[JUDAICA / REGULATIONS OF THE OTTOMAN RABBINATE] Hahamhâne nizâmnâmesi: Estatuto organiko de la komunidad Israilita... [i.e. The statute book of the Rabbinate in Turkey: Organic statute of the Israelite community: Promulgated on August 23, 1287 (1881)]

[REGULATIONS OF THE OTTOMAN RABBINATE], Estamparia Izak Gabai,Konstantinopla-Galata (Constantinople - Istanbul), [5673] = 1913.

COMPLETE TITLE: [JUDAICA / REGULATIONS OF THE OTTOMAN RABBINATE] Hahamhâne nizâmnâmesi: Estatuto organiko de la komunidad Israilita. Promulgada en data del 23 de Agosto 1287 (1913). [i.e. The statute book of the Rabbinate in Turkey: Organic statute of the Israelite community: Promulgated on August 23, 1287 (1881)].

Original wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Hebrew and Ladino; title in Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters), Ladino in Hebrew letters and Hebrew. 21 p., [2 blank pages].

First and only edition of this rare statute book of the Rabbinate in 1913, published in the period of Hakham Bashi [i.e. Chief or Grand Rabbi] Chaim Naum (1909-1920), after the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, "to embark on a process of restructuring the Jewish community and the rabbinate" (Erbahar).

"In July 1863, in furtherance of the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms, Fuad Pasha, the grand vizier, ordered the acting chief rabbi of Istanbul, Yakir Geron, to embark on a process of restructuring the Jewish community and the rabbinate. Geron organized a committee for this purpose. Led by the influential philanthropist Abraham de Camondo and consisting of fourteen regional representatives from Istanbul, the committee selected twelve lay administrators and four rabbis to formulate a reform statute. Their proposals were presented to Sultan Abdüleziz in April 1864 and were officially adopted by the Porte without change in March 1865. The proposed statute took effect as the Hahamhane Nizamnamesi (General Regulations of the Rabbinate) in May 1865. The regulations were initially applicable only to the Istanbul community but were meant to later be implemented elsewhere. The new statute laid down the responsibilities and selection processes of the chief rabbinate and three Jewish communal institutions, the meclis cismani (lay council), the meclis umumi (general council), and the meclis ruhani (religious council). The meclis cismani, made up of nine members elected by the general council, was charged with regulating and supervising the community’s secular affairs, including finances. Although it was completely autonomous, Ottoman officials had the right to dismiss individual members. From the ratification of the decree in 1865 until 1880, the meclis cismani was dominated by a group of wealthy notables led by the Zonana and Aciman families. The meclis umumi, a much larger body, had a membership of sixty laymen and twenty rabbis. The lay members were elected by provincial representatives from Istanbul and its vicinity, and the twenty rabbis were chosen by the corps of rabbis. The members of the general council plus forty representatives from provincial communities were charged with electing the chief rabbi. They made their choice from a list of five candidates nominated by the lay council. In addition to electing the members of the meclis cismani, the meclis umumi elected the members of the meclis ruhani and the bet din (religious court). The seven rabbis who constituted the meclis ruhani were empowered to enforce religious laws and regulations and to supervise the community’s rabbis. The Hahamhane Nizamnamesi required the chief rabbi to obtain the council members’ consent before imposing religious punishments on anyone. It divided the Ottoman Jewish community into eight rabbinical districts outside Istanbul: Bursa, Baghdad, Edirne, Izmir, Salonica, Cairo, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. Each district had its own chief rabbi and communal institutions, officially functioning under the authority of the chief rabbi of Istanbul. The statute played an important role in the politicization of the Ottoman Jewish world. It recognized the chief rabbi as the administrative leader of Ottoman Jewry but limited his spiritual authority to Istanbul [.]" (Erbahar).

PRINTING INFORMATION: "Gabay family was one of the families that immigrated to Constantinople and Izmir (Smyrna) from Livorno. In 1654 they founded the first Jewish print shop in Izmir - the Gabay print shop, which was moved from Livorno. Some of the books were printed in Izmir. The oldest found was printed in Izmir during the first half of the 18th century (in the 18th century religious books were also printed by Greek print shops)." (Izmir Jewish Heritage online).

Not in Özege.; Not in OCLC.