Chaim Nahum

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Chaim Nahum and President Nagib in the Sha'ar HaShamayim Synagogue in 1953
As the Grand Rabbi of the Empire. Ottoman postcard

Chaim Nahum (also Chaim Nachum , Hebrew חיים נחום; * 1872 in Manisa , Ottoman Empire ; † November 13, 1960 in Cairo , Egypt ) was a Grand Rabbi in the Ottoman Empire and Grand Rabbi of Egypt and Sudan .

Life

Chaim Nahum was born in Manisa , Turkey , near Smyrna , into a Sephardic- Jewish family during the Ottoman Empire . To ensure a traditional religious education, Chaim Nahum was sent to Tiberias by his parents , where he attended a yeshiva . Nahum completed his studies at the Sorbonne and in the French rabbinical seminary in Paris , where he was ordained a rabbi in 1897. After his return from France, Nahum continued his studies at the University of Istanbul .

Great Rabbi Nahum was an expert in the fields of Islamic history and Semitic languages , and also taught Jewish history and law at the rabbinical college in Istanbul. During his tenure as Grand Rabbi in the Ottoman Empire, Nahum made a trip to Ethiopia in 1908 and visited Beta Israel . In addition, he served as an advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Ismet Pascha in the Lausanne treaty negotiations as a representative of the Ottoman Jews. Nahum also continued his public service activities on behalf of the King of Egypt, for example as a senator .

In 1923 Rabbi Nahum was invited by Grand Rabbi Moise Cattaoui Pasha to succeed him in leading the Jewish community in Egypt and Sudan. From 1924 Nahum lived in the Kingdom of Egypt and was appointed Grand Rabbi of Egypt and Sudan on March 2, 1925. There he received the Egyptian citizenship in 1929. As Grand Rabbi, Chaim Nahum tried to re-establish the learned society for the study of historical Judaism in Egypt, which he succeeded in 1944, and became its leader. For the Egyptian king he worked as a senator in the civil service and also as a scientist . From the mid-1940s, his eyesight deteriorated, but Grand Rabbi Nahum remained faithful to his service, even when he became completely blind at the age of 78. It was also a stop for the Jews in Egypt during the increasing emigration of Jews from Arab and Islamic countries after Israel's declaration of independence . For his state service and scientific work, he was awarded the honorary title Efendi as Grand Rabbi in the Ottoman Empire.

Grand Rabbi Chaim Nahum died on November 13, 1960 at the age of 88 in Cairo. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in the Bassatin district, which is occupied by poverty-stricken refugees and has since become neglected.

See also

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personal data
SURNAME Nahum, Chaim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES חיים נחום; Chaim Nahum Effendi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Grand Rabbi in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Sudan
DATE OF BIRTH 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Manisa
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1960
Place of death Cairo