JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

aghdad
welfare of the community. At the end of the tenth century R.
Isaac b. Moses ibn Sakrī of Spain was the rosh yeshivah. He
had traveled to Iraq and “had been ordained as Gaon in order
to fill the position of Rav Hai, of saintly memory.” During
the 12th century, but beginning with the reign of Caliph
al-Muktafī (902–908), the situation of the Jews in Baghdad
greatly improved. A short while before 1170 *Benjamin of
Tudela, the traveler, found approximately 40,000 Jews living
peacefully in Baghdad, among them scholars and exceedingly
wealthy people. He noted that there were 28 synagogues and
ten yeshivot. During the reigns of Caliph al-Muktafī and his
successors, the rights and the authority of the exilarch were
increased and with it the prestige of the Baghdad community
also grew. In that period the exilarch *Daniel b. Ḥasdai was
referred to by the Arabs as “Our lord, the son of David.” The
Baghdad community reached the height of its prosperity during
the term of office of rosh yeshivah *Samuel b. Ali ha-Levi
(c. 1164–94), an opponent of *Maimonides, who raised Torah
study in Baghdad to a high level.
During the late 12th century through the middle 13th century,
some prominent poets, as well as the great scholars and
the rashei yeshivot appointed by the caliphs, lived in Baghdad.
The most important were R. Eleazar b. Jacob ha-Bavli
and R. Isaac b. Israel, whom Judah *Al-Ḥarizi, the poet and
traveler, referred to as the greatest Iraqi poet. Isaac b. Israel
headed the Baghdad yeshivah from 1221 to 1247. There were
many physicians, perfumers, shopkeepers, goldsmiths, and
moneychangers among the Jews of Baghdad; however, Judah
Al-Ḥarizi considered this period as one of decline in view of
the past importance of the community.
In 1258 Baghdad was conquered by the *Mongols and
the Jews were not maltreated, as was the case with the Muslims.
Arghūn Khān (1284–91) appointed the Jew *Saʿd al-
Dawla, who had previously been the sultan’s physician, director
of financial administration of Iraq. During the few years
he held office, Saʿd al-Dawla developed the economic importance
of Baghdad and as a result of this he was appointed
chief vizier of the Mongol Empire in 1289. After the death of
Arghūn, Saʿd al-Dawla was executed on the pretext that he
had not given the khān the appropriate medical care. After
their final conversion to Islam in the early 14th century, the
Īl-Khānids reinstated decrees which they formerly had abolished,
concerning the discriminatory dress of the Jews and
Christians and the special taxes which applied to all “unbelievers”
under Muslim rule. When Baghdad was conquered for
a second time in 1393 by Tamerlane, many Jews fled to Kurdistan
and Syria, leaving almost no Jews in Baghdad until the
end of the 15th century.
During the struggle between the Ottomans and the Persian
kings of the Safavid dynasty for the domination of Iraq,
the political situation of the Jews of Baghdad underwent many
changes. Generally, the Jews were oppressed by the Persians,
who were fanatical Shiʿites and haters of non-Muslims; on
the other hand they enjoyed fair treatment under the *Ottomans.
The conquest of Baghdad in 1514 by Shah Ismāʿīl I did
not worsen the situation of the Jews, but with the beginning of
the reign of his son Ṭahmāsp I (1524–76), they suffered greatly
from the hostile attitude of the Persian authorities. During the
first part of the Ottoman rule, which lasted from 1534 to 1623,
there was again an improvement in the situation for the Jews.
Their economic position improved; their trade with foreign
countries increased; and there were several wealthy merchants
among them. In the early 17th century Pedro *Teixeria, the
Portuguese Marrano explorer, found 25,000 houses in Baghdad,
of which 250 belonged to Jews. In 1623 the Persians again
conquered Baghdad, and during their rule, which lasted until
1638, there was a new deterioration in the situation of the Jews.
Because of this, they gave their support to Sultan Murād IV,
who conquered Baghdad in 1638. The day of the conquest,
Tevet 16, 5399, was fixed as a yom nes (day of miracle). Additional
evidence of the sympathy of the Jews toward the Ottomans
is the custom fixing 11 Av, 5493 (1733), the day that
the Persians were defeated trying to reoccupy Baghdad, as a
yom nes. Carsten Niebuhr, a Danish traveler and scholar who
visited Iraq some 30 years later, relates that there was a large
Jewish community in Baghdad and that its influence was felt
in the economic life of the city.
During the second half of the 18th century and the early
19th century Ottoman rule deteriorated in efficiency and the
attitude of the government toward the Jews became harsh.
Even so, some Jewish bankers were involved in the affairs of
the governing circles, especially in the attempted rebellion of
the governors.
During the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, the banker Ezekiel
*Gabbai supported the removal of the governor of Baghdad,
who had rebelled against the sultan in 1811. The last Mamluk
governor, Dāʿūd Pasha (1817–31), who had also tried to rebel
against the sultan, oppressed the Jews of Baghdad, and many
of the wealthier ones fled to Persia, India, and other countries.
Among them was David S. *Sassoon, a member of the distinguished
Baghdad family.
The number of Jews at that time was still considerable.
R. *David D’Beth Hillel, who visited the city in 1828, found
6,000 Jewish families there led by a pasha, also known as “king
of the Jews,” who was also responsible for the judicial affairs
of the community. The English traveler Wellsted, who visited
Baghdad in 1831, praised the remarkable moral conduct of the
Jews, which he attributed to their religious upbringing. Wellsted
made special note of the feeling of mutual responsibility
among the Jews of Baghdad. According to him, there were
no poor among them because anyone who lost his means of
livelihood was assisted by his companions. R. Jehiel Kestelmann,
an emissary from Safed, claims to have found 20,000
Jews in Baghdad in 1860. With the opening of the Suez Canal
in 1869 and the improvement of the city’s economic situation,
the economic status of the Jews also improved. Many
Jews from other localities settled in the city. According to the
traveler Ephraim *Neumark, the Baghdad community numbered
30,000 in 1884; 50,000 in the early 20th century; and
100,000 in the 1930s.
56 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3