Zonana
ZONANA
ZONANA , wealthy and influential Jewish family in 18th-century *Istanbul. The family held the position of Ocak Bazergânı, the commercial and financial agent of the Janissary corps. It was involved in the administration of the Jewish community of Istanbul, and took part in the committees of deputies entrusted with the affairs of the Jewish communities of Ereẓ Israel. As prominent businessmen and financiers they supported a variety of religious and charitable causes, maintaining yeshivah studies in Istanbul and Ereẓ Israel and financing the printing of rabbinic treatises. The first member of the family to hold the position of Bazergân was david zonana, who in 1722 was already portrayed as a prominent figure of Jewish Istanbul (in Megilat Yuḥasin by Meyuhas Behor Shemuel of Jerusalem, a guest in David's spacious seashore residence). By the time of the war of 1736–39 David was well established in his position, with considerable influence over promotions and the corps' diverse financial affairs. Later incidents suggest an even greater sphere of influence. When Seyyid Hasan Paşa, agha of the Janissaries since 1738, was appointed grand vizier in 1743, David continued to serve as his personal agent, thus attaining one of the highest ranks possible for Jews in the Ottoman state. When his patron was replaced in August 1746 by a member of a rival faction who also held a personal grudge against him, David was arrested and summarily executed. David's eldest son jacob (d. 1764) succeeded to his position in the Janissary corps, and continued his activities in the Jewish sphere as a deputy for the Jewish community of Jerusalem. He used his influence in official Ottoman circles to protect, as well as control, the Jerusalem community, involving himself in its internal conflicts. Jacob secured the building (1754–5) of a hostel for Jewish pilgrims and travelers in *Jaffa, the main port of entry en route to Jerusalem, and used his business network to guarantee the transfer of funds designated for the Jerusalem community. samuel halevi, son of David's sister, founded a yeshivah in *Hebron and hosted rabbi H.Y.D. *Azulai, the emissary of the Hebron community, during his stay in Istanbul (1757–58). He may have been the unidentified "Levi" who held the position of Bazergân together with Jakob. After 1768 (and until the demise of the Janissary corps in 1826) the position of Ocak Bazergânı was held by several generations of the *Adjiman family, which appears to have been closely related to the Zonanas.
bibliography:
H. Uzunçarşili, Kapukulu Ocakları (1943), 1:407–8; A. Yaari, Sheluḥei Ereẓ Yisrael (1951), index; idem, Ha-Defus ha-Ivri be-Kushta (1967), index; J. Barnai, "Ha-Yishuv ha-Yehudi be-Ereẓ Yisrael bein ha-Shanim 1740 – 1777 u-Kesharav im ha-Tefuẓot" (Ph.D. diss., Jerusalem, 1975); R.W. Olson, in: jesho, 20:2 (1977), 185–207; idem, in: jss, 41:1 (1979), 75–88; J. Barnai, The Jews in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century (1992), index; E. Eldem, French Trade in Istanbul in the Eighteenth Century (1999), 48–56; Sh. Ecker, "The Paymaster of the Janissary Corps (Ocak Bâzergânı)" (M.A. diss., Tel Aviv, 2002); Y. Ben-Naeh, in: Etmol, 29:6 (2004), 28–29.
[Shuki (Yehoshua) Ecker (2nd ed.)]