Aharon Chelouche ( /

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: هارون ثلاثة) (19 May 1840 – 7 April 1920) was an Algerian

Sephardic Jew Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

, landowner,

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmithing, goldsmithing, stone setting, engraving, ...

and moneychanger. During the end of the 19th century, he was a major figure in

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

's Jewish community. He was also known as the founder of

Neve Tzedek Neve Tzedek (, ''lit.'' Abode of Justice) is a Jewish neighborhood in southwestern Tel Aviv, Israel. It was the first Judaism, Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the old city of the ancient port of Jaffa. It was founded by a group of 48 J ...

neighborhood, now part of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, Israel.

Early life

Sometime in 1840 his parents travelled by ferry to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. Soon afterwards the family moved to

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

, then to

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 ...

, and thereafter finally to Jaffa. They became soon one of the leading families in the city, having exceptional good leadership skills. The Chelouche family had good connections with Arab families, as they spoke Arabic. One of the known family friends was a Turkish governor. Aharon had two sons, Avraham Haim and Yosef Eliyahu.

Adult life and career

Young Aharon started with gold and silver trade, became a money changer and started to buy land. He bought land north-east of Jaffa, where he built a house and then facilitated the creation of the neighbourhood of Neve Tzedek. Chelouche's house was one of the largest residential buildings in the late 19th century. The family started to grow and Aharon built a second floor for the house. At the east part of the house is a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. Today the house is an important landmark in Neve Tzedek, but it is in a poor state of preservation and is again under construction. The Chelouche family has also been involved in the iron and tile industry. Aharon was interested in religious education, and hired a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

to teach Torah in Jaffa. His younger son, Yosef Eliyahu, became one of the founders of Tel Aviv. Aharon Chelouche died 1920, an event marking the end of an era in the Chelouche family.

Photo gallery

File:RoyLindmanAharonChelouche 001.jpg, Neve Tzedek today File:RoyLindmanAharonChelouche 002.jpg, Synagogue door File:Memorial_plaque_on_Aharon_Chelouche's_house.jpg, Chelouche House plaque {{DEFAULTSORT:Chelouche, Aharon 1840 births 1920 deaths Algerian Jews People of French Algeria People from Oran Sephardi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Aharon Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery

Early life

Adult life and career

See also

Photo gallery