Italian Jews

Italian Jews (Italian: ebrei italiani; Hebrew: יהודים איטלקים) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the Italian liturgy (or "Italian Rite") as distinct from those Jewish communities in Italy dating from medieval or modern times who use the Sephardic liturgy or the Nusach Ashkenaz.

Name

Italkim have descent from the Jews who lived in Italy during the Roman period. Their Nusach is distinct from the Sephardic Nusach and the Ashkenazi Nusach, and are sometimes referred to in the scholarly literature as Italkim (Hebrew for "Italians"; pl. of italki, Middle Hebrew loanword from the Latin adjective italicu(m), meaning "Italic", "Latin", "Roman"; italkit is also used in Modern Hebrew as the word for "Italian language" (singular). They have traditionally spoken a variety of Judeo-Italian languages.

Divisions

Italian Jews historically fall into four categories.

Italkim, Jews of the "Italian Rite" who have resided in Italy since Roman times; see below.

Sephardi Jews, in particular Spanish and Portuguese Jews, i.e., Jews who arrived in Italy following their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula. The Kingdom of Spain expelled Jews with the 1492 Alhambra Decree and the persecution of Jews and Muslims by Manuel I of Portugal led to their forced conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1497, at which time many Iberian Jews immigrated to Italy. In addition, in 1533, Iberian Sephardi Jews were forced out of the Spanish territory/colony in Italy known as the Kingdom of Naples and began migrating to other parts of the Italian peninsula.