The Jews in Rhodes is an ancient Jewish community that existed in Rhodes at least from the 12th century and grew significantly since the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The arrival of Sephardic Jews following their expulsion from Spain revitalized and expanded the community, bringing with them rich cultural and religious traditions. Under Ottoman rule, the Jews of Rhodes enjoyed good relations, experiencing a period of relative peace and prosperity, particularly during the 16th and 17th centuries. This harmonious coexistence continued until the Italian occupation on May 12, 1912, which marked the beginning of a more challenging era for the Jewish community.[1]
Following the Italian occupation, the community faced increasing restrictions and hardships, Before World War II, there were about 6,000 Jews living in Rhodes. The community was almost entirely destroyed in the Holocaust, and today there are about 40 Jews living on the island.[2]
The Jewish community in Rhodes has a glorious and ancient history, and already Benjamin of Tudela reports at the end of the 12th century that he found four hundred Jews on the island. Obadiah of Bertinoro passed through the island in 1487, stayed about a month and a half, and praised the education of the island's Jews.
After the Expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, the community grew as many exiles found their home on the island and established a Spanish Jewish community there. In the early 17th-century, a Jewish man named Levi was turned over to Rhodes' governor by his business partners during a dispute, leading to his forced conversion to Christianity under severe duress. Levi sought redress from a Constantinople rabbinical court, which ordered compensation but when his wife fled to Alexandria, the Rhodes governor extorted a bribe from the Jewish community, accusing them of aiding her escape. The rabbi concluded that while the partners couldn't foresee the full impact of their actions, they were guilty of a serious offense, and the community could fine them as a deterrent.[3]
The conquest of the island in 1522 by Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, was beneficial for the status of the Jews on the island and their number increased. According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, Solomon Ibn Verga, an exile from Portugal, arrived from Pisa in Italy to Rhodes and died there in 1533, after the conquest of the island. The Ottoman rule was beneficial for the Jews and allowed them to continue living within the city walls, something that was forbidden for Christians. In the Jewish quarter La Juderia, six synagogues operated, including the Kahal Shalom Synagogue, as well as yeshivas, and the Jews were involved in all crafts, including trade, medicine, weapons manufacturing, weaving, and more. In 1927, a rabbinical seminary was established on the island with the support of the Italian government.
In 1840, the community suffered from the blood libel in Rhodes. Only after the intervention of the Rothschild family was the community cleared of the accusation of murdering the boy. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Jews were the second largest religious group on the island, with their community numbering 11,000 souls out of 28,000 inhabitants. After the Italian conquest at the beginning of the 20th century, many Jews left Rhodes, in their search for better livelihoods, or for fear of the declaration of antisemitic laws, among others to the community of the town of Milas, located near the city of Bodrum in Asia Minor. In 1930, the Jewish community numbered about 4,000 people out of 30,000 inhabitants of the island.[4]
In 1887, the community numbered about 2,600 people out of 30,000 inhabitants of the city. As the Ottoman rule on the island came to an end, the Jewish community also declined in prominence, and many Jews left the island. The first to leave the island for Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo in Africa were the brothers Musa and Salmon Benatar, who arrived there as early as 1895. Following them, many other Jews from Rhodes migrated to the Belgian Congo, South Africa, and Rhodesia.
The new Jewish Cemetery is located about 2 kilometers south of the Jewish quarter La Juderia. Initially, it was located near the old cemetery close to the Jewish quarter, but in the 1930s, the Italians forced the Jews to remove the graves to create a park in the area of the old city.[5] [6]
At the entrance to the cemetery on the left, the rabbis of the Rhodes community are buried in a higher section, next to the section there are ancient tombstones that were found after the cemetery was moved. To the right of the entrance, there is a small museum about the transfer of the graves. In the cemetery, there is a memorial for the Jews of Rhodes who were murdered in the Holocaust. There is an additional memorial for the missing persons of the immigrant ship Pancho.
Following the implementation of racial laws in Italy and with the outbreak of World War II, about 4,000 out of 6,000 Jews of Rhodes left the city. On July 23, 1944, the Germans concentrated 1,673 of the community's Jews in the Martyrs' Square in the Jewish quarter, were taken to the port of the city of Rhodes, and were loaded onto cargo ferries that sailed towards the port of Piraeus, from which the Jews were taken to the Haidari concentration camp. Along the way, they picked up about 100 members of the Kos community. 7 Jews died during the journey from Rhodes to the port of Piraeus. On August 1, the Jews of Rhodes and Kos arrived at the Haidari camp, and after several weeks were sent to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where the community members were murdered except for 151 Jews from Rhodes who were saved. The Turkish consul, Selahattin Ülkümen, managed to save 42 Jews by claiming they were Turkish citizens or had ties to Turkey.
Of the six synagogues that were in the city, only Kahal Shalom Synagogue stands today. In the synagogue and the adjacent rooms is located the Jewish Museum of Rhodes.
| 1887 | 2,600 | 30,000 | ||
| End of the 19th century | 11,000 | 28,000 | 39,000 | |
| 1930 | 4,000 | 30,000 | 34,000 | |
| 1940s | ~2000 | |||
| 2011 | ~40 | 115,450 | 115,490 |
| Rabbi Chaim ben Menachem Algazi | Author of the book "Bnei Chayi" | ||
| Rabbi Moshe Israel | 1713–1736 | Was on a journey between the years 1727–1731 | |
| Hacham Ezra Malki | 1752–1768 | ||
| Rabbi Shmuel Yedidya Tarika | |||
| Rabbi Avraham Halevi | ???? – 1815 | ||
| Rabbi Chaim Yehuda Israel | 1815–1821 | ||
| Rabbi Michael Yaakov Israel | 1821–1833 | Rabbi of Rhodes during the blood libel in Rhodes | |
| Rabbi Raphael Yitzhak Israel | 1833–1882 | Later Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jerusalem. | |
| Rabbi Rachamim Chaim Yehuda Israel | 1885–1891 | ||
| Rabbi Shabbetai Halevi | 1891 – ???? | ||
| Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Franco | 1896–1911 | Later the 33rd Rishon LeZion | |
| Rabbi Nissim Yehuda Danon | Rabbi of Rhodes during the Italian occupation in 1912. Later the 34th Rishon LeZion | ||
| Rabbi Reuven Eliyahu Israel | 14th of Iyar 1921 – 20th of Tishrei 1933 | The last Rabbi of Rhodes from the Israel family line |
Siddur Zechut Yosef is the prayer rite of the Jews of Rhodes and it is slightly different from the Sephardic rite.