On the Jewish Community of Izmir in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

From an analysis of the social structure of the Jewish community of Izmir and its leadership as they responded to these challenges in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, we may gain a clearer understanding about the power relations among the different groups within the central communities of the Ottoman EmpireAlthough the Jewish community in izmir was founded only towards the end of the sixteenth century and developed along with the city itself primarily in the seventeenth century, the structure of the community was similar to that of other communities in the major cities of the Ottoman Empire that were founded in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It comprised individual congregations (qehalim) organized around synagogues, but from the mid-seventeenth century, centralist tendencies were noticeable in a central municipal rabbinate and a single body to conduct communal affairs to which the individual qehalim sent representatives, evidently on an equal basis. Tax collection was in the hands of the central leadership body. Of the seven qehalim that operated in izmir in the seventeenth century, some continued into the eighteenth century, while others were succeeded by new ones. Even at the beginning, only the Portuguese congregations composed of returned conversos from Portugal, were based on origins, and as relations to ethnic or geographic origins weakened over time, qehalim such as Biqur Holim ("visiting the sick") were organized on other bases.The qahal centered on the synagogue was the organizational framework around which the individual and society operated. Primary authority on religious matters was in the hands of the rabbi hired by the qahal, and in all the qehalim he was called the "Teacher of Torah." The communal body or hakolelot ("general"), on which the various qehalim in the city were represented, chose its members from among themselves for positions of great importance, such as the representative and spokesman of the community to the Ottoman authorities (kahia) and the tax collector.1 As in other Jewish communities, tensions that developed between different groups in the seventeenth century were sharpened by the heterogeneous character of the community. In izmir, these tensions revolved around the role of the individual qahal in taxation, conflicts between the rich and poor, and differences between recent immigrants and established locals. In the course of the seventeenth century there were also internal disagreements concerning Jewish law and other matters between the rabbis and their respective qehalim.2 * 1 2As was customary in Ottoman communities from the middle of the seventeenth century, two or more chief rabbis served in izmir simultaneously. That such a split rabbinate was common in the Ottoman Empire reflected a rift that went beyond religious disagreements, to social, economic, political and personal issues.The Jewish courts dealt with issues of personal status but also with areas of economic and social life over which they had de facto, if not de jure, authority from the Ottoman government, which generally did not interfere in their deliberations. However the Jewish litigants always had the option to appeal to the Shari'a courts, if they wanted to, and their authority was final.The social tensions, however, did not prevent the formation of a common communal tradition unique to izmir. Its structure was established primarily by Rabbi Joseph Escapa, "Chief Rabbi" from the 1620s to the 1660s. Many of the arrangements regarding taxation cited in the book Avodat Masa also stem from his time.3Capitulation agreements, whereby foreign citizens were under the authority of European consuls in various cities of the Ottoman Empire and not under the authority of Ottoman rule, encouraged the flourishing of ports in the Levant. Most of these foreigners were European merchants, some of them Jews-"Francos" in the seventeenth century-most of whom came from Italy. …