Jacob Alyashar () was an 18th-century

Talmudist The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and emissary ('' meshullaḥ''). He was a friend and travelling companion of

Chaim Yosef David Azulai Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (; 1724 – 1 March 1806), commonly known as the Hida (also spelled Chida, the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication o ...

who mentions him in his works.

Biography

Alyashar was born at

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

in 1730. He was educated in

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

at the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

s of Hebron and at a young age he was counted among the heads of the community. In 1773, the congregation at Hebron sent him abroad as their emissary. Afterwards he was sent by the congregation of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

as an emissary to Kurdistan. While he was in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

(Iraq), the Shah of Persia announced a war on the city and all the Jews were in great danger. However, in the end, the war was not carried out. He celebrated this deliverance in Hebrew verses called "''Megillat Paras''" (The Scroll of Persia). In Basra he received the report of the death of his wife and it was there that he married his second wife and where their son, Eliezer Jeruḥam, was born. After he returned from Basra, he settled in

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

where in 1783 he stood at the head of the community. He died in Safed about 1790.

''Megillat Paras''

"''Megillat Paras''" was published by his grandson (son of Eliezer Jeruḥam), Rabbi Jacob Saul Alyashar, in "''Ish Emunim''" (Jerusalem, 1885). It was read by the Jews of Basra and by his family members each year on the second day of

Nisan Nisan (or Nissan; from ) in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although it ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alyashar, Jacob 1730 births 18th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire Rabbis in Hebron Rabbis in Safed Shelichei derabonan (rabbis) Talmudists