Intrigue and Revolution

Yaron Harel is Professor of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University. His contribution to the field of oriental Jewish history, especially in Syria, been recognized in a series of awards, including the Aminoah Prize (2000), the Ben-Zvi Prize for Research in Oriental Jewry (2004), and the Zalman Shazar Prize for Research in Jewish History (2009), He is also the author of The Books of Aleppo: The Rabbinic Literature of the Scholars of Aleppo (1997) and of the volume Syria (2009) in the series Jewish Communities in the East in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, and co-editor, with Yom Tov Assis and Miriam Frenkel, of Aleppo Studies - The Jews of Aleppo: Their History and Culture, Volume 1 (2009).

• Note onTransliterationIntroductionPART I: Harbingers of Upheaval1          The Failure of R.Sadkah Houssin’s Struggle for Control over the Baghdad Community 2          The Roots of theStruggle in Aleppo against the Inheritance of the Rabbinate by R. Raphael Shlomo LaniadoPART II: TheRabbis of the Reform3          The Saga ofHakham Raphael Kassin: From Hakham Bashi in Baghdad to Reform Rabbi in Aleppo4          The Baghdad CommunityTorn between Rabbis Sassoon Samoha and Elisha Dangoor5          Avraham Dweck HacohenKhalousi: the last Hakham Bashi who was born in Aleppo6          Rabbi YitzhakAbulafia’s Difficult Path to the Rabbinic Office in Damascus7          The Appointment andDeposition of Rabbi Yitzhak AbulafiaPART III: Rabbis ofThe Revolution8          The Appointment andRemoval of Rabbi Solomon Eliezer Mercado Alfandari in Damascus9          Rabbi Yaakov Danon’sAppointment as Rabbi of Damascus and its Consequences 10        Rabbi Hezekiah Shabbetai’s Struggle against those who woulddepose him11        The Removal of the HakhamBashi of Baghdad, David Pappo, from his position by the Young Turks EpilogueGlossaryBibliography

Reviews‘Fascinating . . .Harel focuses on the main cities of the countries known today as Iraq andSyria, but the reader gains important knowledge and understanding of otherregions as well, mainly Jerusalem and Turkey. The author thoroughly perused theavailable records of the period . . . Harel's mastery of rabbinical literatureand its somewhat enigmatic language has enabled him to unearth a treasury ofdata which he successfully cross references with other historical records . . .The book is written in a clear language, analyzing the intricate histories ofthe rabbis of the three communities in chronological order, moving from city tocity and from period to period deftly and seamlessly. The translation is fluidand engaging, not an easy task given the nature of the book and many rabbinictexts quoted. The author is to be commended for this thorough investigation ofa period which has left an indelible mark on the religious life and practicesof hundreds of thousands of Jews.' HaimOvadia,Sephardic HorizonsFROM REVIEWS OF THEHEBREW EDITION'Harel's book is destined to become the fundamental starting point forresearch into many aspects of the Jewish communities it discusses, and ofothers too. It makes an outstanding contribution in at least four areas: thehistory of the three communities that are discussed and those which they werein contact; the multi-faceted nature of the rabbinate as an institution; Jewishidentity and self-understanding; and the work of historian in the post-modernage . . . Harel's strength as a historian lies not only in how he uses hissources, but also in his ability both to ask stimulating new questions and toresolve them, thanks to the breadth of his knowledge, his intellectual honesty,and his empathy for the people about whom he is writing.' Nachem Ilan, Pe'amim