Greece

Jews were introduced to Greek ways in antiquity, when Alexander and his armies gave birth to the Hellenistic world where most Jews resided, including Palestine. Some Jews lived in Greece even in Late Antiquity, developing an identity and tradition of their own (they are known as “Romaniote” Jews), which survives to this day.

When Jews were expelled from Iberia in the late 15th century, Ottoman authorities welcomed them to Ottoman territories, including Greece, with open arms, recognizing the benefit that educated, entrepreneurial Jews could bring. In response, many Sephardi refugees settled in these lands, especially in cities like Salonika (Greece) and Istanbul (Turkey). Sephardi Jews flourished in the Ottoman realm, which they sometimes spoke of as the lands of their salvation or deliverance, and cities like Salonika they characterized as their contemporary Jerusalems.