Rabbi Jacob Saul Dwek, center, the Hakham Bashi of the Jewish community of Aleppo, Syria; 1908. x
The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of his policy of governing the Ottoman Empire’s subjects according to their own laws and authorities to a degree. As the official head of their community as far as Ottoman law was concerned, the Hakham Bashi held broad powers to legislate, judge, and enforce laws among the Jewish population in the Ottoman Empire and even sat on the Sultan's divan.
Due to the fact that the Ottoman state contained a huge Jewish population within its borders, the position of Hakham Bashi has been compared to that of the Jewish Exilarch and the position commanded great respect across the Jewish world. Although the Hakham Bashi did not exist after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Chief Rabbi of today’s Republic of Turkey is still known as Hahambaşi.
