Taroç family

The Taroç family (also spelt Teroç, Toroç and sometimes Taros) (Hebrew: טארוש, Tarosh) (Arabic:التاراس, al-Taras) is a Sephardic Jewish family originally from Girona, Catalonia. Members of the family occupied key positions in the courts and economy of Catalonia, becoming one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Catalonia during the 13th to 15th centuries. The family progenitor is Todros Taroç (born al-Taras), who was the son of Azriel ibn Menahem al-Taras, thus making the Taroç family a cadet branch of the al-Taras family from Castile. Todros Taroç adopted the surname Taroç which is a Catalan spelling of al-Taras which mans "embroider" in Arabic. Following the Alhambra decree of 1492, the majority of the family immigrated to the Ottoman Empire, the Levant and other parts of the Mediterranean and North Africa, adopting the surname Toros.