Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe Toledano (; 18 August 1880 – 15 October 1960) was an Israeli rabbi who served as Minister of Religions for two brief periods between 1958 and 1960. He also served as

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Toledano was born on 18 August 1880 in

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, then in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He was the son of Rabbi Yehuda Toledano who had

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from

Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...

in 1862 and grew up to become known as a public figure in Tiberias. He was a member of the city council and the head of the Mizrachi party in the city. For four years, Toledano lived among the Jewish minority in the Galilee, where he was among the founders of a Hebrew school in

Peki'in Peki'in (alternatively Peqi'in) () or Buqei'a (), is a Druze–Arab town with local council status in Israel's Northern District. It is located eight kilometres east of Ma'alot-Tarshiha in the Upper Galilee. In it had a population of . The ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Toledano received French citizenship after being expelled by the Ottoman authorities and lived in

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

with 800 other members of the Galilee's Jewish community. He served as rabbi for the local Jewish community on the island, and dedicated himself to improving Jewish life there. In 1920 the French government allowed the community to return to the Galilee. After returning to Tiberias, Toledano purchased land from the local Arabs around the

Tomb of Maimonides According to Jewish tradition, the Tomb of Maimonides ( ) is located in Tiberias, Israel. Although Maimonides, a Sephardic Jew, died in Fustat, Egypt, on 12 December 1204, it is believed that he was only briefly buried in Fustat before being re ...

and the

Tomb A tomb ( ''tumbos'') or sepulchre () is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called '' immurement'', alth ...

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Joseph (Mishnaic Hebrew: ; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leadin ...

, building a wall around the Tomb of Maimonides and financing the establishments of several new neighborhoods. Between 1926 and 1928 Toledano was a member of the Chief Rabbinate in

Tangier Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

, and was a member of the Beit Din for the Jewish community of the city. By 1941 he had been appointed as the head of the Beit Din and the deputy Chief Rabbi of

, the head of the Beit Din in

and the member of the Beit Din of Egypt, roles in which he served in until his election as the

Sephardi 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 ...

Chief Rabbi of

in 1942. He held this position until 1958, and along with the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

Chief Rabbi,

Isser Yehuda Unterman Isser Yehuda Unterman (; 19 April 1886 – 26 January 1976) was the third chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, and later the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel from 1964 until 1972. He was a leader of the Mizrachi movement and was awarded ...

, helped found the Special Court of

Agunot An aguna or agunah (, plural: , ''ʿaḡunoṯ'') is a Jewish woman who is stuck in her marriage as determined by traditional halakha (Jewish law). The classic case is a man who has left on a journey and has not returned or has gone into battle ...

. He left this job to become Minister of Religious Affairs in the eighth government on 3 December 1958, despite not being a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

. He held the post until 30 November the following year.Yaakov Moshe Toledano
Knesset When

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

formed the ninth government on 17 December 1959, Toledano returned to his ministerial role, serving until his death from cardiac arrest in October 1960. In July 1960, only months before he died, he married Mary Sebag, a 20-year-old from

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Tirosh Tirosh () is a moshav in central Israel. Located between Beit Shemesh and Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was established in 1955 by Jewish immigr ...

. This led to criticism from much of the Israeli media, from which Toledano defended himself by saying that the marriage was legitimate because he had complied with the

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

that stated a man must wait for two holidays after the death of the first wife. Toledano also stated "I'm a man of eastern tradition, and did not base my marriage on European Jewish tastes, but according to Jewish law." Toledano has a street named after him in the

Bavli Bavli (), or Shikun Bavli, is a neighborhood in central Tel Aviv, Israel, named after the Babylonian Talmud, and bounded by Yarkon Park on the north, Ayalon highway to the east, Namir road to the west, and Park Tzameret to the south. History ...

neighborhood of Tel Aviv, along with the Prize for Jewish literature established by the Tel Aviv Religious Council.

Famous works and teachings

Toledano collected and studied many ancient manuscripts of the Jews of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. One of the most famous manuscripts that he discovered was the commentary of the

Rambam Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ag ...

on the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

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 ...

, as it had been originally written, which Toledano discovered along with his brother Baruch Toledano in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. When he was living in Israel, Toledano collaborated with archaeologist

Nahum Slouschz Nahum Slouschz (; November 1872 – December 1966) was a Russian-born Israeli writer, translator and archaeologist. He was known for his studies of the "secret" Jews of Portugal and the history of the Jewish communities in North Africa, mostly ...

to help discover the hot springs in Tiberias built by the Romans. In 1950, Toledano was sent by the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

where he discovered several more ancient manuscripts. Toledano was sympathetic to

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and wrote several commentaries pertaining to his opinion of the Three Oaths, in which he stated that Zionism does not contradict the Three Oaths. He supported the concept of

Hebrew labor "Hebrew labor" (, ''Avoda Ivrit'') and "" (''Kibush haAvoda'') are two related terms and concepts. One of them refers to the ideal adopted by some Jews in Ottoman and Mandate Palestine during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and later embr ...

and stated that it was preferable for Jews to hire other Jews, including secular Jews in his ideas. Toledano also wrote a ruling in which it was forbidden for Jews to sell weapons to non-Jews in the state of Israel. He supported the creation of a high court in

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 under appropriate conditions supported the revival of the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...

. Rabbi Toledano wrote several religious commentaries, winning the Rav Kook Prize in 1957 in the Special Award Category for his work.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toledano, Ya'akov 1880 births 1960 deaths Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel Sephardi rabbis from Ottoman Palestine Chief rabbis of Tel Aviv Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli Sephardi Jews People from Tiberias Mizrachi (political party) politicians Ministers of religious affairs of Israel Chief rabbis of Cairo Burials at Har HaMenuchot Naturalized citizens of France 20th-century Egyptian rabbis