Aversion to Conversion

By Ben Zion Wolff

In many respects, it is the glue which holds the community together. At times, it withstood firm opposition both from within and from outside the community. Yet in the end, it has endured for over 87 years, and it is accepted as part of the fabric of the Syrian Jewish community. The Takanah, or Edict as it is sometimes called, forbids accepting converts, and children born from a marriage to a convert will be prohibited from marrying into the community. Although it may seem harsh by some measure, those who know the history of why and how it was instituted defend it as the barrier that protected their families and enabled them to eliminate intermarriage since its inception.

Jewish life in Aleppo, or Aram Soba (Tzova) as the Jewish inhabitants of the city refer to it, goes back to time immemorial. For thousands of years, Jews have lived there, through both peaceful and precarious times. The community was filled with Torah scholars and was supervised by the Rabbanim of the Beit Din, who oversaw both the spiritual and physical welfare of the kehillah.

In the early part of the 20th century, life in Syria became more difficult for the Jewish population, and financial struggles caused numerous people to look elsewhere for to support their families. Many immigrated to both North and South America, and with these laymen came Rabbanim who grappled with establishing new communal organizations to strengthen the newly founded communities. During this process, they became aware of new challenges facing them and banded together to create a fence to hinder the onslaught of these negative influences.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hacham Shaul Sitteon (Sutton) Dabbah, zt”l, witnessed a sharp downturn in the observance of Shabbat and kashrut and a proliferation of intermarriage. Often men would marry a non-Jewish woman and later present her for geirut, despite the complete lack of acceptance of Torah and misvot, and in the absence of a bona fide beit din.

Hacham Shaul battled these breaches on all fronts. He arranged for the children to be excused from school on Shabbat and enrolled them in his Talmud Torah, he forbade attendance at celebrations where non-kosher food would be served, and he instituted a ban on the acceptance of converts in Argentina for eternity. “If a person wishes to join the Jewish nation with pure intentions, they may go to Yerushalayim and convince the beit din there of their convictions,” he wrote.

When the ban was enacted, Hacham Shaul contacted Harav Aharon Goldman, the leader of Kiryat Moshe, or Moisés Ville, a small town in Sante Fe, Argentina, which was founded in 1889. Rav Goldman gave his full approval for the ban and encouraged Hacham Shaul in his endeavors to uplift the level of Torah observance in his city. Over time, the ban received the backing of many Gedolim in Eretz Yisrael, including, zichronam levrachah, Harav Yaakov Meir, the Rishon Letzion; Harav Yaakov Shaul Dwek and other Rabbanim of Aleppo; the B’datz of Yerushalayim, including Harav Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, Harav Zelig Reuven Bengis, Harav Pinchos Epstein and Harav Dovid Jungreis; Harav Tzvi Pesach Frank, Rav of Yerushalayim; the Sephardic Beit Din; and other Rabbanim of Yerushalayim.

In 1922, Harav Yehudah Leib Tzirelson, the Rav of Kishinev, Ukraine (and later Bessarabia, Romania) and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudas Yisroel, published his sefer Atzei Halevanon, in which he answers a she’eilah of a community in Brazil. Members of the community had married non-Jewish women who bore them children, and they later wanted to convert their wives and have their sons circumcised. Rav Tzirelson sought to be lenient in the matter (see Siman 62, 63).

When Rav Tzirelson sought for his sefer to be distributed in Argentina, Hacham Shaul objected and explained that this would contradict the Edict he had instituted in the country. In a letter to Hacham Shaul, Rav Tzirelson acknowledges the need and indeed encourages the ban on converts, and requests that his sefarim not be distributed and instead be returned to him.

In North America, assimilation had long been a scourge, with many of the new immigrants forsaking their religion and taking non-Jewish spouses. In 1935, Hacham Yaakob Kassin, zt”l, the Chief Rabbi of Magen David Congregation in Brooklyn, gathered four other prominent Rabbanim of the Syrian Jewish community and proclaimed a ban on accepting converts in their community. Besides Hacham Yaakob Kassin, the original edict of 1935 was signed by Hacham Haim Tawil, Hacham Moshe Gingi, Hacham Moshe Dweck and Hacham Mordechai Maslaton, zichronam levrachah. (See biographies of the Rabbis on the following pages.)

The ban included prohibiting a Rav from performing a religious ceremony for such a couple (where one was a convert). Like the ban in Argentina, it specifically disallows the circumcision of children of such a union. It forbids them from using the premises of a congregation for any religious or social purpose, and proscribes them from burial in the cemetery, Rodef Sedek, belonging to the community. The ban specifically excludes them regardless of financial considerations.

In 1946, a clarification was issued concerning the language of the Edict. In 1984, the ban was renewed with all the Rabbanim of the Syrian community signing a new proclamation banning any acceptance of converts in the community. In 2006, it was reaffirmed a second time, with over 200 signatories, including Rabbanim and lay leaders of the community in New York and in Deal, N.J. The ban is accepted by the Jewish Syrian communities in Mexico, Panama, Argentina and Brazil. While there may be differences of opinion concerning other issues in the Syrian community, support for the Edict remains virtually universal. Many attribute the tight-knit feelings members of the kehillah have for the community to the ban on geirim.

The Edict has withstood several challenges over the years. At one point, during his reign as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Hacham Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, opposed the Edict and vouched for the legitimacy of a giyoret, imploring the Syrian community to accept her. Despite his pleas, they nevertheless refused, explaining that this would defang the power of this ban. Another time, Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, was brought in by some in the community to explain why he felt the Edict should be done away with. A relatively young Rav who was close with Rav Moshe explained the need for it and said that while he would accept the psak of Rav Moshe if he ruled that the ban should be removed, under those circumstances he could no longer serve as a Rav. This young Rav asked Rav Moshe if he would accept responsibility for the kehillah continuing without it. Rav Moshe understood that it was necessary to perpetuate the ban to preserve the purity of the community, and he withdrew his objection.

A plaque of the Edict and all the subsequent renewals and reaffirmations hangs in most Syrian shuls, and all Rabbanim of the community speak at least once a year about the importance of the Edict. In a speech delivered by Hacham Yosef Harari-Raful in Yeshiva Ateret Torah, he mentioned that there was a Rav in Mexico who opposed the Edict and went to Harav Elazar Menachem Shach, zt”l, to garner his support to have it abolished. To his dismay and surprise, Rav Shach told him, “Halevai (if only) we, the Ashkenazic world, would have such a ban in place! It would have prevented thousands upon thousands of intermarriages throughout the generations.” Obviously, the Rav backed down and discontinued his campaign to do away with it.

“As they say, the proof is in the pudding,” a Rav in the Syrian community said. “Although the early immigrants from Syria faced many of the same challenges that immigrants from Europe faced, including Shabbat, kashrut and chinuch, there is one area where the Syrian community has not suffered as much as the Ashkenazim, and that is with intermarriage. Many attribute this to the ban on geirim, which acts like a large stop sign for the vast majority of the community members. They know that under no circumstances will they or their children be accepted in the community, and that prevents many of them from straying in this area. Once intermarriage is prevented, it is easier for them to return, and many who slacken their observance have come back to become shomrei Torah u’misvot, or the next generation will take up it up.”

As a result, the Syrian Jewish community in America is growing and flourishing, producing robust families who have maintained the purity of their lineage as they raise their offspring as bnei Torah and sincere Jews.

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Hacham Shaul Dovid Sitteon (Sutton) Dabbah, zt”l – (5611/1851 – 5690/1930)

Hacham Shaul Dovid was born in Aleppo, Syria, to Hacham Dovid Sutton. At the tender age of 26, he was appointed to the beit din of the city. Four years later, he became the Rav of Ain Tab (Gaziantep, Turkey), a city 56 miles (90 kilometers) north of Aleppo, where he served for 10 years. Upon his return to Aleppo in 1891, he founded a yeshivah to train future Rabbanim.

His son moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1908, and five years later, Hacham Shaul Dovid went there for a visit. He accepted an offer to become Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic community and worked hard to strengthen mitzvah observance, concentrating on the shechitah, starting Congregation Yesod Daat or Asociación Israelita Sefaradí Argentina, with its associated Talmud Torah. He insisted that the lessons and translation be in Arabic and not in Hebrew, since he felt that this represented a modern system of learning. He fought strongly to prevent the youngsters from attending public school on Shabbat. He also founded Hesed Shel Emet Sefaradit de Aleppo, the local burial society.

When he saw how people were marrying gentiles and converting them without undergoing proper geirut, either by avoiding kabbalat mitzvot or using a “beit din” of unlearned laymen, he determined that a ban on conversions was desperately needed, and received backing from prominent Rabbanim in the matter.

In 1928, he published Diber Shaul in Yerushalayim, which contained his teshuvot in several areas in which he issued rulings. The sefer contains his correspondence concerning the ban he issued on accepting converts in Argentina, which was eventually instituted in Syrian communities in North America as well.

Hacham Shaul Dovid was niftar on 19 Sivan 5690/June 6, 1930.

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Hacham Moshe Gindi, zt”l – (5623 or 5628/1883 or 1888 – 5714/1954)

Chacham Moshe Gindi, zt”l, was born to Yaakob and Sara Gindi in Aram Soba (Aleppo) in 1988. In 1907, at the age of 19, he traveled to New York to earn some money so he could get married and raise a family in Aram Soba. In one year’s time, after working as a peddler in Chicago and New Orleans, he returned to Syria with $1,000, a considerable sum of money at the time.

He wanted to marry the daughter of a Rabbi, and since Chacham Yitzchak Dweck, zt”l, had just passed away, he approached his son, Chacham Avraham, and asked permission to marry his sister, Nizha. Chacham Avraham was unimpressed by his wealth and insisted he would only permit his sister to marry a talmid chacham. Although Moshe promised to spend the next 20 years learning Torah, Chacham Avraham refused to allow the marriage.

One night, Chacham Yitzchak appeared to his son and his daughter in a dream and insisted that they proceed with the marriage. Moshe Gindi was married to Nizha Dweck in 1910, and true to his word, Moshe arranged for Chacham Moshe Mizrahi to learn with him for six hours a day, six days a week, and Moshe remained awake until the wee hours of the morning learning by candlelight. After mastering niglah, Moshe began learning Kabbalah and soon became known as a master of nistar as well.

Although he kept a business selling spices and soap, he was almost never in his shop. His brother Selim cared for the business along with his own, knowing that true success was learning Torah.
As the government oppression of the Jews increased, Hacham Moshe decided to move to New York with nine of his 10 children. His daughter Sarina, who was married to Mordechai Faham (who eventually smuggled the Keter Aram Soba out of Aleppo), remained behind with her husband. Three more children were born in America.

The family arrived in September 1929, and Hacham Moshe eventually taught Kabbalah to several of the prominent Rabbanim, including Hacham Yaakob Kassin, Hacham Yaakob Maleh and Hacham Baruch Ben-Haim, zichronam livrachah. In 1935, he was among the five Rabbanim who signed the Edict banning geirim from the Syrian community.

Hacham Moshe Gindi was niftar in Heshvan 5715/October 1954.

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Hacham Yaakob Kassin, zt”l – (5660/1900 – 5754/1994)

Hacham Yaakob Kassin was born in Yerushalayim on 23 Nisan 5660/April 22, 1900, to Hacham Shaul and Altoona Kassin. In his youth, he learned under Hacham Raphael Shlomo Laniado, zt”l, and Hacham Ezra Attiah, zt”l, in Yeshiva Ohel Moed, the forerunner to Yeshiva Porat Yosef. He amassed a vast knowledge in Gemara and Poskim, including a remarkable familiarity in the sefarim of the later Aharonim.

In the period following World War I, the land was stricken by famine. Malnutrition plagued the population, which made them susceptible to an epidemic of typhus that engulfed the area. In 1917, Hacham Yaakob was orphaned of both his parents when they succumbed to the plague.

In 1919, he married Mazal Hedaya, the daughter of Hacham Shalom, zt”l. Shortly thereafter, in 1922, he began studying Kabbalah with Hacham Shaul Haim Dweck, Hacham Abraham Ades and Hacham Yosef Yedid, zichronam livrachah. In addition, he became close with Hacham Abraham Ades, zt”l, from whom he learned mussar and yirat Shamayim.

In 1925, with the approbation of the Chief Rabbi Hacham Yaakob Meir, zt”l, he published Mishmeret Hakiddushin, a compendium of his teshuvot on the subject of marriage and divorce, including a 26-section responsum concerning a complicated case. He also published Ohr Halebenah on Kabbalah, which received the haskamot of Harav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Hacham Haim Shaul Dweck and Hacham Aharon Shlom Maharil, zichronam livrachah. In 1926, he published Yesod Ha’emunah, reaffirming the principles of Kabbalah, which were being attacked in Cairo, Egypt, by the Darda’im community. The sefer clarifies the interrelationship between the revealed and hidden portions of the Torah, which helped turn the tide against the heretical Darda’im.

Yeshiva Porat Yosef opened in 1923, and in 1926 Hacham Yaakob was assigned one of the 22 apartments adjacent to the yeshivah that were set aside for the senior talmidim. He immersed himself in the study of Kabbalah in the Yeshiva Oz Vehadar annex of Porat Yosef and was appointed to deliver a shiur to the members of the group, despite that he was just 25 years old and some of his students were over 75 years old.

In 1927, suffering from stomach ailments had him travel to Germany for an operation. On the way, the boat docked in Paris, and the Chief Rabbi of Paris convinced him to undergo his surgery at the hands of Dr. Hertz in the Rothschild Hospital. The operation was a success, and when Hacham Yaakob returned to Eretz Yisrael, he founded Gan Halebanon, a yeshivah to study Kabbalah, as a means of thanking Hashem for his recovery. The yeshivah was a nonpartisan institution, representing and supported by all segments of the community. In 1931, he published Peri Etz Hagan, which includes biographies of the great Mekubalim, answers to question posed by the Ben Ish Chai, and the kavanot for the tefillot and tekiat shofar of Rosh Hashanah. In their haskamot, the great Rabbanim of Yerushalayim write their endorsement both for the sefer and Gan Halebanon.

In 1932, Hacham Yaakob was sent by the elders of Yerushalayim on a fundraising mission to the United States for Sephardic orphanages. Before returning, the community pleaded with him to remain and serve as their Chief Rabbi. Although he did not agree to stay, he did sign a contract that if were ever to leave Eretz Yisrael to accept a position in the Diaspora, the Syrian community would have first rights to hire him.

After his return to Yerushalayim, Hacham Yaakob received numerous offers to serve as Rav in various communities around the world, including Egypt, Mexico and Argentina. The Syrian community in New York sent multiple letters asking him to reconsider their offer. Eventually he responded that he would accept the New York position for one year, which eventually stretched to 62 years.

Hacham Yaakob Kassin assumed the position of Chief Rabbi of the Syrian community in New York in 1933. During his tenure, he organized and strengthened the community and led them as they grew in number and spirit. Every segment of the community was under his purview, and he guided it with wisdom and dedication. He coordinated the acceptance of the Edict banning the acceptance of geirim by the Syrian community in 1935, the clarification of 1946, and the reaffirmation of 1984.

Hacham Yaakob Kassin passed away at age 94 on 3 Tevet 5754/December 17, 1994. He was succeeded by his son, Hacham Shaul Kassin, and his son-in-law, Hacham Baruch Ben-Haim.

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Hacham Mordechai (Murad) Maslaton, zt”l – (5636/1876 – 5719/1959)

Hacham Mordechai (Murad) Maslaton was born in Damascus, Syria, in 5636/1876 to Yosef and Rivka. The Maslaton family included many Rabbanim who served as leaders in various Sephardic communities, including Hacham Eliyahu Tarrab-Maslaton; his son Hacham Ezra, who was a member of the beit din; and Hacham Ezra’s son Hacham Yehudah, who served as a Rav in Egypt.

Hacham Mordechai’s siblings were Hacham Yaakov Maslaton, the Chief Rabbi of Beirut and author of Beit Yaakov and She’eirit Yaakob (published by Hacham Mordechai in 5690-5692/1930-1932), Hacham Meir and Hacham Netanel Sh’hadeh, author of Sefer Dikduk. In his youth, Hacham Mordechai studied under Hacham Yosef Antebi, and he married Sarah, the daughter of Hacham Dovid Cohen, in 5657/1897. At age 25, he began teaching Hebrew and Arabic in the Alliance Israelite School in Damascus and continued for 25 years.

Jews from Syria started moving to the United States circa 5667/1907. The Syrian Jewish community in New York originally consisted of two groups: those from Aleppo or Aram Soba, known as Halabis, and those from Damascus, or the Shammis. Although they had separate shuls, the two groups lived side by side, socialized and intermarried.

In 5680/1920, a group of Damascene Jews who had settled in New York City persuaded Hacham Mordechai to come and serve as the Rabbi of their shul on the Lower East Side, Hebrat Ahi Ezer Congregation. By the 1920s, the Syrian Jews began moving to Bensonhurst. At first, they prayed in a private house on 64th Street and 21st Avenue; they later moved to Ahi Ezer Synagogue on 71st Street off Bay Parkway.

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Besides Hacham Mordechai’s dedication in leading his congregation, he spent an extraordinary amount of time teaching Torah, whether to the men who lingered after Shacharit or the boys who came to his Talmud Torah after they returned from the local public school. At times, he was so consumed with teaching that his family had to bring his meals to the shul. He taught everything from alef-bet to Humash with Rashi, and even Gemara and Zohar. He gave classes on Shabbat and Yom Tov and did not take breaks for July or August.

His oratory skills attracted many to his lectures, and they in turn would join the congregation as members. He served as the hazzan and baal kriah and also officiated at weddings, in honor of which he would compose songs. He was accepted as a leader of the Syrian community and was a signatory of the original takanah (Edict) in 1935 (reissued in 1946, 1972, 1984, and 2006) in which the community established a ban against accepting converts.

Hacham Mordechai was constantly fleeing from honor. In the winter of 1959, while he was vacationing in Florida, the Ahi Ezer community planned to honor him for his nearly 40 years of leadership at a surprise testimonial dinner when he returned. Yet Hacham Mordechai fled from that honor as well, as he was niftar in Florida on 21 Adar I 5719/March 1, 1959.

In 5758/1998, his sefer Doresh Tov was published by his son and successor, Hacham Sion Maslaton, zt”l. Today, Hacham Mordechai Maslaton has hundreds of descendants who are shomrei Torah, with a vast majority serving as klei kodesh in communities worldwide.

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Hacham Haim (Mei’Eili) Hakohen Tawil, zt”l – (circa 5620/1880 – 5702/1942)

Hacham Haim Hakohen was born to Hacham Ezra, the Av Beit Din of Aram Soba (Aleppo), circa 1880. His family traced their roots back to Eli Hakohen. At a young age, he was appointed to serve on the beit din of the city. In 1906, when he was still a young man, he made his signature on a document signed by the beit din concerning those who desecrated Shabbat.

Before the onset of World War I, he immigrated to New York and served as a prominent Rav for the Syrian community and as the Av Beit Din of Magen David Congregation.

In 1928, he published his father’s sefer Et Sofer and added a pamphlet written and approbated by the Gedolim of Eastern Europe titled Darkah Shel HaTorah concerning the proper way to educate the children. He felt that this pamphlet, which had the haskamot of the Rabbanim of Lithuania and the Chassidish world, had to be disseminated amongst the Sephardic communities as well. He also added 10 of his own drashot for different times throughout the year in pamphlet titled Masa Haim.

In 1935, he was one of the signatories of the edict banning accepting geirim in the Syrian community.
After moving to Yerushalayim in 1937, he served as Dayan on the Sephardic Beit Din and joined with Hacham Ezra Hamway and Hacham Ezra Shayo, zichronam livrachah, in approving the ban of accepting geirim instituted by Hacham Shaul Dovid Sitteon in Argentina.

He was niftar on 12 Teves 5702/January 1, 1942.

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Hacham Moshe HaKohen Dweck (Kassab), zt”l — (Circa 5620/1860—5706/1945)

Hacham Moshe Dweck, Hakohen zt”l, was born in Aram Soba-Halab (Aleppo), Syria, the only son of Hacham Dovid HaKohen Dweck. Hacham Moshe wrote that his father never slept through midnight and on Shabbos he would not speak; he communicated solely through hand motions even when he went to visit family members or had guests in his home. He maintained the same silence during the week when he was in shul. When Hacham Moshe finished his learning in yeshivah, he would find his way to the bet midrash where his father was so engrossed in learning that his concentration could not be interrupted.

Hacham Moshe was a talmid of Hacham Mordechai Abadi, zt”l, and of Hacham Yaakov (Shaul) Dweck, zt”l, the Chief Rabbi of Aleppo (5661/1901-5679/1919) and author of Derech Emunah and Shut She’eris Yaakov. Hacham Moshe married Hacham Yaakov Dweck’s daughter and served as the chief shochet of Aleppo. He also taught hundreds of talmidim and was known as an extraordinary speaker.

Aleppo was often visited by fundraisers collecting for the poor Torah scholars of the Yishuv in Eretz Yisrael. Whenever possible, Hacham Moshe attended their lectures and documented their words, often referring to them in his own writings.

Hacham Moshe’s son immigrated to the United States circa 5677/1917, but Hacham Moshe’s plan to join him was thwarted when his daughter Leah took ill in Syria. hacham Moshe’s wife, Rena, and their other daughters Zakiye (Daisy) and Gerez (Grace) immigrated circa 5678/1918, but Hacham Moshe stayed behind with Leah. She unfortunately passed away in Syria and Hacham Moshe finally rejoined his family circa 5680/1920.

Jews who emigrated from Syria in that time started out in Manhattan, where they had a presence from the early 1900s until the 1920s. Since they did not understand the Yiddish language or feel comfortable with Ashkenazic customs, they did not join the congregations of the Ashkenazic Jews. When the community grew and was ready for upward mobility, they began moving to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where they established their own religious institutions, including shuls, schools, and charitable organizations.

The Dwecks settled in Bensonhurst, and Hacham Moshe took up a position in the Magen David Congregation. He took no money for his services and remained poor, with his sole source of income coming from congregants using him as the Kohen for their pidyon haben ceremonies. Indeed, when he was niftar, the only possessions he left over in his will were the coins used for the pidyon.

In 5686/1926, he was confined to bed from illness with only a Tehillim at his bedside. During this illness, he composed a sefer on Tehillim that he called Knei Hamiddah, an acrostic of his name Hatzair Moshe Dovid HaKohen, which he published in Yerushalayim that year. He donated the proceeds from this sefer to the Chevras Hatalmidim, in which many of the students in Aleppo learned.

In 5689/1929, he published his second sefer titled Ben Dovid in memory of his father, which includes both divrei Torah and drashos that he heard from others and original thoughts that he composed. In his introduction, he mentions that he specifically wrote and printed the sefer in a manner in which it could be easily carried and learned on the train, enabling men to study words of Torah as they went to and from work. This was a testament to the sincerity of the Syrian immigrants of that period, who worked long hours to establish themselves yet wanted to learn Torah during their commutes.

In 5695/1935, the Rabbanim of the Syrian Community followed the lead of their brethren in Argentina in signing a proclamation to ban the acceptance of geirim in order to prevent assimilation. This came to be known as the Takanah (Edict) and it was signed by five leading Rabbanim on Magen David Congregation stationery. Hacham Moshe, who took a leading role, was one of the five signatories.

Hacham Moshe Dweck (Kassab) was niftar on 18 Kislev, 5706/November 22, 1945.

This article originally appeared in Hamodia’s Sefardic Heritage in America – Succos Supplement