italkim

Italkim (Hebrew for "Italians"; pl. of "italkit", Middle Hebrew loanword from the Latin adjective "italicu(m)", meaning "Italic", "Latin", "Roman"; italkit is also used in Modern Hebrew as the language name "Italian") is the modern Hebrew term for Jews who have historically resided in Italy. They traditionally call themselves Ben Roma. Despite a continuous presence for over 2000 years, the Italian Jewish community, known as Italkim has numbered no more than 50,000 since it was fully emancipated in 1870. The customs and religious rites of Italkim are in some ways a bridge between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, showing similarities to both. Recent genetic tests have shown that Ashkenazi Jews are most closely related to Italkim. One of the most famous of Italy's Jews was Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707-1746) whose written religious and ethical works are still widely studied and admired for their originality and brilliance. The Italkim have traditionally spoken a version of Italian called Italkian.

Italkim

See also