Dona Gracia Nasi Enabled European Jews to Move to the Land of Israel

The Inquisition pursued many hopeful Jews who were expelled from Spain to Portugal. Born in Lisbon to a noble family in the early sixteenth century, Dona Garcia was a Portuguese intellectual and one of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance Europe.

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After enduring persecution and even imprisonment while fleeing the Inquisition, Doña Gracia moved her fortune across Europe, ultimately settling in Ferrara, where she and her daughter were finally able to live openly as Jews.

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With the atmosphere in Italy becoming increasingly hostile, Dona Gracia was granted safe passage to Constantinople in 1553, where she enjoyed the favor of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

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She became instrumental in rescuing Jews fleeing expulsion by creating a sophisticated escape network that helped Jewish refugees safely reach the Ottoman Empire.

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In 1558, with the help of her nephew and son-in-law, Yosef Nasi, Donna Gracia brokered a deal with Sultan Suleiman to rebuild Tiberias in the Land of Israel as a safe haven for Jews fleeing the Inquisition. Though the project was short-lived, it laid the groundwork for the modern Zionist movement and later efforts that led to the establishment of an independent Jewish state.

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