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137 Chapter 5: Rabbi Shelomo Bekhor Hutsin (Rashbah): The Words of an Enlightened Jew Rabbi Shelomo Bekhor Hutsin (Rashbah, 1843-1892) was one of the disciples of Rabbi Abdallah Somekh (1813-1904) in Baghdad. Rabbi Abdallah Somekh was one of the key religious figures of his time (Hakak, Iggerot; and Hakak, “Shlomo ”). He did not find personal fulfillment in business. Rather, he had spiritual and intellectual aspirations. As a result, he selected a small number of students and began an education enterprise that lasted forty years. In 1854, he established a rabbinical school. The graduates of this school (Yeshivat Bet Zilkha) became top community leaders, authors of religious books, poets and founders of a Hebrew press, rabbis, and ritual slaughterers (shohatim) for Iraq, Israel, Kurdistan, Persia, India, and other countries (Ben-Yaacob, Toledot; and 1979, 150-156). Rabbi Somekh was interested in Hebrew periodicals and in news pertaining to the Jewish world. He raised funds for Jewish causes and responded to questions that were addressed to him from various countries about Jewish law. The site of Baghdad’s Jewish court (also the site for Kurdistan and Iraq’s Jewish court of appeals ) was located in Zilkha’s rabbinical school, Yeshivat Bet Zilkha. Rashbah was a graduate of this school. He admired his teacher (Rashbah, Ha-Levanon, March 18, 1869; and Ha-Tsefira, 16th year, no. 217, 891) who was thirty years his senior. The traveler Efrayim Neimark praised Rabbi Abdallah Somekh and mentioned Rashbah as one of Somekh’s greatest disciples. He also noted a dispute in Baghdad’s Jewish community over who should be the community leader. Rashbah was viewed as one of the few who was at peace with two major groups, the rich men’s party and the sages’ party (see Neimark, 45-47). 138 Part 2: Folktales, rePortage, ePistles, research, and a story A. The Various Pursuits of Rashbah Rashbah was active in various fields, all of which expressed and illustrated his spiritual and intellectual priorities and abilities. In all his endeavors, he was, as he frequently concluded at the end of his articles, the person seeking to do good for his people (“ha-dotl,” abbreviations of “ha-doresh tov le-‘ammo”). Rashbah wrote liturgies, rabbinical articles, and journalistic articles about the Jewish communities in Babylon, Kurdistan, and Persia. Additionally, he wrote educational articles that guided young people in the correct way of living , including tenets on proper behavior and virtuous conduct. Rashbah’s articles were published in Hebrew periodicals that appeared in Baghdad (Ha-Dover), India (Ha-Perah, Ha-Mevasser), Jerusalem (Ha-Havatselet, Ha-Levanon), and in European cities (Ha-Maggid, Ha-Tsefira, Ha-Melits). Rashbah published articles in Hebrew periodicals that captured the attention of different audiences and had different or even conflicting orientations. For example, he published in both Ha-Maggid and Ha-Levanon in the years 1867-1877 when the Ha-Levanon’s editor published articles against the editor of Ha-Maggid. Rashbah made this possible by expressing moderate positions and Jewish values in his articles that were common to Jewish ideological streams. His articles expressed support for Jewish Enlightenment ideologies, and he concurrently believed in the centrality of Jewish faith and religion. In addition, Rashbah was an important source of information for the countries about which he wrote. The Hebrew periodicals needed this information in order to provide a more complete picture about Jewish communities in the world. Rashbah’s articles are an important historical source chronicling events, characters, and Jewish life. For example, one of his articles provided the names of Hebrew authors in Iraq and the titles of their books (Ha-Tsefira, 16th year, no. 278, 1145). Another article (Ha-Maggid, 7th year, no. 11 (12 March 1863) 84) provided descriptions of Baghdad’s Jewish community institutes, synagogues, day schools, and charitable organizations, including charitable organizations for the Jews in the land of Israel. Rashbah also translated from Hebrew to Judeo Arabic part of the prayer book and the Passover Haggadah. He was the principal of a Jewish day school (Midrash Talmud Torah) and a teacher of the Talmud in Alliance in Baghdad. He promoted Hebrew periodicals of his time (Ha-Maggid, Ha-Levanon, Ha-Tsefira, Ha-Melits, Perah and Ha-Mevsasser). He was Baghdad’s branch manager and Vice President of a Society for the Preservation of Religious Duties (“Hevrat Shomreh Mitsva”, see Ha-Levanon, 6th year, no. 12 (18 March 1969) 95-96). The organization focused on the education and support of Jewish children, the promotion of...

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