 12,000 Jews in the town
during 1903-11, 17,000. Before WWI their numbers rose to 28,000. But thereafter, following impoverishment of the Jewish population due to wars and emigration (to Salonika, Palestine, and the United States), they declined to 13,000 in 1921-1922, 2,000 in 1943, and 400 in 1965. Each neighborhood maintained its own community organization, synagogue, and bet din under the general supervision of Hakham Bashi (the city's chief rabbi). During the second half of the 19th century, Jews suffered from blood libels spread by the Armenians, and in 1913 were harmed by invasion by the Bulgarians. The Haskalah movement penetrated the town through the philologist Joseph Halevy (1827–1917). In 1867 and 1870 the Alliance Israélite Universelle opened schools for boys and for girls. In addition, a school– akedah Yitzḥak – was opened by a writer, historian, and poet Baruch b. Isaac Mitrani (1847–1919). In 1891 Abraham Danon (1857–1925) opened a rabbinical seminary that taught both secular and religious subjects. The teaching was partly in Turkish, but the seminary moved to Istanbul in 1898. At the beginning of the 20th century, alumni associations – including reading clubs and mutual-aid fraternities - were established in Edirne. In 1905 a great fire destroyed all 13 synagogues in Edirne. Two years later the community constructed a new synagogue, which was modeled on the synagogue of Vienna.
Language Note Turkish
Ottoman Turkish
Hebrew
Ladino
French
National Library system number 990041762200205171
Links פרטים על מיקום החומר/Location&access
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Diatagē (firmani) dieuthygomenē pros ton Stampol-kadissi (megan kritēn tēs Kōnstantinoupoleōs). Avōthen tēs hopoias, hē A.M. ho Soultanos egrapsen idiais-chersi touta ta logia: "Na ektelesthē oti diorizetai eis touto to firmani".

Turkey

Book
صورت أمر عالى.
صورت أمر عالى.
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