Israel Moses Hazan (1808 October 1862 in Beirut) was a Sephardic

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

from

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

Life

He was taken by his father Eliezer Hazan to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(1811), where he was educated under his grandfather,

Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan Joseph ben Ḥayyim Hazan was a Sephardi ḥakham and chief rabbi of Jerusalem. Life Joseph Hazan was born at Smyrna in 1741 and died at Jerusalem on November 11, 1819. At first rabbi in his native city, he went to Palestine in 1811, settling at ...

. In 1840 he became a member of a rabbinical college; in 1848 he was appointed "meshullach" (messenger). While at Rome he was elected chief rabbi. In 1852 he resigned this office for the rabbinate of Corfu, and in 1857 he was called to the rabbinate of Alexandria. In 1862 he went to Jaffa; but, being in ill health, he removed to Beirut, where he died. He was buried in Sidon. In Rome and in Corfu he was held in high esteem, and the poet

Ludwig August von Frankl Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...

, who saw him in Corfu (1856), speaks in glowing terms of his venerable personality. While a champion of Orthodoxy, he possessed sufficient independence of mind to protest against the superstitious practices customary among the Jews of Rome, who insisted on washing corpses with warm water, and who would not allow a clock in the yard of the synagogue. He wrote a letter condemning the reforms advocated in the Brunswick rabbinical conference (published in the collection "Kin'at Tziyyon," Amsterdam, 1846). In his book ''Iyye ha-Yam'', a commentary on the Responsa of the

Geonim ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of ...

, he provided an extensive analysis of the Geonic chain of tradition, arguing among other things that the 'Spanish' version of Iggeret

Sherira Gaon Sherira bar Hanina (Hebrew: שרירא בר חנינא) more commonly known as Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: שרירא גאון; c. 906-c. 1006) was the gaon of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the ...

(Sherira Gaon's epistle) was the original version, in line with the scholarly consensus of the time.

Works

*''Naḥalah le-Yisrael'', a collection of decisions in an inheritance case (Vienna, 1851; Alexandria, 1862); linke
here
*''Kontres Kedushat Yom-Tob Sheni'', an argument in favor of retaining the second holy days (ib. 1855); linke
here
*''Dibre Shalom we-Emet'', a reply (in the form of an address to the Israelites of Great Britain by a Levite) to a Reform pamphlet (Hebrew and English, London, 1856); *''She'erit ha-Nahalah'', a discourse in dialogue on religious questions, with a revised edition of his ''Nahalah le-Yisrael'' (Alexandria, 1862); *''Iyye ha-Yam'', responsa of the

, with his notes (Livorno, 1864); linke
here
*''Kerakh shel Romi'', responsa (ib. 1876); linke
here
Other responsa, with homilies and a defence of the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

, remain in manuscript.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

*Solomon Hazan, ''Ha-Ma'alot li-Shelomoh'', p. 114; *Elijah Hazan, ''Zikhron Yerushalayim'', p. 131, Livorno, 1874; *Berliner, ''Geschichte der Juden in Rom'', pp. 152, 208, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1893.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazan, Israel Moses Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Smyrniote Jews 1862 deaths 1808 births

Life

Works

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

Further reading

References