1he 1urk|sh Israe|| Connect|on and Its Iew|sh koots

8y Iosepb nootmoo

Cne of Lhe mosL slgnlflcanL developmenLs ln recenL Mlddle LasL affalrs ls Lhe close relaLlonshlp whlch
now exlsLs beLween 1urkey and lsrael ln mlllLary pollLlcal economlc and lnLelllgence maLLers 1hls
change ln Lhe power sLrucLure ls usually aLLrlbuLable Lo Lhe old Arab maxlm Lhe enemy of my enemy ls
my frlend" Slnce boLh 1urkey and lsrael counL Syrla and lraq as Lhelr sLrongesL LhreaLs Lhe close Lles
beLween 1urkey and lsrael are qulLe loglcal

Powever Lhere ls good evldence of a less wldely known buL absoluLely fasclnaLlng sLory behlnd Lhls
relaLlonshlp 1urkey whlch has a populaLlon almosL excluslvely Musllm has a governmenL whlch by law
ls commlLLed Lo belng LoLally secular 1hls goes back Lo modern 1urkey's foundlng faLher MusLafa kemal
(kemal ALaLurk) 18811938 leader of Lhe ?oung 1urk MovemenL whlch Look over afLer World War l and
Lhe collapse of Lhe CLLoman Lmplre

ALaLurk and hls followers moved rapldly Lo end rellglous domlnaLlon and many rellglous pracLlces ln Lhe
dally llfe of Lhe counLry 1hey decreed a change from Lhe Arablc alphabeL Lo Lhe 8oman and Lhey
ouLlawed Lhe fez and Lhe vell 1hey opened schools Lo boLh boys and glrls and Lhelr maln goal was Lo
WesLernlze 1urkey and secularlze lLs pracLlces 1he 1urklsh army has been Lhe maln enforcemenL agenL
of Lhls secular pollcy ln Llmes of rlslng fundamenLallsm among some groups

ome 8ackground Data

ln Lhe 18Lh and early 19Lh cenLury Salonlka (now 1hessalonlka) under 1urklsh rule ln Creece was Lhe
unofflclal caplLal of Sephardlc !ewry Cf Lhe Lhree groups ln Lhe clLy Lhe !ews were larger Lhan Lhe
comblned Creek CrLhodox and Musllm populaLlon

1he !ews domlnaLed Lhe commerce of Lhe clLy and conLrolled Lhe docks of Lhls ma[or seaporL 1here
were greaL synagogues and academles of rabblnlc sLudy Moslem shops closed on lrlday Creek
CrLhodox on Sunday and mosL shops and buslnesses were closed on ShabbaL Ladlno Lhe beauLlful mlx
of Spanlsh and Pebrew was Lhe llngua franca of Lhe clLy and ShabbaL Shalom" was Lhe unlversal
SaLurday greeLlng among all ln Lhe laLe 19Lh and early 20Lh cenLury Lhe clLy decllned as a resulL of
confllcL beLween Creek CrLhodox and Moslems and !ewlsh domlnance of Lhe clLy decreased

Ia|| of the Cttoman Lmp|re

WlLh Lhe fall of Lhe CLLoman Lmplre afLer World War l and Lhe declslon aL Lhe 1reaLy of Lausanne ln
1923 Lo creaLe an lndependenL Creek sLaLe Lhe declslon was made Lo Lransfer populaLlons All Moslems
ln Creece had Lo move Lo 1urkey and all CrLhodox Creeks ln 1urkey had Lo move Lo Creece ln all abouL
330000 Moslems and one mllllon Creeks were lnvolved ln Lhe move !ews were permlLLed Lo remaln
wherever Lhey llved

AL Lhls Llme a group of Moslems wenL Lo Lhe auLhorlLles supervlslng Lhe populaLlon shlfL and explalned
LhaL Lhey were noL really Moslems buL were ln facL really !ews poslng as Moslems 1he auLhorlLles would
noL enLerLaln such a clalm so Lhe group Lhen wenL Lo Lhe Chlef 8abbl Saul Amarlllo Lo verlfy Lhelr
!ewlsh sLaLus 8abbl Amarlllo sLaLes ?es l know who you are ?ou are momzarlm (very loosely
LranslaLed as basLards) and as such noL accepLable ln Lhe !ewlsh communlLy" 1hese people were Lhe
uonmeh Lhe 1urklsh word for converLs and Lhelr exlsLence had been known for over 200 years 1hey
were called momzarlm because of Lhe blzarre sexual pracLlces LhaL were parL of Lhelr rellglous rlLuals
whlch made lL lmposslble Lo Lrace parenLage and llneage 1he uonmeh were forced Lo leave Salonlka for
1urkey whlch conslderlng Lhe Lraglc faLe of Salonlka's !ews durlng Lhe PolocausL 20 years laLer
undoubLedly saved Lhelr llves

Jho Jere the Donmeh? (Doenmeh Donme)

Cne of Lhe besL known names buL leasL known hlsLorlcal flgures ln !ewlsh hlsLory ls ShabbLal Zvl Lhe
false messlah" (16261687) 8orn ln Smyrna 1urkey of a Sephardlc faLher and an Ashkenazl moLher he
was a brllllanL chlld and 1almudlc sLudenL and an ordalned rabbl ln hls mld Leens Pe wenL on Lo sLudy
and became a masLer ln kabbalah and oLher !ewlsh mysLlclsm Pls oraLory was capLlvaLlng and he soon
acqulred a followlng Powever he exhlblLed odd characLerlsLlcs lncludlng perlods of lllumlnaLlon where
he was belleved Lo be communlcaLlng wlLh Cod and perlods of darkness when he was wresLllng wlLh
evll Soon he began Lo hlnL LhaL he was Lhe Messlah 1hls blasphemy caused hlm Lo be expelled from a
number of congregaLlons Pe Look up a pllgrlm's sLaff and wlLh some followers roamed Lhe Mlddle LasL
gaLherlng many Lo hls messlanlc preachlng especlally durlng hls perlods of llghL ln Caza he was
welcomed by 8abbl naLhan who had for years been preachlng LhaL Lhe arrlval of Lhe Messlah was
lmmlnenL 1hls comblnaLlon led Lo a greaL ouLpourlng of bellef ln ShabbLal Zvl as Lhe Messlah Word
spread LhroughouL Lhe !ewlsh world from oland AmsLerdam Cermany London ersla and 1urkey Lo
?emen MulLlLudes [olned hls ranks educaLed rabbls llllLeraLes rlch and poor allke were swepL up ln
Lhe mass hysLerla

Among hls lnner core Lhey accepLed hls Lheory LhaL all rellglous resLrlcLlons were reversed 1he
forbldden was encouraged and Lhe commandmenLs of Lhe 1orah were replaced by ShabbLal's 18 (chal)
commandmenLs 1hls led Lo feasLlng on fasL days sexual relaLlons wlLh oLhers Lhan one's spouse and
many more 1he hlgh polnL was ln 166366 when ShabbLal wlLh hls followers marched on Lhe SulLan's
palace expecLlng Lo be greeLed as Lhe Messlah 1hls of course dld noL happen 1o shorLen Lhls sLory
ShabbLal was glven Lhe cholce converL Lo lslam or dle" 1o Lhe consLernaLlon of hls followers he chose
converslon MosL of hls followers reLurn Lo Lhelr homelands where afLer penlLence and someLlmes
flagellaLlon Lhey were recelved lnLo Lhe congregaLlons Powever some hundreds of famllles of hls lnner
clrcle consldered hls aposLasy as parL of hls overall plan of reachlng Lhe depLh before aLLalnlng
redempLlon 1hey Loo converLed Lo lslam alLhough for abouL 200 years Lhey llved as Moslems buL
secreLly passed on Lhelr secreL quasl!ewlsh ShabbaLean bellefs and pracLlces Lo Lhelr chlldren 1hey
conLlnued learnlng and praylng ln Pebrew and Ladlno As Lhe generaLlons passed Lhe knowledge of
Pebrew was reduced Lo reclLlng cerLaln prayers and expresslons by memory ln a barely undersLood
Pebrew 1hey were known ln 1urklsh as uonmeh meanlng converLs" Lo Lhe !ews Lhey were Mlnlm
meanlng hereLlcs" 1hey referred Lo Lhemselves as Ma'amlnlm Lhe bellevers" 1hey were never really
accepLed by Lhe 1urks nor by Lhe !ews

As we geL lnLo Lhe mlddle and laLe 1800s and educaLlon and enllghLened Lhlnklng spread Lhrough parLs
of Lhe reglon young uonmeh men who were dlssaLlsfled wlLh Lhelr sLaLus as nelLhernor" Lurned Lo
secular naLlonallsm Lo esLabllsh Lhelr ldenLlLy 1hey neglecLed all forms of rellglous belonglng and saw ln
Lhe ?oung 1urk movemenL Lhelr emanclpaLlon

1he Iew|sh koots * * *

ln 1911 ln Lhe PoLel kameneLz ln !erusalem lLamar 8en Avl a newspaperman and wrlLer who was Lhe
son of Lleazer 8en ?ehudah (credlLed as Lhe maln proponenL of Lhe esLabllshmenL of Modern Pebrew)
meL wlLh a young 1urklsh Army offlcer AfLer en[oylng a good quanLlLy of Arak Lhe offlcer Col MusLafa
kemal Lurned Lo hls drlnklng parLner and reclLed Lhe Shema" ln fluenL Pebrew and lndlcaLed LhaL he
came from a uonmeh famlly 1hey meL agaln on a few occaslons and kemal fllled ln more of hls
background 1hls man was of course Lo become Ceneral kemal ALaLurk founder of modern 1urkey

8emnanLs of uonmeh sLlll exlsL 1here ls an unldenLlflable bulldlng known as Lhe !ewlsh Mosque where
uonmeh sLlll meeL uurlng World War ll when 1urkey was close Lo Cermany Lhere were separaLe Lax
llsLs for dlfferenL rellglous caLegorles and Lhe u" llsL was for uonmeh uurlng hls llfeLlme and
conLlnulng Loday Lhere have been whlspered rumors among lslamlc acLlvlsLs LhaL kemal ALaLurk and
oLher ?oung 1urks were of !ewlsh orlgln ubllcly he denled Lhls and hls blographers avolded Lhe lssue

Powever Lhere ls llLLle doubL LhaL 300 years afLer Lhe deaLh of ShabbLal Zvl hls lnfluence and LwlsLs and
Lurns of hls uonmeh followers provlded Lhe acLlvlsL secular basls whlch ls one of Lhe underlylng
prlnclples of modern 1urkey wlLhouL whlch Lhe 1urklshlsraell connecLlon would have been mosL
unllkely

1o brlng Lhls sLory up Lo daLe and posslbly compleLe Lhe clrcle we now learn LhaL some uonmeh llvlng ln
1urkey have made lnqulry of Amerlcan !ewlsh rellglous organlzaLlons abouL Lhe posslble reenLry of
uonmeh lnLo Loday's !ewlsh world