SERIES Sephard in Ashkenaz and Ashkenaz in Sephard. The Unlikely Ties between Sephardim and Yiddish.

This article reminded of a little known historical fact.

Yitzchak Leibush Peretz (1852-1915)was a well known figure in the emergence of Yiddishism and Yiddish literature in Eastern Europe.

Peretz was born in Zamcoz, Poland and began his career as a lawyer and later as a cemetery caretaker. What is less known about him is that he was came from a prominent Sephardic family. Now,you might ask what is a Sephardic man doing in Poland and writing Yiddish literature no less.

The founders of the Zamocz Jewish community were Sephardic Jews, in fact King Casimir of Poland only permitted Spanish and Portugese Jews (mostly merchants from the Ottoman empire)to settle there.

Another famous historical figure who came from Zamocz was Communist leader Rosa Luxembourg.

Zamocz was an interesting exception to the rule in that it is probably the only exclusively Sephardic enclave known to have existed within overwhelmingly Ashkenazic Poland. The existence of individual Sephardic Jews all over Eastern Europe-almost all of whom became "Ashkenazified"- is another overlooked topic which I will discuss more in depth in another post.