Hakham Bashi

Hakham Bashi (Turkish: Hakham Bašsi) is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation.

History

The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Great Sultan Mehmet II, as part of his 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) Oecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (i.e. in the Sultan's capital, then already renamed Istanbul). As Islam was the official religion of both court and state, the Chief Mufti in Istanbul has 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 then 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 of Ottoman Turkey 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 Hakham Bashi.

List of individuals holding the title Hakham Bashi

*Eli Kapsali...................................1452-1454
*Moiz Kapsali..................................1454-1497
*Elijah Mizrachi...........................1497-1526
*Mordechai Komitano............................1526-1542
*Tam ben Yahya.................................1542-1543
*Eli Rozanes ha-Levi.............................1543 ..
*Eli ben Hayim.................................1543-1602
*Yehiel Bashan.................................1602-1625
*Joseph Mitrani................................1625-1639
*Yomtov Benyaes................................1639-1642
*Yomtov Hananiah Benyakar......................1642-1677
*Chaim Kamhi...................................1677-1715
*Judah Benrey..................................1715-1717
*Samuel Levi...................................1717-1720
*Abraham Rozanes...............................1720-1745
*Solomon Hayim Alfandari.......................1745-1762
*Meir Ishaki...................................1762-1780
*Eli Palombo...................................1780-1800
*Chaim Jacob Benyakar..........................1800-1835
*Abraham Levi Pasha............................1835-1839
*Samuel Hayim..................................1839-1841
*Moiz Fresko...................................1841-1854
*Jacob Avigdor.................................1854-1870
*Yakir Geron...................................1870-1872
*Moses Levi....................................1872-1909
*Chaim Nahum Effendi.......................1909-1920
**(Chief rabbi of Egypt 1920-60)
*Shabbetai Levi................................1920-1922
*Isaac Ariel...................................1922-1926
*Chaim Bejerano................................1926-1931
*Chaim Isaac Saki..............................1931-1940
*Raphael David Saban...........................1940-1960
*David Asseo...................................1961-2002
*Isak Haleva...................................2003-