No Jews, eh Achmed Monte? Just Muslims and Christians:
Hebron
Jews also appear to have lived there after the return from the Babylonian exile.
[59] During the
Maccabean revolt, Hebron was burnt and plundered by
Judah Maccabee who fought against the Edomites in 167 BCE.
[60][61] The city appears to have long resisted
Hasmonean dominance, however, and indeed as late as the
First Jewish–Roman War was still considered Jews also appear to have lived there after the return from the Babylonian exile.
[59] During the
Maccabean revolt, Hebron was burnt and plundered by
Judah Maccabee who fought against the Edomites in 167 BCE.
[60][61] The city appears to have long resisted
Hasmonean dominance, however, and indeed as late as the
First Jewish–Roman War was still considered
Idumea
Hebron was visited by some important rabbis over the next two centuries, among them
Nachmanides (1270) and
Ishtori HaParchi (1322) who noted the
old Jewish cemetery there.
Italian traveller, Meshulam of
Volterra (1481) found not more that twenty Jewish families living in Hebron.
[100][101] and recounted how the Jewish women of Hebron would disguise themselves with a veil in order to pass as Muslim women and enter the Cave of the Patriarchs without being recognized as Jews.
[102]
In 1540, renowned
kabbalist Malkiel Ashkenazi bought a courtyard from the small
Karaite community, in which he established the Sephardi
Abraham Avinu Synagogue.
[111] In 1659, Abraham Pereyra of Amsterdam founded the
Hesed Le'Abraham yeshiva in Hebron which attracted many students.
[112] In the early 18th century, the Jewish community suffered from heavy debts, almost quadrupling from 1717–1729,
[113] and were "almost crushed" from the extortion practiced by the Turkish pashas. In 1773 or 1775, a large/substantial amount of money was extorted from the Jewish community, who paid up to avert a threatened catastrophe, after a false allegation was made accusing them of having murdered the son of a local sheikh and throwing his body into a cesspit. Emissaries from the community were frequently sent overseas to solicit funds.
[114][115]
