Solal
SOLAL
SOLAL (Kohen-Solal, Shulal, Sholal ), family of North African origin which settled in Majorca toward the close of the 13th century and returned to *Algeria as a result of the Spanish persecutions of 1391. maimon solal (Xullel), the son-in-law of the famous physician Leon Masconi, was one of the most influential members of the community of Majorca. Due to his intervention the ancient privileges of the Jews on the island were confirmed in 1385. david kohen-solal, a correspondent and colleague of Isaac b. Sheshet Perfet (Ribash), assumed the leadership of the community of Mostaganem as soon as he arrived in Algeria. His son, abraham (i) Kohen-Solal, a disciple of Simeon b. Ẓemaḥ Duran, was regarded as an important rabbinical authority and a scholar of logic and other religious and secular sciences. He had settled in *Honein, where his son Ḥayyim kohen-solal and his descendant nathan (i; d.c. 1460) became wealthy merchants. saadiah solal was a rabbi in Tlemcen in the first half of the 15th century. nathan (ii) (also called also Yehonatan) ben Saadiah was born in 1437 and immigrated to Jerusalem before 1471. He left Jerusalem because he suffered from the Mustaʿarab leaders of the Jerusalem community and settled in Egypt in 1481. In Egypt he served as spiritual leader and between 1484 and 1502 was the Jewish *nagid of the *Mamluk Sultanate. He established himself in *Cairo, where he headed the Jewish community and renewed its importance. He died in 1602. He had a special court of law for which the dayyanim were appointed by him. Spanish scholars had a high opinion of him. He sometimes returned to Jerusalem but still did not get along with the local Musta'arab leaders. He had seven children: Saadiah, Ephraim, Abraham, Dolca, Masoda, Simah, and Isaac. His son Abraham died in 1482. His nephew Isaac ben Abraham ha-Kohen *Sholal (Solal) was the last nagid of Egyptian Jewry, from 1502 until 1517. He was a rich grain merchant and held an important position in the mint of the Mamluk sultan. He was also a scholar. Between 1502 and 1508 or between 1509 and 1513 he resigned from his position, but returned after a time. He was a great philanthropist and founded three yeshivas, one in *Egypt and two in Ereẓ Israel. He had a court of law in Cairo and had an important library with many manuscripts. After the Ottoman conquest of Egypt he lost his rank and settled In Jerusalem, and was active there in *Kabbalah in order to bring about the ge'ulah (redemption). He issued new regulations in Jerusalem to develop the community, one of which was the exemption of scholars from taxes. He died on Rosh Ḥodesh Kislev 5285 (1524) in *Jerusalem. His wife, Kamar, was the daughter of R. Abraham ben Ḥayyim (d. 1545). When Isaac died his only son, Abraham, was a little boy. He lived many years in Jerusalem, but because of the difficult economic situation he immigrated to Egypt after 1560. The documents of the Muslim court of law in Jerusalem mention several persons of the Sulal family in the 16th century, including Musa Sulal and Salmon ben Musa Sulal. There are many important *Genizah and other sources for the Sulal family.
The members of the family who had remained in Algeria continued to rank among its Jewish leaders. moses ben isaac kohen-solal (d. 1788) was one of the principal merchants of Algiers and an esteemed philanthropist. He established an important commercial branch of his business in *Mogador, *Morocco, where his sons had settled. From 1808 Marseilles became the center of the family's activities. In 1835, after having taken into account his economic and political influence, the sultan requested that the French government accept nissim kohen-solal as Moroccan consul.
bibliography:
I. Bloch, Inscriptions tumulaires… (1888), 72–74; M. Kayserling, in: rej, 42 (1901), 278–9; I. Epstein, Responsa of Rabbi Simon b. Zemah Duran (1930), 100–1; A. Hershman, Rabbi Isaac Ben Sheshet Perfet and his Times (1943), 170; Miège, Maroc, 2 (1964), 61, 89, 95, 141. add. bibliography: S. Assaf, in: Zion, 2 (1937), 121–24; 6 (1941), 113–18; A. Rivlin, Ha-Nagid Rav Yehonatan Sulal Birushalayim (1927); A. David, in: A. Mirsky, A., Grossman, and Y. Kaplan (eds), Galut Aḥar Golah (1988), 374–414.
[David Corcos /
Leah Bornstein-Makovetsky (2nd ed.)]