Albert Cohn and Ludwig Frankl

Albert Cohn and Ludwig Frankl.

(see image) Bird's-Eye View of Jerusalem.(From a photograph by Bonfils.)

Moses Nabon had been followed in 1841 as chief rabbi by Judah Bekor Raphael Nabon, and he in 1842 by Abraham Hayyim Gagin. He seems to have been the first who was called "Hakam Bashi." When he walked out a man holding a staff in his hand preceded him; and ten soldiers were allotted to him to keep order and to protect him. There were at this time several assemblies: the general assembly () of eighty learned and lay members, under the presidency of the vice-Hakam bashi; the spiritual assembly () of seven learned men, elected by the general assembly; and the "material" assembly () of eight members, also elected by the general assembly (see the firman, rules, and a list of the Hakam bashis in "Jerusalem," v. 188 et seq.). In 1854 Albert Cohn was in Jerusalem as almoner for the Rothschilds and other rich Jews of Europe. He gave his attention especially to the efforts of the missionaries and to the Halukkah system. He founded a hospital, a society of manual workers, a girls' school, and a loan society. In 1856 Montefiore, who visited Jerusalem in 1827, 1839, 1840, 1855, 1866, and 1875, made it possible for 500 Jews to take up agriculture; he also laid the foundation for a hospital, and founded a girls' school, against which, however, a Herem was issued. The Sephardic congregation was now decreasing in numbers, and so poor that in 1854 it had to sell its bet ha-midrash; while in 1857 the Ashkenazim received permission to build a new synagogue (finished in 1864), which was called "Bet Ya'akob." Some statistics of the year 1856 are due to the visit of Ludwig August Frankl, who went from Vienna to Jerusalem to found the Frau Elise von Herz-Lämel School. A section of the community was violently opposed to this foundation, fearing that a modern school would be inimical to Orthodox observance. Placards were put on the houses, lamentations recited, and prayers offered up at the Wailing-Wall. Frankl, however, was successful, being assisted by the Austrian consul, Pizzamano, and by Kiamil, the pasha of Jerusalem. Of the 18,000 inhabitants of the city 5,137 were Jews; and of the latter 1,700 were under Austrian protection. Frankl gives the following details: Sephardim, 3,500; Ashkenazim Perushim, 770; Hasidim, 430; Austrians, 145; Warsawers, 145; Habad, 90; Germans, 57; total, 5,137 (see "Monatsschrift," 1856, p. 330; in his "Nach Jerusalem," ii. 11, Leipsic, 1858, he gives the number of Jews as 5,700). The Sephardim were so well organized that at their head was a Hakam bashi. For worldly affairs, the "Hakamim" chose three "pekidim," under whom there were three other chiefs. Three "mashgiHim" (observers) examined the accounts of the leaders. The community had 36 yeshibot. The Perushim had no head in Jerusalem, the seat of authority being in Wilna. The Hasidim, mostly from Volhynia, had at their head Nissim Bak, who with the aid of Moses Montefiore (l.c. p. 22) was the first to establish a printing-press in the city. The Habad were Hasidim who got their name from the initial letters of the words "Hokmah," "Binah," and "De'ah." The Warsawers were made up of Perushim and Hasidim. They had separated from the other Ashkenazim about the year 1850. The Germans, or as they called themselves "Anshe Hod" (i.e., men of H[olland and] D[eutschland]), had separated a year later. Zion, the large synagogue of the Sephardim, was really made up of four synagogues, which together occupied considerable space. According to tradition it had been built 460 years before Frankl's time. Thesynagogue of the Ashkenazim (Hurbat R. Yehudah he-Hasid) was rebuilt about 1856, a man named Ezekiel of Bagdad contributing 100,000 piasters for the purpose ("Nach Jerusalem," p. 53). Frankl estimates the money sent every year in charitable gifts to Jerusalem at 800,000 piasters.

Jerusalem