Syrian Jewry in Transition, 1840-1880

Yaron Harel is Professor of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University. His contribution to the field of oriental Jewish history, especially in Syria, been recognized in a series of awards, including the Aminoah Prize (2000), the Ben-Zvi Prize for Research in Oriental Jewry (2004), and the Zalman Shazar Prize for Research in Jewish History (2009), He is also the author of The Books of Aleppo: The Rabbinic Literature of the Scholars of Aleppo (1997) and of the volume Syria (2009) in the series Jewish Communities in the East in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, and co-editor, with Yom Tov Assis and Miriam Frenkel, of Aleppo Studies - The Jews of Aleppo: Their History and Culture, Volume 1 (2009).

Reviews'A very well-researched and comprehensive survey of one of the lesser-known Jewish Middle Eastern communities.'Rachel Simon, AJL Newsletter Yaron Harel's exceptionally rich and rewarding book marks a major milestone in our understanding of the history of Jews in the Arab lands and, more generally, the changing position of Ottoman religious minorities during the Tanzimat era. No other account of Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire of which I am aware combines archival depth and attention to detail with conceptual breadth and a willingness to challenge existing assumptions in quite this way. Studies tracing the history of individual Jewish communities and their confrontation with modernity have now been in vogue for a generation. This is a classic in the genre ... this is a work of consummate scholarship and subtle insight. Those with a specialist interest in such phenomena will find it a veritable treasure trove. It will undoubtedly be required reading for anyone interested in the history of the Jews in Muslim lands and for scholars working on the Tanzimat era. But it deserves to find a wider readership than this. For such a richly documented account of the evolution of Syrian Jewry on the threshold of modernity serves as a useful counterpoint for scholars interested in the transformation, emancipation, and acculturation of Jewish communities in other sears of the world.'Abigail Green, English Historical Review,'Extremely well researched and detailed and will be an invaluable resource for those interested in Syrian Jewry, late Ottoman Syria, and Middle Eastern history more generally.'Ari Ariel, Syrian Studies Association Newsletter'A brilliant study of the history of the Jewish communities of Damascus and Aleppo during the nineteenth century. This is a formidable task and Harel admirably rises to the challenge of telling the story . . . employs an impressive array of European and Jewish archival sources from the various rabbinates, as well as records of Jewish organizations such as the Alliance Israélite Universelle, many for the first time . . . a must read for students and academics as well as those more generally interested in the history of the Jewish communities of Syria in modern times.’Josef Meri, Journal of Modern Jewish StudiesFROM REVIEWS OF THE HEBREW EDITION:'A work to be appreciated not only on its own merits, but also as an example of the kind of research that the Jews of the nineteenth-century Middle East deserve ... I am impressed by the solid base of primary historical sources in which the research is grounded, as well as by the thoroughness and scope of this professional and serious work, which fills the lacuna that existed until now in modern Jewish historical scholarship.'Zvi Zohar, Zion

• List of AbbreviationsList of IllustrationsNote on Transliteration and Conventions Used in the TextPart I The Seeds of ChangeIntroduction1 First Signs of WesternizationPart II Internal Jewish Life2 The Jewish Population of Syria3 The Jews in the Local Economy4 Leadership and Communal Administration5 Education—Traditional and ModernPart III The Legal Status Of The Jews6 Equality before the Law7 The Reaya and the Machinery of the Ottoman StatePart IV Muslims, Christians, Jews8 Majority–Minority Relations9 Interminority RelationsPart V Turning to the West10 ‘Ships of Fire’11 ‘The Princes of Israel’Conclusion: The Anatomy of SeparationGlossaryBibliographyIndex