JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

held key positions in the financial administration and in the
collection of taxes and customs duties. Almost all the Turkish
commissioners and governors who were sent to Egypt turned
over the responsibility of the financial administration to Jewish
agents, who were known as ṣarrāf-bashi (“chief treasurer”).
It is evident that the agents greatly profited by holding these
positions. After two generations of prosperity, the political
and economic decline of the *Ottoman empire manifested
itself and affected the rank and file of the Jewish population
who sank into poverty and ignorance. Thus, Ottoman rule
caused a distinct polarization in the status of Egyptian Jewry.
The corruption of the governors, who were often replaced and
whose ambition was to enrich themselves or to rebel against
the sultan in Constantinople, and their acts of violence, extortion,
and cruelty brought suffering on the Jews. One of the first
Turkish governors, Ahmad Pasha, who was appointed in 1523,
extorted a large contribution from Abraham *Castro, director
of the mint. He then ordered him to mint coins carrying his
name, as if he were an independent ruler. When the Jewish official
fled to Constantinople, Ahmad imposed an enormous
contribution on the Jews, who were fearful of his vengeance
if they did not provide the sum by the appointed time. However,
on the day of payment, Ahmad Pasha was killed by soldiers
loyal to the sultan and the anniversary was thereafter celebrated
as *Purim Miẓrayim (“Purim of Egypt,” i.e., Cairo).
In 1545 the governor Dāʾud Pasha ordered the closure
of the central synagogue of Cairo. All the efforts to obtain its
reopening were in vain; the synagogue remained closed until
1584. After the conquest of Egypt by the Turks, Jews of Constantinople
were sent to Egypt to act as negidim. The first of
them was R. Tājir, who was followed by R. *Jacob b. Ḥayyim
Talmid. When this nagid came to Egypt, a dispute broke out
between him and R. Bezalel Ashkenazi, who was then the
leading rabbi in Egypt. As a result of this dispute, the office of
nagid came to an end in about 1560. From then onward the
Jewish finance minister in the service of the governor was
recognized as the leader of the Jewish community in Egypt.
He was referred to by the Turkish title of chelebi (çelebi =
“gentleman”). Many of these Jewish ministers were executed
by despotic governors. Masiah Pasha, who was appointed in
1575, chose Solomon *Alashkar, a well-known philanthropist
whose efforts were directed toward the amelioration of Jewish
education among the Jews of Egypt, as chelebi. His activities
continued for many years, until Karīm Hussein Pasha executed
him in 1603.
The standard of Jewish learning improved with the arrival
of the expelled Spanish Jews. During the first generation
of the Turkish rule, the leading rabbi in Egypt was R. *David
b. Solomon ibn Abi Zimra. He instituted several regulations
in the Jewish communal life, and, among others, he abolished
the system of dating documents according to the Seleucid
era, which was still in practice in Egypt. In the 1520s the renowned
halakhic authority R. Moses b. Isaac *Alashkar also
lived in Egypt, where he acted as dayyan. However, he emigrated
to Palestine and died in Jerusalem in 1542. Later David
egypt
b. Solomon Abi Zimra also emigrated to Palestine and Bezalel
Ashkenazi became the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Jewish communities.
During the second half of the 16th century, R. Jacob
*Castro was the most prominent Egyptian rabbi. These rabbis
acted as dayyanim, gave responsa, and educated distinguished
pupils. R. Isaac *Luria, the famous kabbalist, was one of Bezalel
Ashkenazi’s pupils.
The Jews of Cairo and Alexandria were at that time divided
into three communities – the Mustaʿrabim (Arabicspeaking
i.e., indigenous Jews), the Spanish (immigrants),
and the Mograbim (settlers of North African, Maghreb origin).
There were occasional disputes between the communities
and the rabbis and communal leaders exerted themselves
to restore peace.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ottoman government
became harsher and the upper class of wealthy Jews, who
were employed by the governors and ministers, suffered especially.
About 1610 the position of chelebi was filled by Abba
Iscandari, a physician and philanthropist. In 1620 with the arrival
of a new governor, the Albanian (“Arnaut”) Husain, the
Muslim enemies of the chelebi, jealous of his wealth, slandered
him before the governor and he was executed. Jacob Tivoli replaced
him as chelebi until he was executed by Khalīl Pasha.
In 1650, when Silihdar Ahmad Pasha was appointed governor
of Egypt, he brought with him Ḥayyim Perez, a Jew, whom he
appointed chelebi. In the same year natural catastrophes and a
plague occurred in Egypt; the sultan summoned the commissioner
and the chelebi to Constantinople and had them both
executed. A year later another governor, Muhammad Ghāzī
Pasha, was sent to Egypt. He appointed Jacob Bibas as chelebi,
but after a time became jealous of his wealth, killed him with
his own hands and buried him in the garden of his palace. In
1661 the governor Ibrāhīm Pasha appointed the exceedingly
wealthy Raphael b. Joseph Hin as his chelebi. The latter actively
supported *Shabbetai Ẓevi, the pseudo-messiah, who
had visited Cairo twice. In 1669 Karākūsh Ali Pasha was appointed
governor of Egypt, became jealous of Raphael Hin’s
wealth, accused him of various crimes, and had him publicly
executed. The title of chelebi was then abolished and the Jewish
agent of the Egyptian governor, who stood at the head
of his community, was henceforth known as bazīrkān (from
Persian bāzargān “merchant”). In 1734–35, a serious popular
riot killed many of Cairo’s Jewish community which, as a result,
became much less effective in Egypt’s administration and
economy. The severity of Ottoman rule and the economic decline
lowered the cultural level of Egyptian Jewry. During this
period the community ceased to be led by renowned rabbis, as
in the 16th century, even though some of them were excellent
talmudic scholars such as Abraham Iscandari, Samuel *Vital,
the son of R. Ḥayyim *Vital, *Mordecai ha-Levi, and his son
Abraham during the 17th century, and Solomon Algazi during
the 18th century. Nevertheless, the Shabbatean movement
brought some activity to the stagnant community. In 1703 the
Shabbatean propagandist Abraham Michael *Cardoso settled
in Egypt, where he became physician to the Turkish governor
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 233