KAẒIN, RAPHAEL BEN ELIJAH

KAẒIN, RAPHAEL BEN ELIJAH (1818–1871), rabbi of Baghdad. Kaẓin was born in Aleppo. On the death of his father he left his birthplace, visiting Ereẓ Israel and Persia, and in 1846 went to Baghdad as a "self-appointed emissary." He was an outstanding scholar and accomplished speaker. At that time the av bet din in Baghdad was Elijah Obadiah b. Abraham ha-Levi, who had come from Ereẓ Israel. With the arrival of Kaẓ in a violent controversy arose which split the community. Most of the wealthy men sought to depose Obadiah and appoint Kaẓ in in his place, while most of the rabbis supported Obadiah. So deep-seated was the animosity that was engendered between the rival factions that for many years they did not even inter-marry. Finally the supporters of Obadiah triumphed and in 1847 Kaẓin left Baghdad. He went to Constantinople where he succeeded in obtaining a firman from the sultan appointing him ḥakham bashi ("chief rabbi") of Baghdad, an office that previously did not exist. He filled this office from 1849 to 1852, and according to *Benjamin ii he exercised his authority with firmness. Four soldiers were stationed as guards at the entrance of his house and when he went out he was preceded by five Jews in uniform carrying scepters in their hands, as was the custom for nobles at that time. In 1852 the "Obadiah faction" rose to power and Kaẓin was compelled to return to Aleppo. There is no information available on the activities of Kaẓin after his return to Aleppo. Three of his seven works have been published: Iggeret Maggid Meẓarim (1837), an appeal to the Jews of Europe to come to the aid of the Jews of Persia, and two polemics against Christianity, Derekh ha-Ḥayyim (1848) and Likkutei Amarim (second ed. 1855, with a Ladino translation). His other works, including a third polemic on Christianity, Derekh Emet, are in manuscript.

bibliography:

A. Ben-Jacob, Yehudei Bavel (1965), 156–61.

[Abraham Ben-Yaacob]