Rabbi Shimon Hakham ( he, שמעון חכם; 1843, Bukhara- 1910,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

) was a Bukharan rabbi residing in Jerusalem who promoted literacy by translating Hebrew religious books into Bukhori. Rabbi Hakham was born into a religious family and was the great-grandson of Rabbi

Yosef Maimon Rabbi Yosef ben Moshe Mammon (Maimon) Maravi (1741 – 7 December 1822) is the spiritual leader credited with helping strengthen religious observance and introducing the Sephardic liturgy to the Bukharian Jewish community. The title Maaravi ...

, who led a religious revival among Bukharan Jews. Taking a great interest in literature, Hakham spoke his native Bukhori,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and Arabic. In 1870, he opened the "Talmid Hakham' yeshiva in Bukhara, where religious law was promoted. At that time Bukharan Jews were getting only a general education, which mostly consisted of religious laws, reading, writing and some math. Even though studying religion took most of the time, many Bukhairan Jews did not speak fluent Hebrew. Only a few books were written in

and many of them were old and incomplete. Hakham decided to change this situation by translating religious books into Bukharan language. But since there was no printing in Bukhara at that time, he went to

to print his books. In 1892 Shimon Hakham was one of the organizers of Jerusalem’s

Bukharan Quarter The Bukharan Quarter ( he, שכונת הבוכרים, ''Shkhunat HaBukharim''), also HaBukharim Quarter or Bukharim Quarter, is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, Israel. The neighborhood was established by Bukharan Jews of the Old Yishu ...

(Hebrew: Sh'hunat HaBucharim), where Bukharan synagogues, schools and printing were opened. A street in Jerusalem is named after the rabbi. After coming back to Bukhara, where he distributed his books, Shimon again went to Jerusalem and spent there his remaining years. The period from 1900 until Shimon’s death in 1910 was one of the best in Bukharan literature. Hakham rewrote the whole Tanakh in the Bukharan language. He also wrote and translated the following books: ''Likudei dinim'' (1900), ''Dreams and their meaning'' (1901), ''Yosef and Zuleiha'' (1902), ''The Passover Haggadah'' (1904), and ''Meghilat Ester'' (1905). Among his secular translations was the novel ''Ahavat Zion'' (Kissaii Amnun va Tomor) by Avraham Mapu. During his life Shimon Hakham wrote and translated into Bukharan more than 50 books. Many of his books and translations are still popular among Bukharan Jews. He died in 1910 and is buried on the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

in Jerusalem. In 1986, the Hebrew Union College published an English study and translation of ''Hakham's Musa-Nama'', edited by Herbert. H. Paper. This work is Bukhori for "Book of Moses." In 1991, he was honored with a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

issued by the state of Israel.

References

1843 births People from Bukhara Bukharan Jews Mizrahi Jews 1910 deaths Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire {{Authority control