CHRONOLOGY OF THE JEWISH PRESENCE

IN ERETZ-YISRAEL IN THE YEARS OF EXILE

Roman Rule, 63 B.C.E. - 313 C.E.

132-135: Dio Cassius reports 580,000 Jewish casualties perish in the Second
Roman-Jewish War, led by Simon Bar-Kochba, confirming that a substantial Jewish
population survived from the time of the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.

Late 100s: Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (146-211) prohibits Christianity

within the Holy Land and forbids conversion to Judaism.

197: Armed conflict between Jews and Samaritans

240c.: Origen Adamantius, the Egyptian-born Christian philosopher and scholar

who moved to Ceserea in 231, states in Contra Celsus that Jewish pilgrimages
continue to the Holy Land.

Byzantine Rule, 313 - 640 C.E.

Early 300s: Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea writes the Greek Onomasticon, the first
topographical dictionary of the Bible, and describes Jews residing in the Judean
highlands. The Vita of St. Susanna recognizes the Jewish community of Caesarea,
according to the Acta Sanctorum.

333: The Pilgrim of Bordeux visits the Holy Land and records that THE HOLY
LAND, STATES, "Jews annually return to the Western Wall to mourn".

340: Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus describes mysterious balls of fire

halting reconstruction of the Temple.

334-407: John Chrysostom the anti-semitic Patriarch of Constantinople, describes

Jews residing in the Holy Land.

347: St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in Africa, notes Jews live eternally in Canaan.

363: Emperor Julian permits Jews to "rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and to
resettle" in the Holy Land. Gregory of Nazianzus states Jews attempt to "rebuild
the Temple with their own hands upon hearing Julian’s promise".

378: Invasion of the Saracens, Bedouin tribes from North Sinai.

388: Theodosius prohibits mixed marriage between Jews and Christians. In 393,
denounces attacks against synagogues. Later, his son produces the Theodian
Code between 415-423 that forbids the circumcision of a non-Jew by a Jew.
415-423: Great Sanhedrin dissolves. Rabban Gamliel VI is last Nassi.

420: Church Father Jerome, Hieronymous, translator of the Bible into Latin,
documents a high Jewish birth rate.

351: Emperor Valens records Jews living in the Galilee.

385: Sylvia notes Jews reside in Libias (Beit Ramatah).

400: The Catholic Synod of Jerusalem notes Jews of the Holy Land annoy
Christians.

Early 400s: Monk Barsuma states "Jews dominate the region".

400s: Christian author Epiphanius documents seven synagogues on Mount Zion.

430: Suppression of study of Jerusalem Talmud.

438: Jews of Tiberias and Galilee request permission to make pilgrimage to

Jerusalem for the Succot holiday.

486: Emperor Julian notes Jewish return to the Holy Land, concealing an evil plan
"under the mask of goodwill".

520: Mar-Zutra, son of the Rosh Galuta, immigrates to Eretz-Yisrael from Babylon.

560-570: Antonius Martyr documents Jewish communities in Hebron, Nazareth

and Samaria.

570: The Piacenza pilgrim describes "beautiful Jewish women in the Galilee".

Persian Rule, 614-629 C.E.

614: Persians conquer Judea and Jerusalem in the summer.

628: Emperor Heraclius defeats Sassanid Persians, reconquers Jerusalem. In 630

begins anti-Jewish persecution policies.

634: An anonymous Syrian records the slaughter of Christians, Jews and

Samaritans during the beginning stages of the Arab conquest of the Holy Land
near Bet Gubrin.

638: Arabs conquer Jerusalem in spring following months-long siege and several
defeats beginning in 629. Conquest finalized with fall of Ceasaria in 641. Caliph
Omar guarantees the Christians of Jerusalem protection. Land divided into the
 Jund of Filastin, in the south (capital in Al-Lod and later in Ramlah), and the Jund
of Urdun in the north, with capital in Tiberias. Jews must pray quietly, are
prohibited to convert, build new synagogues, ride horses or hold civil or judicial
posts.

Arab Rule, 640 — 1099

680: Arculf describes Jewish life in Jerusalem

800: A Moshe of Gaza is mentioned but Jews forced to leave at end of 9 th century.

850: Muslims force Jews to wear yellow patch.

863: First Gaon, Tzemach, of Eretz-Yisrael (until 1123)

890 (c.): Daniel b. Moses al-Qūmisī, Karaite scholar, moves to Jerusalem. He was the first
to make the "mourning in Zion" a basic tenet and a hallmark of Karaism

900s: Arab writer Al-Biruni describes Jews celebrating Sukkot on the Mount of
Olives

985: The Arab writer Muqaddasi states that, "The mosque is empty. The Jews
constitute the majority of Jerusalem’s population".

1025: Shlomo HaKohen ben Yosef, Rosh Yeshiva in Jerusalem notes community tax
of 100 zehubim (dinarim). In 1053, a second tax, "municipal supply" is mentioned.

1047: Nasir-i-Khusraw records Jews coming in great numbers to visit Jerusalem’s

synagogues.

1059: Letter of Shlomo Ben Moshe of Sepaksi, Morocco,` informing his family of his
visit to Jerusalem.

1060s: Evyatar son of Eliyahu the Priest writes that his father had been buried in
Dalton in Safad in 1064. Dalton is mentioned in another 11th century Genizah
document that lists Jewish towns and villages in the Galilee.

Crusader Rule, 1099 — 1291

1099: On July 15, Crusaders take Jerusalem and massacre its Jews and later
decimate Jewish communities in Haifa (1100), Caesarea (1101) and Acre (1104).
Inhabitants of Jaffa and Ramleh flee. Rural Jewish settlements in the Galilee evade
destruction.

1120: A Christian manuscript states Jews assist Arabs conquering Hebron, for
which the Jews receive permission to dwell near the Cave of Machpelah.
1120s: Crusaders ban Jews from Jerusalem, yet a few Jewish families return,
notably a family dealing in the dye trade who lived by Jaffa Gate.

1153: Jewish community of Ashkelon banished by Crusaders.

1165: Rambam visits Jerusalem.

1174: Benjamin of Tudela testifies to Jewish community in Ashkelon and 13

others. In 1180, Petahiah of Regensburg also finds a Jewish family in Jerusalem.

1187: Salah A-Din conquers Jerusalem.

1200: Three communities of Jews in Jerusalem: Ashkelon, Magreb and France &
England.

1205: Rambam buried in Tiberias.

1211: Immigration of "300 Rabbis from France", including Ba'alei Tosafot to Acre.

1218: Saladin repeals the ban of Jewish residency in Jerusalem although Jews
returned already in 1187.

1229: Agreement between Al-Malikh Al-Kamal and Fredrich II makes Jerusalem a

Crusader city and Jews prohibited from dwelling therein.

1257: Rabbi Yehiel of Paris immigrates with his students to the Land of Israel
after his father drowns on the way and established a Yeshiva in Acre. Avraham
Abulafia arrives there on his travels.

1260: Mongol invasion. Jerusalem's Jews expelled.

1267: Ramban established a synagogue in Jerusalem.

Early 1300s: Church officials, including William, Bishop of Tyre, and Jacob,
Bishop of Acre, rally against increased Jewish freedoms.

Mameluke Rule, 1291 — 1516

1306: France expels the Jews who are described as "rousing themselves and
voluntarily immigrating to the Land of Israel".

1315: Immigration of Eshtor Ha-Farhi. His book, Kaftor va'Ferach, is published in

1549. In 1321, R' Yaakov Silki from Spain immigrates after signing a legal
commitment to do so, Ktav HaShvua.

1320 c.: Jewish ceremony at Meiron recorded held on 15 Iyyar.

1333: Wilhelm von Boldensele of Germany records Jews regularly visiting graves
in Jerusalem.

1335: Monk Jacob of Verona records a Jewish community in Jerusalem.

Franciscans-Jewish struggle over the Cappella on Mt. Zion.

1336: Sir John Madenville attests to Jews traveling to visit the Cave of Machpelah,
the ancestral grave of the Jewish Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah and
Joseph.

1341: Lydolph von Suchems notes a Jewish place of worship in Hebron .

1377: Arab historian Ibn Khaldun attests to Jewish sovereignty in the Land of
Israel extending for more than 1400 years.

1380: R' Yitzhak Halevi of Beilstein, Germany, dies in Jerusalem. Referred to

himself as Asir HaTikvah, Prisoner of the Hope, a messianic term.

1384: Leonardo Frescobaldi and Giorgio Gucci records Jews worshipping in Hebron
and living in Gaza, respectively.

1391: Christian travelers record the number of Jews in Gaza as approximately

equal to that in Jerusalem.

Early 1400s: Jews forced to wear yellow-colored turbans.

1422: John Poloner attests to a "Jewish street" in Jerusalem.

1427: "Sea Edict" preventing Venetian ships from carrying Jews until 1485.

1440: Rashbatz (R' Shimon ben Zemah Doran) records 300 in synagogue in
Jerusalem on Shavu'ot.

1454c.: Jakmak, Mameluk Sultan, expels Jews of Jerusalem.

1460c.: Beginning of Spanish immigration waves.

1474: A fanatic Muslim judge, a Kadi, leads a mob to destroy Jerusalem’s only
synagogue.

1479: Johann Tucher von Nuremberg records frequent Jewish pilgrimages to the
Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. In 1481, R' Meshulam of Voltira records 20
households there.

1484: Bernhard Von Breitenbach attests to a Hebrew-speaking community of 500

Jews in Jerusalem.
 1489: Approximately 200 Jewish households reside in Jerusalem, according to an
anonymous letter. R' Ovadiah Bartenura establishes Yeshiva.

1492: The Bohemian pilgrim Martin Kabatnik records a large Jewish population in
Jerusalem.

1499: Arnold von Harff, a knight from Cologne, records a Jewish community in
Jerusalem.

Turkish/Ottoman Rule, 1517 — 1917

Early 1500s: The condition of Jews in Jerusalem is dismal, writes Fra Fancesco
Suriano. The 1525 Census records Jews in Alma, Dalton, Gush Chalav, Amuka, Kfar
Baram, Birya, Kfar Chananiah, Kfar Kana, Kfar Yassif, Ein Zeitim and Bet Shean
among other.

1533-1534: The Turkish tax register, Tahrir, documents approximately 80 Jewish

households exist in the Acre area, 54 in Peqiin, 10 in Kefar Yasif and 10 in
Shafaram. 1100 Jews in Shechem.

1536: R' Yosef Karo arrives in Safad. Shlomo Alkabetz arrived in 1535.

1538-1539: Beginning of dispute of renewing Semicha by R' Yaakov Beibar. The

Tahrir, the Turkish tax register, notes 1,630 Jews in Jerusalem.

1546-1547: Voldrich Defat describes a community of "many Jews" in Jerusalem.

1547: The French traveler, Pierre Belon, records Jews resuming settlement of the
Galilee.

1553-4: Jewish population of Safed was 716 Jewish households, 56 Jewish bachelors.

1555: Shulchan Arukh completed.

1556: The Tahrir tax register documents 115 Jewish households in Gaza, 2,350
Jews in Jerusalem, 719 Jewish households and 63 bachelors in Safad and 38 Jewish
households in Acre. Approximately 10,000 Jews in the country.

1558: A Portuguese-born marrano, Donna Gracia, granted tax collecting rights in

Tiberias and its surrounding villages by Suleiman the Magnificent.

1561: Joseph Nasi, Nephew of Donna Gracia, encourages Jews to reside in

Tiberias. With Joseph ben Adruth rebuilds city walls and establishes textile industry
of silk, planting trees and urging craftsmen to move there

1563: The Tahrir tax register documents 1,720 Jews in Jerusalem, 81 Jewish
households in Gaza and 45 in Acre.
1568: An Ottoman survey records 1,160 Jews live in Jerusalem and 670 Jewish
households in Safad.

1569: Yitzhak Luria (the Ari) returns to Eretz-Yisrael (was born in Jerusalem).

1573: The Tahrir tax register documents 79 Jewish households in Acre.

1576: Sultan Selim II deports 1,000 Jewish families from Safad to Cyprus.

1577: A Hebrew printing press was established in Safad in 1577 by Eliezer

Ashkenazi.

1578: Selim II recalls exiled Jews because of economic decline in Safad. R' Haim
Vital arrives in Jerusalem to join the Ridbaz (David ben Zimra) and Levi ben Haviv.
R' Eliyahu De Vidash dies in Hebron.

1579: Ottomans persecute Jews of Jerusalem.

1584: Sultan Selim II is alarmed by Safad’s 32 active synagogues due to Muslims

complaints. Arab Bedouin and Druze repeatedly raid Safad, causing an exodus of
Jews.

1586: Governor Abu Sifyan seizes Jerusalem synagogue founded by Nachmanides

in 1272.

1593: Suleiman ben Yaish Duke of Mitylene permits Jewish settlement in Tiberias.

1596-1597: The Tahrir tax register documents 904 Jewish households in Safad, 73
Jewish households in Gaza and 11 in Jerusalem.

1598: Ottomans confiscate Nachmanides Synagogue because of "noisy

ceremonies" that "hinder Muslim devotion."

1621: 3000 Jews living in Jerusalem.

1625: On September 3, Muhammad Ibn Farrukh, prefect of Jerusalem, had fifteen

prominent Jews, among them the Shelah, Rabbi Yeshayah Horowitz of Prague,
arrested. In January 1626, Ashkenazic community leaders, including the Shelah,
fled to Safed and then to Tiberias.

1640s: French traveler, Roger, describes 4,000 Jews in Jerusalem, 4,000 in Safad
and numerous others in Caesarea and elsewhere.

1649: The Turkish traveler, Evlia Chelebi (Eveliya Tsheleby), describes a secure
housing that protects Safad Jews.
1658: Minister Henry Jessie describes Jerusalem’s impoverished Jews. R' Yaakov
Chagiz from Morocco takes over Rabbinical leadership until 1674. French traveler,
Le Blanc, describes Jews residing in Gaza and Hebron.

1700-1723: Approximately 2,000 Jews inhabit Jerusalem, according to Christian

travelers, Johann Aegidius Van Egmont and John Heyman.

1720: Rabbi Yehuda HeHasid moves to Eretz Yisrael accompanied by hundreds of

his followers. Twenty years later, Arabs destroy the synagogue he built, now known
as the Hurva, and expel all Ashkenazi Jews from the city due to an unpaid debt.

1726: A Christian traveler notes 12 Jewish households in Tiberias.

1727: The Vaad P'kidei Kushta begins transferring subsistent sums.

1740: Ottoman Sultan invites Rabbi Haim Abulafia (1660-1744), Kabbalist and
Rabbi of Izmir, to rebuild Tiberias. Thousands of Jews immigrate to the land in a
wave of Messianic fervor, including Rabbi Haim ben Attar, Rabbi Moses Haim
Luzzatto, Rabbi Chaim De La Rosa, Rabbi Chaim Abulafia, Rabbi Shalom Sharabi,
Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Elgazi, and Immanuel Chai Rikki..

1741-1743: Sheikh Daher el-Omar conquers Acre, Haifa, and Tiberias and invites
Rabbi Haim Abboulafia to found a new community in Tiberias.

1742: Rabbi Abraham Gershon of Kitob is first Hassidic immigrant, brother-in-law

of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. He first lives in Hebron and later, relocates to
Jerusalem.

1754: An anonymous Christian traveler notes 200 Jews in Safad (Tsfat).

1764: First Aliyah of Hassidim to Tiberias, led by Rabbi Menahem Mendel of

Perehmishlyn and Nahman of Horodenka. Jews from the Balkans also arrive.

1767: A Christian traveler notes more than 100 Jews inhabit Tiberias.

1770: 5000 Jews in Jerusalem.

1777: First mass Aliyah of Chassidim under leadership of Menachem Mendel of

Vitebsk.

1798: R' Nahman of Bratslav visits the Galilee.

1799: Napoleon Bonaparte conquers a major part of the Holy Land. To rally Jews
behind his struggle against Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon issues
a manifesto urging Jews to conquer the Land and re-establish a Jewish state. The
French and Turks inflict terrible hardships on Palestinian Jews.
Early 1800’s: Jewish residents are concentrated in the Galilee, Acre, Tiberias,
Safad and villages.

1808: First wave of disciples of Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna arrives in the Holy Land, led
by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklob and found the Perushim community.

1811: Last Jew (until 1860s) leaves Gaza and its synagogue is vandalized by
Ibrahim Pasha for secondary construction use in Ashkelon.

1812: Plague breaks out in Safad, forcing many Jews to flee to Jerusalem. The
refugees succeed in renewing the Ashkenazi presence in Jerusalem, after nearly a
hundred years of banishment by the local Arabs.

1816: A minyan of followers of the Vilna Gaon moved from Safed to Jerusalem

1819: Ahmad Abdallah Pasha, local Turkish potentate, persecutes Safad Jews.

1820: First Ashkenazi community established in Hebron by Chabbad Hassidim.

1831: First Hebrew printing press in 246 years opened in Safad, by Israel Bak who
relocates to Mount Yarmuk (Meron) outside Safad three years later. He begins
working the land and establishes the first Jewish farm in Eretz Yisrael in modern
times.

1834: Muhammad Ali permits Jews to repair the four Sephardic synagogues in
Jerusalem.

1836: Moshe Sacks proposes to Emperor Ferdinand of Austria to support the

establishment of a large Jewish agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. He
enlists the financial support of Baron Solomon Mayer Rothschild. Sacks is the first to
advocate large-scale productivity of the Jewish settlement in the Holy Land.

1838-39: Jews are massacred and raped in Hebron and Safad is looted by the Arab
Druze.

1839: Moses Montefiore's first visit to Eretz-Yisrael and he comes to an agreement

with Muhammad Ali, ruler of Egypt and Palestine, for the acquisition of land and the
establishment of agricultural communities.

1843: First Zionist writings of Rabbi Alcalay and of Rabbi Kalischer

1844: First census in Jerusalem shows 7120 Jews, 5760 Muslims, 3390 Christians.

1850: Approximately 20,000 Jews live in Palestine, including 13,800 Jews in

Jerusalem, 4,000 in Safad and 2,000 in Tiberias and 700 in Hebron, according to
the Anglo-Jewish Association Census .
1860: Hibbat Tzion movement founded in Europe.

1861: Mishkanot Sha'ananim dedicated.

1864: Hurva Synagogue rebuilt after 150 years.

1866: 62 Sefaradi Jews in Shchem. Ashkenazi Jews who arrive in 1860 driven away
when Arabs throw stones through their windows.

1868: Machaneh Yisrael neighborhood founded under leadership of Rabbi David

Ben-Shimon (Tzuf D'vash) of North Africa. Nahlat Shivah in 1869.

1870: Founding of the agricultural school, Mikveh Yisrael.

1878: Petach Tikva founded.

1880: Total population in the Land of Israel is 450,000, of which 24,000 are
Jewish. The population of Jerusalem is 25,000, of which more than half are Jewish.

1881: Beginning of building new Jerusalem neighborhoods begins with Mazkeret

Moshe.

1882: One hundred and fifty Yemenite Jews arrive in Jerusalem (Aliyah B'Tamar).
Founding of Rishon L'Tziyon and Rosh Pinna. Followed until 1890 by Zichron
Yaakov, Nes Tziyona, Yesod Hama'aleh, Ekron, Gedera, Be'er Tuvyah, Rechovot and
Hadera.

1887: The Russian Consul to the Holy Land reports that 1,500 immigrate annually
from Germany, parts of North Africa, Turkey and Russia. Some 4,000 families live
in the Holy Land.

1897: First Zionist Congress convenes in Basle following publication of Herzl's The
Jewish State in 1896.

==========================================
Sources:
“A Historical Survey of the Jewish Population in Palestine Presented to the United
Nations in 1947 by Vaad Leumi on Behalf of the Creation of a Jewish State.”
Bahat, Dan. ed. Twenty Centuries of Jewish Life in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: The Israel
Economist, 1976
Barnai, Jacob and Goldblum, Naomi, The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century, Judaic
Studies Series
Morgenstern, Arie, "Dispersion and the Longing for Zion, 1240-1840," Azure, Winter 2002
‫ הוצאת קרני‬,‫שלום‬-‫בצילן של מלכויות מאת מיכאל איש‬
‫אריה; ישראל‬-‫ משה דוד הר; יהושע פראוור; אמנון כהן; יהושע בן‬:‫ עורכים‬,‫ישראל‬-‫ההיסטוריה של ארץ‬
‫צבי‬-‫ הוצאת כתר ויד בן‬,‫ברטל‬