The Road from Babylon: The Story of the Sephardi and Oriental Jews [Hardcover]

Chaim Raphael (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jewry today is dominated by the Ashkenazim, descendants of Jews from northern Europe. But outstanding contributions to Jewish intellectual and social life have also been made by the Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors lived in Spain and Portugal or in Mediterranean and Eastern lands that became a refuge from persecution. Raphael, a British writer, describes the ascent of the Sephardim in Spain's Golden Age; Jewish settlements in Cairo, Sicily, Baghdad and Persia; the gradual decline of the Sephardim, which paralleled the decline of the Muslim world; and the "ingathering" of Sephardic Jews to Israel. His heavily illustrated chronicle is ambitious in scope, but the writing, unfortunately, is flat and bloodless. Raphael effectively shows that Jewish life under Islam was a combination of advancement and humiliation; he reveals how Sephardic traits today reflect lifestyles developed in different national settings. Jewish Book Club alternate. January
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 294 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (December 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060390484
• ISBN-13: 978-0060390488
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,735,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history of the Sephardic Jews, October 8, 2003

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Road from Babylon: The Story of the Sephardi and Oriental Jews (Hardcover)

Because most of the Jews in the USA today are Ashkenazim (descended from the Jews of Eastern Europe), I knew very little about the Sephardic Jews until I read this book many years ago. Since then, I have learned that the FIRST Jews to arrive in the Americas were Sephardic, many of them fleeing the Spanish Inquisition.

"The Road from Babylon" traces the history of the Sephardim from the Babylonian Captivity (hence the title) to the present day (or at least to 1985, when this book was published.) According to the text, "Sephardic" orignally referred to the Jews who fled Spain in 1492, but is now applied to "Jews whose ancestors lived in the Balkans, Asia Minor, North Africa, and all round the Mediterranean in the Near and Middle East." (P.1) We should also note that the majority of Jews in Israel today are Sephardim, descended from Jews who fled persecution in the Arab countries after Israel was founded in 1948. (121,000 left Iraq in 1951 -- see p. 231.)

In terms of format, the book is well-written and researched, and includes two sections of B&W photos, showing Sephardic communities, synagogues, and traditional dress down through the centuries.