Chumaceiro

Aron Mendes Chumaceiro (January 28, 1810, Amsterdam—September 18, 1882, Amsterdam) was

chakam ''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He ...

(rabbi) of

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, Dutch West Indies. He received the various rabbinical degrees (that of "morenu" in 1846) at the celebrated '' bet ha-midrash'' Ets Haim. In 1848 he was awarded the royal gold medal for the best sermon in the Dutch language. When the Sephardic synagogue of Amsterdam proposed to elect him preacher in the vernacular, it met with strenuous opposition, Portuguese being the only language, except Hebrew, used in the synagogue. When in 1852 Chumaceiro was elected first ''

ab bet din The ''av beit din'' ( ''ʾabh bêth dîn'', "chief of the court" or "chief justice"), also spelled ''av beis din'' or ''abh beth din'' and abbreviated ABD (), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period, ...

'', he succeeded in overcoming the opposition to Dutch, and soon established a reputation as one of the foremost pulpit orators in the Netherlands. In 1852 he edited the first Dutch Jewish weekly, ''Het Israelietisch Weekblad''. In the same year he was elected head of the bet ha-midrash Ets Haim. Delegated by the

parnasim A ''gabbai'' ( he, גבאי), also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes spelled ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden) is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some way. The role may be under ...

(officials of the synagogue) of his congregation in 1854 to receive the future King Pedro V of Portugal, he conducted the royal visitor and his suite to the bet ha-midrash, where the king, noticing the names of the donors to that institution inscribed on the walls, made the significant remark: "parece-me que estou na minha própria terra de Portugal" (It seems as though I were in my own land of Portugal). When Pedro V ascended the throne in 1856, he removed the

civil disabilities Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

of the Jews. On account of his liberal-conservative views Chumaceiro was strongly opposed by the ultra-Orthodox party, and he therefore accepted in 1855 from King

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

the appointment of chief rabbi of the colony of

. At the solicitation of the special ambassador, O. van Rees, who was sent by the king to adjust the claims of the persecuted Dutch Jews of Coro, Venezuela, he succeeded in settling the complicated disputes to the entire satisfaction of the contending parties. Chumaceiro visited his birthplace in 1861, when the office of ''chakam'' was tendered to him, which he declined, receiving on that occasion a costly testimonial from the Sephardic synagogue. He obtained his discharge as ''chakam'' of Curaçao in 1869, and received a liberal pension from the king for "the numerous and faithful services rendered to his country." Chumaceiro had four sons: #Abraham Mendes Chumaceiro: Attorney at law; born at Amsterdam November 16, 1841; died at Curaçao, Dutch West Indies, August 19, 1902. He moved to Curaçao in 1856, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1872. He soon acquired great prominence in his profession. Among his literary works are ''Is Curaçao te Koop?'' and ''Het Kiesrecht in de Kolonie Curaçao''. #Benjamin Mendes Chumaceiro: Cantor; born in Amsterdam in 1871. He received a ministerial training at the bet ha-midrash Ets Haim of Amsterdam. In 1892 he was elected assistant cantor of the Portuguese synagogue at The Hague; and in 1895 cantor of that of Hamburg. #Jacob Mendes Chumaceiro: '' Dayyan'' and editor; born at Amsterdam March 11, 1833; died February 8, 1900. Besides being ''dayyan'' of the Sephardic synagogue, and acting chakam for the Portuguese Jews of North and South Netherlands, he was inspector of the Jewish schools of Amsterdam, head and librarian of the bet ha-midrash Ets Haim, and editor of ''Het Israelietisch Weekblad''. #Joseph Chayyim Mendes Chumaceiro: Rabbi and editor; born in Amsterdam July 3, 1844. He studied for the ministry under his father at Curaçao. From 1867 to 1874 he was rabbi of Beth-El congregation,

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

; from 1874 to 1880, of Nefashot Yehudah, New Orleans, Louisiana; from 1884 to 1887, of Beth-El Emeth, Philadelphia; from 1889 to 1891, of Mikwe Yisrael, Curaçao; from 1892 to 1898, of Children of Israel, Augusta, Georgia; and was recalled as rabbi to Curaçao in 1898. During part (1879–83) of his residence at New Orleans he was also editor of ''The Jewish South'', a weekly journal. Besides many sermons and discourses, he published ''The Evidences of Free-Masonry from Ancient Hebrew Records'', 1900, which reached a third edition; ''La Revelacion'', the first Jewish catechism in Spanish; and ''Verdediging is geen Aanval'', a correspondence between a Christian divine and a rabbi on Jesus as the Messiah. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chumaceiro, Aron Mendes 1810 births 1882 deaths Curaçao Jews Curaçao people of Dutch descent Curaçao people of Portuguese descent Rabbis from Amsterdam Dutch Orthodox rabbis 19th-century Dutch rabbis Sephardi rabbis Dutch Sephardi Jews 19th-century Sephardi Jews