Aljama facts for kids

The term Aljama (pronounced al-HAH-mah) was used a long time ago in official papers in Spain and Portugal. It described special communities where Moors (Muslims from North Africa) and Jews lived. These communities had their own rules and leaders, even though they were under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula. Today, in some Spanish cities, you might still find neighborhoods called "Aljama." This name shows where these unique communities once lived, even though they disappeared many centuries ago.

Jewish communities in Spain often lived separately from others. This was because of their social customs and special religious and political rules. Their own rabbis (religious teachers) and community leaders collected taxes. They used these taxes to manage their community's affairs. This meant they were almost completely outside the usual government laws of the country. So, officials treated them as special groups with their own rights and duties, not just as individual citizens.

For example, long ago, the Visigothic kings taxed the Jewish community as a whole group. They did not tax each person or family. The community leaders then decided how much each person should pay. Later, under Christian rule, the way the government dealt with Jewish communities became more organized.

In the 1200s, important meetings were held in cities like Toledo and Barcelona. Spanish officials and Jewish leaders met to set fair taxes for Jewish communities. They also planned how to collect these taxes. This was the first time the government officially recognized Jewish communities as separate groups. This led to even more changes in how Jewish groups were treated and in the laws about them.

The bishops (Christian religious leaders) in different areas took direct charge over these communities. They worked with Jewish representatives to create rules for the communities. Elections for rabbis and judges were held regularly. The names of these leaders had to be approved by the bishop. There was also a "Crown Rabbi" (Rabino mayor) who spoke for the community to the government. The community leaders were responsible for how their community behaved. In most government actions, the community was seen as a single unit, not just a collection of individuals.

Sometimes, the government chose a Jewish person to be the "Crown Rabbi." This person acted as a link between the aljama and the state. For instance, in the Kingdom of Aragon, King John I made rules in 1386 about what the Crown Rabbi should do. This person had to be of good character and live near the King's court, away from their own community. This way, they were always in touch with the Christian majority. The Crown Rabbi had specific powers over the aljama in areas like money and justice.

What Does "Aljama" Mean?

The word aljama comes from Arabic. It originally referred to the main mosque (Jama Masjid) of a Muslim community. This is where believers gathered for their important Friday prayers.

The word aljama comes from the Arabic word jama, meaning "gather" or "assembly." It also includes the Arabic word al, which means "the." So, it first meant "congregation" or "group." Even before Christian rule, the Moors used this word for their own religious groups and large mosques. They also used it for Jewish communities living among them, and for the synagogues and schools that were central to Jewish life. Christians later adopted the term. They expanded its meaning to also include the neighborhoods where Jews and Moors lived. In some Spanish cities, old Jewish neighborhoods are still called by this name. This is true even though the Jews were forced to leave in 1492.

Often, to tell them apart, people used phrases like "Aljama of the Jews" (Aljama de los Judíos) or "Aljama of the Moors" (Aljama de los Moros). But in Spanish, if you just say "Aljama," it usually means a Jewish community or a Jewish place of worship. This use of the word goes back a very long time. Writers from the 1200s used "Aljama" to describe the people of ancient Jerusalem. A historian from the 1500s even used "Aljama" to mean a synagogue.

Self-Rule in Valladolid

The "resolution of the meeting" from the Aljama of Valladolid in 1432 is a great example of how much self-government Jewish communities had. This report is called tecana in Spanish, which comes from a Hebrew word. It is written partly in Hebrew and partly in Spanish using Hebrew letters. This old document is kept in a library in Paris.

From this document, we learn that the community in Valladolid held elections every ten years. The meeting described in the document lasted for ten days in May. Here are some of the things they decided or talked about:

• Supporting Education: They discussed the need for a Talmud Torah, which was a Hebrew school. They set taxes to pay for it. For example, five maravedis (an old Spanish coin) were paid for each cow killed, and one for each sheep. Five maravedis were also paid for every bottle of wine. A married couple paid five maravedis on their wedding day. A boy paid five maravedis on his bar mitzvah day. They also taxed inheritances and found other ways to raise money. They also talked about hiring and paying private teachers.
• Electing Leaders: They spent a lot of time discussing the election of judges and the "rabbi of the court."
• Community Rules and the State: This was the most important topic. The Spanish government allowed Jewish judges to decide civil and criminal cases for their own people. Because "Christians, even if they knew a lot about law, knew nothing about Jewish law," no Jew could go to a Christian judge. The only exceptions were cases about taxes owed to the ruler, or if they got special permission from the dayyan (the chief judge of the Aljama). If a Jew arrested another Jew with the help of a Christian, the dayyan would deal with them. For a second offense, the person would be marked on the forehead and sent away. A third offense could lead to death.

This ability to make such serious decisions, even about life and death, shows how much freedom the Jewish community had to govern itself.

Words from "Aljama"

Some words come from aljama:

• Aljamado: This word can be an adjective or a noun. It means someone who lives in an aljama.
• Aljamía: This refers to the Spanish language used by Jews or Moors. More specifically, it means Spanish written with Hebrew letters by Jews, or with Arabic letters by Moors.
• Aljamiado: This word can also be an adjective or a noun. It means someone who speaks or knows the Aljamía language.

Similar Sounding Words

Some words sound like aljama but have different meanings:

• Spanish Alhama and Portuguese Alfama come from the Arabic word hammam, which means "baths."
• Arabic Ra’s al-Galut means exilarch, which was a leader of Jewish communities in ancient times.

See also

In Spanish: Aljama para niños