The Convergence of Judaism and Islam. Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions

15

“Estos Makames Alegres” (These Cheerful

Maccams)—External Cultural Influences

on the Jewish Community of Izmir on

the Eve of the “Young Turk Revolution”

Theater and Music

Efrat E. Aviv

The relationship and mutual influences between the Jews and Muslims in
the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
are evidenced by focusing on the Jewish community of Izmir as a micro-
cosm of the entire Empire. This affinity manifests itself in the adoption
of song and theater customs. Although these cultural instruments were
outcomes of the modernization processes experienced by the Ottoman
Empire, they served to strengthen, expand, and even increase the already
existing gaps within Jewish society.
As soon as the Jews expelled from Spain arrived in Turkey in 1492,
their lives were influenced by the Muslim-Ottoman environment. A par-
ticularly deep impression was made on dress and the living conditions
in the home. Evidence of influences in the use of cosmetics also exists,
such as Jewish women dying their hands for decorative purposes, as the
Turkish women were accustomed to doing. Interaction between Mus-
lims and Jews also occurred in all matters related to culture and leisure.
For example, rabbinical religious authorities wrote restrictions regarding