Musta'arabi Jews

Musta'arabi Jews (Musta'aribun in Arabic, Musta'arabim or Mista'arevim in Hebrew) are Arabic-speaking Jews, largely Mizrahi and Maghrebi Jews, who lived in the Middle East and North Africa prior to the arrival and integration of Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews (Jews from Spain and Portugal; Ladino is the Judaeo-Spanish language) following their expulsion from Spain in 1492. Following the expulsion, Sephardi exiles moved into the Middle East (among other places around the world), and settled among their Musta'arabi co-religionists.

In many Arab countries, the Sephardi immigrants and the established Musta'arabi communities maintained separate synagogues and separate religious rituals, but often had a common Chief Rabbinate. The general tendency, however, was for both the communities and their customs to assimilate, adopting a mostly Sephardic liturgy and identity. This pattern was found in most Musta'arabi communities in Arab countries. A typical example is in the History of the Jews in Syria, described in more detail in the rest of this article.

In contrast, in Tunisia there was a strong and enduring social distinction between Tuansa (the established Tunisian Jews) and L'grana (immigrant Livornese Jews to Tunisia).

The word "Musta'arabi" itself, and its Hebrew equivalent mista'arevim, meaning "those who live among the Arabs", are derived from the Arabic "musta'rib" (مستعرب), meaning “arabized”. Compare with the term "Mozarab" (mozárabe in Spanish, borrowed from Arabic) to refer to Arabized (but not Islamized) Christian Spaniards in Arab ruled Islamic Spain. "Musta'arabi" was also used by medieval Jewish authors to refer to Jews in North Africa, in what would become the modern states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya (which also underwent cultural and linguistic Arabization following the Muslim conquest there).

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