Jewish Accounts of the Ottomans: From Sultanic Saviors to Turkish Rescuers

In this talk based on his forthcoming book, "Friends and Enemies: Narrating Christian-Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey", Professor Marc Baer, London School of Economics and Political Science, begins by examining pre-modern messianic Jewish accounts depicting the Ottoman sultan as “God’s rod,” striking the Jews’ enemies, especially the Byzantine emperors, as part of divine plan, giving refuge to Jews expelled from Christian Spain in 1492, thus opening the way to Jerusalem and the dawning of the messianic age. The talk discusses the subsequent secularization of the narrative as promoted by Jews during the anniversaries of 1892 and 1992, whereby Turks are made into tolerant hosts, and Jews present themselves as loyal, identifying with the Muslim, with whom there can be no conflict, and contrast themselves with Armenians and Greeks (the alleged antisemitic heirs of the Byzantines) whom they depict as eternal traitors and enemies. For more information click here.