Epistle bearing tidings of persecution of the Jews of Hamadān, and the public beating of their rabbi : manuscript.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Shemuʼel Yaʻaḳov, of Hamadān, author.

Contributor:

Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Jews--Persecutions--Iran--Hamadān.

Jews.

Genre:

Manuscripts, Hebrew -- 19th century.

epistles.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Appel Auction House (Pomona, New York), March 2024.

Physical Description:

1 leaf : paper ; 22 cm

Production:

Hamadān, Iran, June-July 1866

Contained In:

Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Box 26 Folder 41

Other Title:

text begins: Ḥadashot ani magid : Aḥar ha-tiḳṿah ṿeha-toḥelet iraʻ lanu maʻaś[eh] [...] asher lo nishmaʻ ke-mohu be-arbaʻ kanfot ha-arets, ṿe-hayah lanu le-ḥerpah ba-goyim...

חדשות אני מגיד. אחרי התקוה והתוחלת אירע לנו מעש[ה] [...] אשר לא נשמע כמוהו בארבע כנפות הארץ והיה לנו לחרפה בגויים...

Language Note:

In Hebrew.

Biography/History:

Mulah Ḥayim Elʻazar of Hamadān's fate was part of a period of intense persecution of Hamadān Jewry; in 1866, Sir Moses Montefiore intervened on a decree of execution of the Jewish community of Hamadān (likely related to this incident), and Jews were again murdered by riot in 1871, 1875, and 1892 (among others); many of the Jews, including Mulah Ḥayim Elʻazar, converted by force to the Bahai faith in 1884, and re-converted to Judaism following the abatement of hostilities; he later relocated to Baghdad.

Summary:

Letter bearing news of the Jewish community in Hamadān and the events of 4 Tamuz [5]626, possibly to recipients in Europe (dignitaries or publications); a delegation from the Jewish community accompanied Mulah Ḥayim Elʻazar to greet the vizier Abdollah on a surprise visit, and the delegation returned via the city's bazaar madarasah (apparently near the contemporary Jameh Mosque of Hamadan), and a mob of butchers descended on the delegation, beating them with cooking and preparation implements and pelting them with cinders (the mob had been inflamed by various libels, including accusations of them cursing the prophet and murdering a bystander on a bridge). Mulah Ḥayim Elʻazar endured head injuries and a broken arm, and lost many of his rabbinical vestments; Abdollah (and other members of the government) had since nullified their accusations (letter end).

Notes:

Title devised by cataloger.

Written in a Oriental semicursive Hebrew script.

Cited as:

Epistle Bearing Tidings of Persecution of the Jews of Hamadān (Misc Mss Box 26 Folder 41). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.

OCLC:

1533461570