Pair of Letters about Service in the Ottoman Army from Rabbi Yisrael Porat. Constantinople, 1914.

Pair of Letters about Service in the Ottoman Army from Rabbi Yisrael Porat. Constantinople, 1914.

This letter reveals that Rabbi Yisrael Porat set out on a special trip to Constantinople on behalf of the Ashkenazic community, to appeal at the highest levels for the exemption of yeshivah students from army service. These two letters contain immense material, written with inferences so that the Turkish censor will turn a blind eye.

Very significant for scholars of the Yishuv towards the end of the Ottoman period.

Two letters full of content with one passage in Arabic.

Military service in the empire from its inception had been a right conferred only on Muslims. Minorities were not recruited even if they wanted to enlist, due to their inferior legal status as required by Islamic tradition denying the status of believers in false religions. At the same time, Islam took care to protect the minorities in exchange for paying a sponsorship tax, the 'Jazia.' Following the weakening of the Ottoman army during the 18th and 19th centuries, there were those within ruling circles who came up with ideas to abolish the ban. After several attempts at breaching the ban - vs. those in more conservative circles, a revolution took place in 1856, when the Jazia tax and the ban on non-Muslims carrying weapons were abolished. This opened the way for their enlistment in the army. They simultaneously created a mechanism of exemption from military service in exchange for a monetary ransom, called 'Bedeli Eskeri, ' which became the substitute for Jazia.

Acquiring Turkish citizenship meant conscription into the army, ever since the Military Service Act was extended to all non-Muslim citizens of the empire.

With the outbreak of the Balkan War at the beginning of 1912 came the first signs of a call to enlist in the army [for more on the conscription of Jews into the war in the Ottoman Empire, refer to Eyal Ginio's article: "Yehudim Ottomanim! Chushu L'Hatzil et Moladetenu! - Yehudim Ottomanim B'Milchamot HaBalkan, " Pe'amim, 105-106 (2006), pp. 5-28.]

From the archives of the Va'adah HaSepharadit, we learn of tremendous advocacy to obtain an exemption for yeshivah students. A voice from the Temple of G-d calls for help! Brothers, have mercy on us ... In the month of Kislev, two Ashkenazi students, Rabbi Ben Tziyon Isaac Segal and Mordechai Ben Menachem Charlene, turned to Rabbi Chaim Nachum, the Chacham Bashi in Constantinople, to try to obtain an exemption for them. Rabbi Nachum turned to Rabbi Moshe Franco in order to find out about them, whether they indeed studied full-time. In his response from 16 Sivan 1912, Rabbi Franco attested that indeed they are great Torah scholars. In Sivan 1912, Rabbi Franco turned to the "gaon, the famous Rabbi Ya'akov Dov Lentzer, rabbi of Melbourne, " to run an advocacy campaign against the recruitment decree. On 6 Tammuz, he appeals to Rabbi Chaim Nachum to save the avreichim of the city.

The decree continued into 1913. In his letter dated 11 Cheshvan 1913, Rabbi Moshe Franco thanked Rabbi Chaim Nachum Effendi, the chief rabbi of Constantinople, for his advocacy to repeal the draft law for Jews aged 28 to 45. On 15 Cheshvan, he thanked Rabbi Ya'akov, son of Rabbi Yosef Chaim HaBavli, and the 'Chacham Bashi' of Baghdad, none other than Rabbi Avraham Hillel, for their help in releasing one of the recruits. On the 16th of Kislev they received a telegram from Rabbi Chaim Nachum regarding the cancellation of the draft decree. On 18 Kislev 1903, the 'Chacham-Bashi' sent letters of appreciation to the many advocates who worked on behalf of the Yishuv: "And now that the war is over, there is peace between Turkey and Italy."

[1] leaf, two different letters on each side of the leaf, 27 cm. With a slip of paper in Arabic.

Very fine condition. Fold marks.