Hakham Bashi (, , ; ; translated into French as: khakham-bachi) is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community. In the time of the Ottoman Empire it was also used for the chief rabbi of a particular region of the empire, such as Syria, the Land of Israel or Iraq, though the Hakham Bashi of Constantinople was considered overall head of the Jews of the Empire.
In 1840, a position of Hakham Bashi was established in Jerusalem.
Etymology Hakham is Hebrew for "wise man" (or "scholar"), while başı is Turkish for "head".
The Karaites used the word "Hakham" for a rabbi, a practice shared by, Sephardic Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and some other non-Ashkenazi minhagim; accordingly, the Ottoman Turks adopted this usage for this name. (info page on book at Martin Luther University) - Cited: p. 46 (PDF p. 48)
History
The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II () with the appointment of Moses Capsali. However, it is not clear whether the chief rabbi's authority extended over all the Jews of the empire or only those living in Constantinople. This was a part of Mehmed's policy of governing his exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities wherever possible. Religion was considered as primordial aspect of a communities 'national' identity, so the term Ethnarch has been applied to such religious leaders, especially the (Greek Orthodox) Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (i.e. in the Sultan's imperial capital, renamed Istanbul in 1930 but replaced by Ankara as republican capital in 1923). As Islam was the official religion of both court and state, the Chief Mufti in Istanbul had a much higher status, even of cabinet rank.
Because of the size and nature of the Ottoman state, containing a far greater part of the diaspora than any other, the position of Hakham Bashi has been compared to that of the Jewish Exilarch.
In the Ottoman Empire, and as such, the Hakham Bashi was the closest thing to an overall Exilarchal authority among Jewry everywhere in the Middle East in early modern times. They held broad powers to legislate, judge and enforce the laws among the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and often sat on the Sultan's divan.
The office also maintained considerable influence outside the Ottoman Empire, especially after the forced migration of numerous Jewish communities and individuals out of Spain (after the fall of Granada in 1492) and Italy.
The Chief Rabbi of the modern, secular Republic of Turkey is still known as Hahambaşı.
The term Hakham Bashi was also used for the official Government-appointed Chief Rabbi of other important cities in the Ottoman Empire, such as Damascus and Baghdad.
The position of Hakham Bashi of Palestine terminated with the appointment of separate Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis in 1921.Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, Number 40, April 1, 1921, page 10.
List of incumbents Chief Rabbis of the Ottoman Empire (Hahambaşı) Moses Capsali 1454–1495Elijah Mizrachi 1497–1526Mordechai Komitano 1526–1542Tam ibn Yahya 1542–1543Eliyyah Benjamin ha-Levi 1543Eliyyah ben Ḥayyim 1543–1602Yeḥiel Bassan 1602–1625Joseph Miṭrani 1625–1639 Yomṭov Ben Yaʿesh 1639–1642Yomṭov ben Ḥananiah Ben Yaqar 1642–1677Ḥayyim Qamḥi 1677–1715Judah Ben Rey 1715–1717Samuel Levi 1717–1720Abraham ben Ḥayyim Rosanes 1720–1745 Solomon Ḥayyim Alfandari 1745–1762Meir Ishaki 1762–1780Elijah Palombo 1780–1800Ḥayyim Jacob Benyakar 1800–1835Abraham ha-Levi 1835–1836Samuel ben Moses Ḥayyim 1836–1837Moses Fresco 1839–1841 Jacob Behar David 1841–1854Ḥayyim ha-Kohen 1854–1860Jacob (or Yakup) Avigdor 1860–1863Yakir Geron 1863–1872 Moses Levi 1872–1908Haim Nahum Effendi 1908–1920Shabbetai Levi1918–1919Ishak Ariel 1919–1920
Chief Rabbis of the Turkish Republic (Hahambaşı) Haim Moşe Becerano1920–1931Haim Ishak Saki 1931–1940Rafael David Saban 1940–1960David Asseo 1961–2002Ishak Haleva 2002–2025David Sevi 2025-
Chief Rabbis of Ottoman Galilee Makhlouf Eldaoudi 1889–1909
Chief Rabbis of Ottoman Palestine Chaim Abraham Gagin 1842–1848Isaac Kovo 1848–1854Chaim Nissim Abulafia 1854–1861Chaim David Hazan 1861–1869Abraham Ashkenazi 1869–1880Raphael Meir Panigel 1880–1892Jacob Saul Elyashar 1893–1906Elijah Moses Panigel 1907-1908Nahman Batito 1909-1911Moshe Yehuda Franco 1911Nissim Yehuda Danon 1916-1918
Sephardi Chief Rabbis of British Mandatory Palestine Jacob Meir 1921–1939Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel 1939–1948
Sephardi Chief Rabbis of Israel Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel 1948–1953Yitzhak Nissim 1955–1972Ovadia Yosef 1972–1982Mordechai Eliyahu 1982–1993Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron 1993–2003Shlomo Amar 2003–2013Yitzhak Yosef 2013–2024David Yosef 2024–
See also History of the Jews in Turkey Ottoman Jews Court Jew Crown rabbi Landesrabbiner Schutzjude Shtadlan
Notes
Citations
References Haim Ze'ew Hirschberg, 'Hakham Bashi', Encyclopaedia Judaica (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0), edited by Cecil Roth (Keter Publishing House, 1997). Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984). Stanford J Shaw, 'Appendix 1: Grand Rabbis of Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire, and Chief Rabbis of republican Turkey', in The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic (New York City: New York University Press, 1991), 272-273.