CHAPTER XIV.
TWO JERUSALEM RABBIS
Rabbi Moses Mordecai Joseph Meyuchas—The Spanish Jewish traditions—Rabbi Israel Jacob Algazi—The importance of the Jewish settlement in Palestine—Zionist aspirations.
To obtain an idea of the views and aspirations of the Jews of Palestine in that period we may glance at two Hahamim of Jerusalem—Moses Mordecai Joseph Meyuchas and Israel Jacob Algazi.
Haham Samuel Moses Mordecai Joseph de Raphael de Meyuchas was born in 1738 and died in Jerusalem in 1806. He was the descendant of a family of Rabbis and Talmudic scholars of great fame in Palestine and elsewhere. His most valuable contributions to Talmudic literature are his three works: Mayim Shaal (Salonica, 5559), Shaar Ha’mayim (Salonica, 5528) and B’rehot Ha’mayim (Salonica, 5549), which show profound scholarship and wide learning. He was on terms of intimacy with the great Talmudic scholars of his time, who addressed to him questions on various religious and communal matters. In the Preface to his B’rehot Ha’mayim he speaks in exalted terms of his love “of the dear land, the Golden Jerusalem,” and of “the changeable events of his time.” He says that he has had much to suffer, and that, poverty-stricken as he is, he enjoys his miserable existence and keeps in good spirits; he expresses his humble gratitude to God for having allowed him to earn “a piece of dry bread,” and to bear his share in building up the city; and adds that his only hope and aspiration is to be able to spend his life there to a very advanced age. His use of the verse:—
“For He hath made strong the bars of thy gates;...” (Psalm cxlvii. 13).
in connection with what he describes as the “good idea,” which he “carried out,” might be taken as an allusion to his remarkable action in 5559 (1799), when this old Rabbi “stood with spade in hand labouring on the fortification of Jerusalem, digging and working with the greatest industry to make a new bastion and rampart around the fort, the Kallai,”[¹] were it not for the chronological fact that his book was published in 5549 (1789). He is said to have practised medicine, and though this was not uncommon among the Sephardi Hahamim of the old generation, it probably indicates that he was a man of wider outlook than that of the usual Rabbi type. It is a mistake to suppose that all Palestinian Rabbis of the older generation were superstitious and hostile to science. The Sephardi Hahamim of that time in particular had preserved something of the scientific and rationalistic tradition of the Judæo-Spanish school. Some of them were men of great ability, well versed not only in the Talmud, but also in Oriental languages. They cherished an intense and sincere love for the Holy Land, and, if the position of the Jewish people in the country was maintained, through all the horrors and dangers of war and plague, stress and danger, it was due to the self-denial and the wonderful moral strength of those noble martyrs who guided and inspired the down-trodden people. Mostly descendants of the Spanish-Jewish fugitives who found refuge and shelter in the dominions of the Sultan, their loyalty and gratitude to their rulers were sincere and deep-rooted. The Jerusalem Rabbis were attached to their masters and friends in Constantinople, Salonica, Smyrna, Damascus and Aleppo. The Jewish communities, particularly those in distant parts of the Ottoman Empire, suffered severe afflictions from time to time, but they bore their heavy burdens with fortitude and resignation in order to maintain and to strengthen their foothold in the country. They trusted in the justice of the Central Government, and did not expect anything of Bonaparte’s invasion, or of any other invasion of the kind.
[¹] Sepher T’buoth Ha’arez, by Joseph ben Menachem Schwarz, Jerusalem, 5605.
Haham Meyuchas was at that time Dayan.[¹] Another scholar of great authority was the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, H.H.R. Israel Jacob Algazi, a great-grandson of Haham Solomon Algazi the Elder (who was Rabbi in Smyrna and in Jerusalem in the seventeenth century, wrote on all subjects of Rabbinic literature, and contributed much to the science of Talmudic methodology). Haham I. J. Algazi wrote some valuable books on homiletics and Halachah, which testify to his exceptional genius and astonishing industry. He was an excellent Rabbi, possessed of a keen intellect and a high sense of duty. His books She’erith Jacob (Constantinople, 5511) and Neoth Jacob (Smyrna, 5527) contain many chapters that bear testimony to his ardent desire for the development of the Jewish community in the Holy Land.
[¹] Ecclesiastical Assessor.
We read with special interest the books written by these two rabbis during that troublous period. These books are distinguished by the highest intellectual ability. There is nowhere a trace of weariness, languor or even indifference to be found; on the contrary, freshness, strength and unsatisfied intellectual impulse are throughout discernible. Living ideas pervade them all. It is impossible for any reader who is a Talmudic student not to be touched by their depth and force of sentiment, and their exceptional vigour and eloquence, in spite of the usual clumsiness and complexity due to the old Rabbinic language. It is indeed a relief to turn from the intrigues of the Pashas and the bloodshed of the expeditions to Haham Jacob Israel Algazi, who writes in a reply to the Leghorn Jews: “We are here insignificant in numbers, modest in our requirements, and we pray God that we may become self-supporting. We have to be here for the sake of our ancestors and our children’s children. This question is not of appearances, but of realities; not of delights, but of duties; not of private option, but of divine authority.” Both these Rabbis deal with Palestinian affairs in an elevating spirit and from an idealistic point of view. Whatsoever is in Palestine is holy and sublime, and all Jews are bound to support the Yishub.[¹] This is the keynote of all their ideas. Haham M. M. J. Meyuchas writes to Salonica: “We have in our community some artisans, too few for our nation—because they should be more numerous here—and too many for the charities to support them when they are workless; more wealthy people should come here.” And Haham Algazi discusses the question of the special Rabbinical rules concerning the right of the community to inherit the property of rich Jews who die in Palestine leaving relatives in other countries. “It is not the community,” says the learned Rabbi, “it is the whole of Israel which is the [♦]inheritor in this way.... Our people, so long scattered, oppressed, and trodden down, and wonderful from the beginning till now, should never despair. Israel is not deserted,” he says in another passage. The aspirations of an ancient people, as he knew, do not depend on the intrigues and adventures of Pashas, and will outlive all these passing incidents.