The 13th of Cheshvan is the yahrzeit of Chacham Chaim Noach Effendi (1873-1960), the last Chacham Bashi of the Ottoman Empire and Chief Rabbi of Egypt. Born in Turkey, descended from Spanish exiles, he was sent by his parents in 1881 to learn in yeshiva in T’veria. In 1886 he returned to Turkey where he completed high school in a French school and then went to law school where he studied Islamic studies and diplomacy. He then was awarded a fellowship by the Alliance which allowed him to study in Paris. In Paris he attended yeshiva where he received semicha, completed a degree in Religious Studies and then received a degree from the Sorbonne in Eastern Studies.
Upon his return to Turkey, he taught at an Alliance school, helped to run the local yeshiva, and taught at the Turkish military academy where he befriended a number of those who were later known as the Young Turks. In 1909 he was named Chief Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire, at which time he was also given the noble title Effendi. With the collapse of the Empire after WWI he was a representative of the Turkish government at the Lausanne Conference and an unofficial ambassador to Washington for the Turkish democratic government.
In 1925 he was invited to become Chief Rabbi of Egypt. He published many works on history while he was there and was involved in international affairs such as helping out the Ethiopian community. Until the Nazi invasion of Rhodes, he was a significant supporter of the yeshiva there.
In 1947, Chacham Ben-Zion Meir Chai Uziel, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Palestine, was concerned about the religious decline of Egyptian Jewry. As there was an opening on the Cairo Bet Din, he sent Chacham Ovadiah Yosef to join the bet din and be the assistant to Chacham Chaim Nachum. It was, according to Chacham Ovadiah, an unmitigated disaster. His attempts at improving Jewish education were met with great resistance. Many of the shuls used microphones on Shabbos and Chacham Ovadiah was thwarted in his attempts to put an end to that activity. Chacham Chaim Nachum did not support him in his efforts to stop the microphone usage (in all fairness, for several decades microphone usage was common in Orthodox synagogues in many countries, including my hometown of Baltimore until the mid-70s). His efforts to improve the level of kashrus locally were resisted as well and ultimately led to Chacham Ovadiah’s resignation.
With the advent of the State of Israel in 1948, Chacham Chaim Nachum began to be persecuted by Egyptian authorities who suspected him of being a spy. In general, life for all Jews in Egypt deteriorated significantly from that point on. The Chief Rabbi wrote a number of articles condemning Zionism and the State. It is unclear if that was truly how he felt, or if he wrote them in an attempt to protect the Jews of Egypt. He became blind in 1950 but continued to carry out his duties as best he could until his passing.
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The 15th of Cheshvan is the yahrzeit of Rav Michoel Eliezer HaKohen Forschlager (1885-1958), whom Rav Aharon Kotler called the greatest gaon to ever live in America.
Born in Poland to a simple family, from his youth he showed great diligence in his Torah studies. His father, being a Sochatchover chossid, brought him to meet the Avnei Nezer, with whom he immediately began a very close and devoted relationship. When he was 14 the Avnei Nezer stopped teaching publicly, but the young Michoel Forschlager was able to spend the next dozen years at his side. The Avnei Nezer would not send out a response to a sheila without running it by Rav Forschlager first. Years later, living a half a world away in Baltimore, Rav Forschlager wrote to a grandson of the Avnei Nezer, that not a day passes that he doesn’t deeply miss the Avnei Nezer and, his successor, the Shem MiShmuel, as they were the ones who opened for him the path in Torah and avodah.
From 1910 until the First World War broke out, he remained at the side of the Shem MiShmuel. At that point he had to escape with his family to Warsaw. His father-in-law, who had been supporting them, went bankrupt and Rav Forschlager was forced to accept any work he could find to support his family. Despite his efforts, four of his children died of malnutrition.
After the war, at the age of 37, he moved with his family to Baltimore, where his parents and some siblings were already living. They promised to support his family. That only lasted until the great Depression hit.
Each year he would fill 1,000 pages with his Torah insights and then have them bound at the end of the year. His fame, both in Baltimore and beyond, began to spread with many American rabbonim sending him halachic questions. He began to seek out young boys in Baltimore who had an interest in learning. One of the most important was Yehudah Davis, who he convinced to go to RIETS and later to learn in Europe. Subsequently, Rav Davis was a rebbe in yeshiva of Brighton Beach (where he greatly influenced my father) and then was rosh yeshiva in Mountaindale, N.Y. Rav Davis also recruited his friends, among them Rav Mordechai Gifter and Rav Avidgor Miller, to join him first in New York and later in Europe.
In 1933 Rav Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, who was then teaching in his father-in-law’s yeshiva in Cleveland, came to Baltimore to fundraise. Rav Forschlager was very impressed with this young man and convinced him to take over as rabbi in a local shul and start a yeshiva. He himself was supported by saying shiurim in some local shuls. For many years he said a daily shiur in Chizuk Emuno. When the shul decided to join the Conservative movement he refused to teach there any longer. The shul which had deep appreciation for his many years of offered to pay him anyway, but he refused to take the money. Eventually, he was persuaded to allow some of the former attendees to support him.
He was offered numerous positions over the years. Rav Meir Shapiro wanted him to return to Europe as rosh yeshiva of Chachmei Lublin. JTS and Torah Vodaath approached him as well. He said no to all of them, although he later regretted rejecting Torah Vodaath.
After his passing his huge library was given to Yad Harav Herzog in exchange for a promise to publish his manuscripts which contained over 50,000 handwritten pages. They published one small volume and then the project was forgotten for 60 years. A few years ago, someone discovered the one volume of his teachings and wanted to know more about him. Ultimately, he published a biography of Rav Forschlager and restarted the project of publishing his works, of which three volumes on Chumash have been published. A great-nephew also published his biography in English.
