Sidur Catalunya

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Nusach Catalunya

The liturgical tradition of the Jews of Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca.
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About the sidur

The Sidur is based on six manuscripts from the 14th-16th centuries and constitutes the recovery of the ancient Nusach Catalunya, the nusach of the Tefillah used by the Jews in Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca during the Middle Ages (at the time known as the Rishonim period).

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about the nusach

Nusach Catalunya is the ancient liturgical tradition of the Jews of Catalonia, Valencia and Mallorca. In the wake of the 1391 pogroms and the expulsion in 1492, the Jews of Catalonia migrated to North Africa, Italy, the Ottoman Empire and the Land of Israel, and with them their ancient nusach and traditions.

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Haskamot

– Rabbi Eliyahu Abergel, Chief Judge of Rabbinical Courts, Jerusalem. – Rabbi Yaakov Peretz, Moreh Hora’ah in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem. Rosh Hayeshiva “Midrash Sfaradi” and “Heichal Pinchas”.

NUsach & Minhag

The Jews of Catalonia and their liturgical tradition
Medieval Catalonia had its own halachic and liturgical tradition, distinct from that of Sefarad, Ashkenaz or Italy.

During the time period of the Rishonim, Catalonia, and especially its capital city Barcelona, was an important Torah center. Great luminaries like Rabbi Yehudah ben Barzillai al-Bargeloni (1070-?), Rabbi Abraham bar Ḥiyya ha-Nasi (c. 1070 – 1136 or 1145), Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman, Ramban (1194–1270), Rabbenu Yona Girondi (1210-1263), Rabbi Aharon ha-Levi, Ra'aH (1235-1303), Rabbi Shlomoh ben Adret, Rashba (1235-1310), Rabbenu Nissim ben Reuven Girondi, RaN (1315-1376), Rabbi Hasdai Crescas (1340-1412), Rabbi Isaac bar Sheshet, Ribash (1326-1408), Rabbi Shimon ben Zemah Duran, Rashbatz (1361-1444), among many others, illuminated the Jewish World from the Catalan Beit Midrash. We used to refer to those sages as “Chachmei Sefarad” but it would be more accurate to refer to them as “Chachmei Catalunya” for their tradition was distinct from that of the Sefardic tradition.

  • Our purpose is to recover, publish and share the Catalan halachic and liturgical customs that unfortunately were forgotten due to the diaspora, the persecutions and the final expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula.

the editor

Idan Perez

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