Succession to the Rabbinate in Yemen

Rabbinical appointments in modern times have been the subject of some study: in Ashkenaz it was customary for a son to inherit the office of rabbi from his father, provided he was deserving. Simḥa Assaf writes: “We do not find [in earlier periods] the practice which is widespread today, whereby a co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gimani, Aharon 1954- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Pennsylvania Press 1999
In: AJS review
Year: 1999, Volume: 24, Issue: 2, Pages: 301-323
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Summary:Rabbinical appointments in modern times have been the subject of some study: in Ashkenaz it was customary for a son to inherit the office of rabbi from his father, provided he was deserving. Simḥa Assaf writes: “We do not find [in earlier periods] the practice which is widespread today, whereby a community, upon the death of its rabbi, appoints his son or son-in-law even if they are unworthy replacements. Previously, communities were not subject to this ‘dynastic imposition.’” Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, in the seventeenth century, there are attestations of the rabbinical office becoming a dynasty reserved for certain families, notably Ṭayṭaṣaq, Ṣarfati and ‘Arameh, in Saloniki.Although the rabbinate was not perceived as the rightful monopoly of any particular family, interviews conducted with rabbis and community leaders on this point indicate that certain families had clearly been preferred over others. From the seventeenth century onwards this grew more pronounced: occasionally, the community would refrain from appointing a new rabbi and wait for a younger son to reach maturity so he could inherit his father's position.
ISSN:1475-4541
Contains:Enthalten in: Association for Jewish Studies, AJS review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400011272