Turkish Chief Rabbi Asseo Dies

AP ^ | 7/15/2002 | ESRA AYGIN

[a_Turk]

ANKARA, Turkey -- David Asseo, the chief rabbi of Turkey, who led the small Jewish community in this Muslim-majority nation for 41 years and repeatedly called for interfaith tolerance, has died. He was 88.

Asseo died Sunday at about midnight, the Jewish Community, the organization that represents the country's Jews, said in a press release Monday.

Turkey, a nation of around 67 million, has a population of some 25,000 Jews, most of them descendants of Spanish Jews who fled to Turkey in the late 1400s.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer offered his condolences over Asseo's death, saying he was "deeply saddened."

Asseo "was a fine clergyman who always defended inter-religious understanding and served for the peoples' happiness," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said

In the foreword to a book on Turkish religious sites, Asseo in 1997 wrote: "Throughout the years that I have served as chief rabbi in the Turkish Republic, I can state without hesitation that all religions have been practiced in our country freely and unhindered."

Asseo was rabbi in 1986 when Istanbul's largest synagogue, Neve Shalom, was attacked by gunmen, believed to be Palestinians, who killed 22 worshippers during a sabbath service.

Asseo's funeral was scheduled to take place at that synagogue, whose name means "oasis of peace" in Hebrew.

Asseo's deputy, Isak Haleva, will serve as chief rabbi until a new rabbi is elected, the Jewish community said.

Born in Istanbul in 1914, Asseo studied at a Jewish school on the Greek island of Rhodes, graduating in 1933 with a diploma permitting him to teach Hebrew and Jewish subjects. Asseo later served as a member of the Jewish court, the Beth Din.

Asseo spoke Hebrew, French, Italian, Greek and Ladino, a language based on medieval Spanish that is spoken by Turkish Jews.

Asseo is survived by two daughters and two grandsons.

In Turkey, the chief rabbi is referred to as the Hahambasi, as combination of the Hebrew term for "wise man," and the Turkish for "leader." Jews were forbidden in Ottoman times from using the word "rabbi" since "rab" is an Arabic word used as a name for God.

[a_Turk]

Turkey's chief Rabbi David Asseo is seen in front of a portrait of Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, in Istanbul on this undated file photo. Asseo, 88, who led the Jewish community for 41 years has died, the Jewish Community announced on Monday July 15, 2002. Asseo died Sunday. There are some 25,000 Jews living in Turkey, with the vast majority in Istanbul. Turkey's flag is at left.

[a_Turk]

ping

[WaterDragon]

Religious tolerance, religious respect, commitment to one's own religion....Turkey has all this correct. A tremendous achievement. One some Western countries have rejected, to their diminishment.

[steamroller]

Turkey has a far better record with respect to the Jewish community than many European nations do.An interesting sidelight-the German Field Marshal Liman von Sanders who in effect led the Turkish Army during much of World War 1 was half-Jewish.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Bump.

[Alouette]

Thanks for the ping. IHI ZICHRO BARUCH. (May his memory be a blessing)

[contessa machiaveli]

there's something very melancholy about the death of rabbi asseo. he was symbolic of a country where all faiths lived in relative peace in a part of the world erupting in secular wars. we are in a death grip by religious islamic fundamentalism.