Sinagoga Giudecca Quartiere Ebraico di Caltabellotta

A cura di Accursio Castrogiovanni e Vincenzo Carmelo Mulè
The Jews of Caltabellotta until 1492, the year in which they were expelled with a "cruel" edict by the Spanish royals, the very Catholic Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. They were the largest and most widespread community in of Italy. They spoke Arabic, or rather a Arab-Maghrebi dialect referring to their area of origin. To differentiate themselves from the Arab-Muslims, they transcribed their texts with Hebrew lettering (script) They also spoke Sicilian and the dialect of Caltabellotta of that time. Their surnames in that era were transcribed into Sicilian.
Related to those of Sciacca, with whom they constituted a "unicum", the Jews of Caltabellotta, a community of about four hundred individuals, were intellectuals, doctors, pharmacists specializing is herbs and spices, schoolteachers, bankers, artisans, landowners, peasants, breeders, tanners and traders of land and livestock and agricultural products. They transported their goods to Sciacca and from there shippers in that city spread their goods into every locality in Sicily, the Mediterranean and beyond as far as Flanders and England.
They all lived in the Giudecca centered around a Synagogue with ‘Matroneo’ (the only one found in documents so far in Sicily) and an adjoining yeshiva (religious school). The community was not isolated. They had good working relations with the rest of the population, with the political and ecclesiastical authorities who often used Jewish labor/services for the purposes of the community .
It is documented that Busacca de Sagictono was the trusted doctor of Count Antonio de Luna and two Jews and two Christians together managed the slaughterhouse of the city, adjacent to the current Chiesa Cristiana del Carmine which, until a few decades ago was fully functioning.
After the expulsion, the vast majority left for other safer destinations, some converted to Christianity and stayed. Some surnames and nciurii (nicknames) remain from their passage: Abbate, Anello, Castrogiovanni, Crispi, Daino, Geremia, Macaluso, Nocilla, Perna, Ragusa, Ribecca, Syracuse, Tripoli, Cunsirioti, Ncantaredda, Nfintusu, Salamuni and Zzazzara;
Canisi, Nucidda and Tarummina refer instead to the names of three districts.
As far as Archaeological evidence a tombstone in Hebrew has been found in the place where the cemetery was located. The neighborhood where they lived, with the remains of the Synagogue with the Well for Ablutions, the Building of the Schools located in today's Via delle Scuole is quite intact . A large notarial documentation speaks of their life in Caltabellotta and the famous ‘Ketubah of Caltabellotta’, a marriage contract drawn up in 1457 in four languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic and Sicilian attests to the religious and cultural life of the jewish community of the times.. The vitality of the Jews of Caltabellotta, a ommunity which was economically and culturally thriving considered amongst the most developed in Sicily, was violently and paradoxically interrupted in 1492, at the beginnings of the inquisition
Ricerche storiche sugli Ebrei di Caltabellotta - Prof.ssa Angela Scandaliato, storica degli Ebrei di Sicilia.
Historical research on the Jews of Caltabellotta - Prof. Angela Scandaliato, historian of the Jews of Sicily.

[@sebastianocantone735]

Complimenti

[@robertop7602]

Magnifico documentario. Una pennellata di storia.

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

grazie

[@silviavolpiansky1557]

GRACIAS....GRACIAS POR ESTE INTERESANTISIMO DOCUMENTO!!!!!!!!!!!

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

GRAZIE

[@taniaballerini7736]

Molto interessante Condivido Condivido la mia famiglia e amici

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

grazie

[@Lekaraïte]

Grazie. Penso che gli ebrei siciliani siano storicamente ebrei con influenze di riti e usanze sefardite, questa è tutta la ricchezza dell'ebraismo in Sicilia, sarebbe più autentico se tornasse nell'isola. shalom

[@athenagiovani9956]

Sad story 😢

[@salvatoreseminara3142]

Complimenti più sinceri , per tale informazione che per l'appunto non ne conoscevo l'esistenza.......vorrei sapere se è possibile visitare il posto......grazie

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

grazie, e propietà privata, ti puoi a Vincenzo Mulè

[@salvatoreseminara3142]

@@accursiocastrogiovanni e comunque, valorizzare è cosa buona e giusta ✋

[@mariarosasantambrogio6170]

Un quartiere ebraico a Caltabellotta? Mai saputo della sua esistenza. Grazie

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

grazie

[@brunobalsamo8498]

Sono un operatore turistico. Esiste un servizio di guida turistica locale per far visitare i posti?

[@accursiocastrogiovanni]

Si chiama Paolo Vetrano del Kratas Tour Caltabellotta