Episode 41: The rise and fall of Ottoman Jewry with Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak

21 snips

Sep 7, 2025

Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, a historian from Tel Aviv University and a descendant of Istanbul's Jewish community, dives into the rich history of Ottoman Jewry. He discusses the unique relationship between Jews and the empire, including Sultan Bayezid II's welcoming of Spanish Jews in the 15th century. The conversation explores the complexities of Jewish identity amid European modernity and rising anti-Semitism, as well as the impact of the Ottoman millet system that offered Jews a precarious yet remarkable place in society.

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INSIGHT

Millet System Structured Religious Hierarchies

The Ottoman millet system organized subjects by religion, granting autonomy but keeping Muslims at the top of the hierarchy.
Jews were dhimmi: protected with rights to worship yet legally subordinate and taxed via jizya.

ANECDOTE

1492 Rescue Rewrote Ottoman Jewry

In 1492 Sultan Bayezid II sent galleys to rescue Jews expelled from Spain and welcomed them into Ottoman lands.
Sephardic arrivals reshaped local Jewish culture and spread Ladino across the empire.

INSIGHT

Sephardic Human Capital Accelerated Ottoman Power

Ottoman rulers welcomed Sephardic Jews for their skills, networks, and intelligence about Europe.
Jewish human capital and mercantile ties materially strengthened the Ottoman economy and administration.

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The first Jews to become subjects of the Ottoman Empire lived in Greek-speaking western Anatolia during the Ottoman conquests of the region in the early 1300s. The next seven centuries of Turkish-Jewish interaction were mostly a story of Turkish tolerance rooted in the Jews’ usefulness to the empire.

For example, when Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492, Sultan Bayezid II sent his navy to offer them safe transport into his empire. The Jews were considered a talented and industrious population, so much so that Bayezid is reputed to have quipped about the Spanish expulsion of them, “You call Ferdinand a wise king, he who impoverishes his country and enriches mine!”

But this tolerance was always conditioned on the Jews’ subservient status as dhimmi, or protected class, under the Ottoman “millet” system.

In the 19th century, a series of reforms meant to strengthen the flagging empire in the face of growing European power instituted legal equality for minorities, broke down the old social hierarchies — and as with the removal of ghetto restrictions on the Jews of Europe, made the Jews’ situation more precarious.

In our first focused treatment of Sephardi Jewry, we dive into this history with Tel Aviv University historian Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak, born in Istanbul and a scion of that centuries-old community.

This episode is sponsored by Jeff and Masha Gershman who asked that we share a story of Jewish bravery on or since 10/7 so that we all might be reminded not just of our pain and anxiety but also of our individual and collective strengh. In consultation with the Gershmans we chose to share the story of Nitai Meisels, one of the friends Rachel and I lost in Gaza. Master Sergeant (Res.) Nitai Meisels, 30, was killed on December 24, 2023 by an anti-tank missile fired at his tank in the Gaza Strip during a mission to locate hostages. He volunteered to be in the formation’s front tank.

Nitai is survived by his parents Ayala and Eitan, his sisters Adi and Oriya and brother Aviad and their spouses and children. This episode is publishing close to Nitai’s birthday on vav Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar, which falls this year on September 28. If Nitai had survived the fighting he would be turning 32 this year.

Please join us on Patreon to support this project: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AskHavivAnything⁠.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.