Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Cairo 03: Turkish rule 1517-1768
Accusations - economic envy - fanatic murders - rabbis
from: Cairo; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 5
presented by Michael Palomino (2008)
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[Muslim accusations in 1545 - economic envy and arbitrary torture against rich Jews - fanatic murders - rabbis]
<The Turks, who conquered Egypt in 1517, did not usually interfere with the Jews in religious matters. Nevertheless, there were occasions when they were influenced by the accusations of the Muslim fanatics, as in 1545 when the central synagogue was closed down and not reopened until 1548. Also, Muslim mobs often attacked Jewish funeral processions on their way to the cemetery in Basatin, some distance from the town. As a result, the dead were sometimes buried without procession, or the funerals were held at night, and at other times Muslim guard were hired.
However, the greatest oppression of the Jews was economic. On the one hand, the Turkish governors delegated financial administration, such as the operation of the mint and the collection of taxes and customs to Jews, but on the other hand, they were jealous of the wealth of these Jewish bankers and from time to time maltreated them. The first such case occurred in 1524, when governor Ahmed Pasha extorted a large sum of money from Abraham *Castro, the director of the mint, and threatened to slaughter all the Jews of Cairo unless they provided him with a large sum of money. However, on the day appointed for payment, he was killed by some soldiers who opposed his plan to rebel against the sultan. This day of salvation was commemorated as an annual Purim Mizrayim ("Purim of Egypt").
Often false accusations were brought against the Celebis (treasury officials of the governors, who were also Jewish community leaders), and several of them were executed. Others were executed without any pretext. Many Cairo Jews who were closely related to these wealthy officials also suffered greatly.
The tyranny and extortion of the Turkish governors worsened during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the process of decline and corruption in the Turkish government also had an effect on the condition of the large community in the capital of Egypt.
The standard of Jewish learning fell, even though some of the community's rabbis were eminent halakhic authorities. The most important rabbis were: in the 17th century, Isaac Castro, Samuel *Vital (the son of R. Hayyim *Vital), *Mordecai ha-Levi and his son Abraham; in the 18th century, Solomon *Algazi; and in the 19th century, Moses Algazi, Elijah Israel, his cousin Moses, and *Raphael Aaron b. Simeon, author of the works Tuv Mizrayim and Nehar Mizrayim.> (col. 30)
<Hebrew Printing in Cairo.
The first Hebrew printing press in Cairo, which was also the first one in the whole Middle East outside of Palestine, was founded in 1657 by Gershom b. Eliezer *Soncino. He was the last printer of a famous family of printers; he had previously worked in his father's press in Constantinople. Two of his books printed in this year are known: Refu'ot ha-Talmud, a book of remedies, and Pitron Halomot ("Interpretation of Dreams"), attributed to R. *Hai Gaon.
A second printing press was founded in Cairo in 1740 by Abraham b. Moses Yatom, who had also previously worked as a printer in Constantinople. He printed only one book, the first edition of Hok le-Yisrael, edited by R. Isaac Baruch of Cairo. This work was later reprinted in many editions.> (col. 31)
Sources
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Cairo, vol.5, col.29-30
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Cairo, vol.5, col.31-32
