Yosef Maimon
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Rabbi Yosef ben Moshe Maimon Maravi (b. Tetouan or Meknes 1741, d. Bukhara December 7, 1822) is the spiritual leader credited with helping strengthen religious observance and introducing the Sephardic liturgy to the Bukharian Jewish community. The title Maaravi signifies his North African (Maghreb) ancestry.
Born in Morocco, Rabbi Maimon made aliyah to teach in a yeshiva in the city of Safed. Like most yeshivas at the time, Maimon's yeshiva relied on donations from the dispora communities. It was during his search for funds in 1793 that Rabbi Maimon arrived in Bukhara, and chose to stay, in order to strengthen Judaism within the local Jewish population. At the time, the region was under the control of Muslim fundamentalists, who pressured the local Jews to convert to Islam. The community's physical isolation from major centers of Jewish learning was a result of the Bukhara Emirate's policy of closed borders, intended to avoid involvement in the Great Game. For the local Jews, this meant less opportunities to connect with the larger Jewish community.[1]
According to Maimon, at the time of his arrival, Bukhara had only two copies of the Torah, with only three of the five holy books within them. At the time, most Bukharian Jews were illiterate in Hebrew, and the rabbi doubted the kashrut of their food. The community also adhered to the Persian liturgy of prayer, which was composed in the tenth century by the Saadiah Gaon. Maimon encouraged the community to adopt the Sephardic liturgy by writing letters to dispora communities, requesting books. He established yeshivas, and his children continued his work.[2] He also founded Hibbat Zion, a precursor to Zionism, and encouraged aliyah to Palestine.[3]
Early 19th travelers to Bukhara, including Jewish apostate and missionary Joseph Wolff, described in detail the impact of Yosef Maimon on the culture and religion of the Bukharian Jews.
One of the descendants of Maimon was Esther Gaonoff, the wife of Shlomo Moussaieff (rabbi). Moussaieff's and Gaonoff's grandson is Shlomo Moussaieff (businessman) and their great grandchild are author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, First Lady of Iceland Dorrit Moussaieff, and pianist James Raphael.
Sources
Moshavi, B.: "R'Yosef ben Moshe Mamon, sheliah Tzefat beBukhara." In Talpiot, Vol.9, No. 3-4, pp.873-886, 1970. (Hebrew)
Wolff, J. Researches and Missionary Labours among the Jews, Mohammedans, other Sects. London, 1835. (English)
