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Succession to the Rabbinate in Yemen
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 October 2009
Extract
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.
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References
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