Rabbi Ya’aqob Kholi (many pronounce his surname incorrectly: Culi or Koli, etc.) was born in Yerushalayim in 1689. His father was Ribbi Makhir Kholi, who belong to a family living for generations in Crete, today the largest island in Greece. Crete belonged for a long time to the Kingdom of Venice until 1645, when it was conquered by the Turks. In 1650 Rabbi Makhir Kholi emigrated to Israel and settled in Yerushalayim. He married the daughter of the famous rabbi Moshe ben Habib, who was the Rishon leTsion, that is, the chief rabbi of the Sepharadim in Erets Israel. Rabbi Moshe ben Habib was the grandson of the famous Rabbi Ya’aqob ben Habib, the author of the book ‘en ya’aqob (see
this ).
Rabbi Kholi studied for a few years with his grandfather, and received a great influence from him. In those days, the situation of the Jews in Israel was disastrous, politically and financially. Rabbi Ya’aqob moved to Constantinople, Turkey, to publish his grandfather’s manuscripts, but in the end he stayed there. In Constantinople he met the famous rabbi Yehuda Rosanes. Rabbi Kholi became one of his main students and soon after Rabbi Rosanes assigned him as Dayan (rabbinical judge) of Constantinople. Rabbi Rosanes died in 1727 leaving behind a vast literary work written by hand. Rabbi Kholi took upon himself to publishing the books of his teacher, and also those of his grandfather, knowing that this difficult task would require many years of dedication, and he will have to postpone the writing and publication of his own books. In 1728 he published Parashat Derakhim by Rabbi Rosanes, and in 1731 Rabbi Kholi published the most famous book of Rabbi Rosanes Mishne laMelekh, a commentary on Mishne Tora of Maimonides.
THE ME’AM LO’EZ
Then he dedicated himself fully to write and publish his revolutionary book: Me’am Lo’ez.
Me’am Lo’ez is a monumental anthology of Midrashim and Halakhot (Jewish Law), organized according to the weekly section. Apart from the rich Talmudic material, Rabbi Kholi introduces in his book many autobiographical notes and anecdotes, which makes the reader feel transported to the ancient Sephardic communities of the Balkans. By reading this book one can also feel that Jews were victims of permanent abuses and persecution, and the Me’am Lo’ez comforted them. Rabbi Kholi, for instance, taught that Jews should see the Shabbat as an “island of peace”, a 24-hours opportunity to disconnect from sadness and adversity and enjoy peace and family. To his readers, most of them living in difficult conditions, he advised to practice Hesed (kindness, charity) with those who were in a worse situation. Rabbi Kholi insists that the best antidote to face personal difficulties is not self-compassion, but to opening the heart and help those who are poorer, or assist widows and orphans and visiting the sick.
The special thing about this book is that unlike other books it was not written for Jews with advanced Tora knowledge, but for ordinary Jews. Even, or especially, for Jews who did not understand Hebrew.
THE BOOK THAT MADE LADINO FAMOUS
Me’am Lo’ez was written in Ladino, that is, old Spanish with some Hebrew words, written with Hebrew letters. I copy below the first line of the introduction to Me’am Lo’ez, which can be seen in the picture above, so that the reader can have a taste of the sweet style of this beautiful language.
דיקלארו דיל ארבע ועשרים אין לאדינו דאנדו אה אינטינדיר איל ריז’ו די לה וידה קי דיב’י ריז’ירסי לה פירסונה סיגון קומאנדו לה ליי סאנטה
Transliteration: “Declaro del arba ve’esrim en Ladino dando a entender el reg’o de la vida que debe reg’irse la persona segun comando la ley santa”
Translation: The Me’am loe’z is “the declaration [=exposition] of the twenty-four [books of the Hebrew Bible, what we today call Tanakh] in Ladino, to make understand the regiment of life by which a person must be led, as commanded by the Holy Law [the Tora].”
At that time, the eighteenth century, Ladino was the colloquial language of the Jews in Turkey, Greece and many communities in the Middle East. Me’am Lo’ez represented an educational revolution and became immensely popular in Sephardic communities since every man or woman, who knew how to read Hebrew letters, had now the opportunity to study Tora, something that until then was unthinkable.
EDITIONS OF THE MEAM LOEZ
Rabbi Kholi published the first edition of his book in 1730, in the city of Constantinople. But his work remained unfinished. Rabbi Kholi died in 1732, at the very young age of 43 years. He only managed to complete the book of Genesis and two thirds of the book of Shemot.
But his work was so popular and necessary that his students did not allow his passing to mean the end of his book. And just as Rabbi Kholi dedicated himself to publishing the books of his teachers, his students and followers continued to write and complete “the twenty-four books” that Me’am Lo’ez was intended to cover, in the same style as the original work.
Some examples.
Rabbi Ytshaq Magriso completed the book of Exodus (Shemot) and wrote the commentary on the books of Leviticus and Numbers.
Deuteronomy was written by Rabbi Ytshaq Bekhor Agruiti.
The book of Yehoshua was written by Rabbi Rahamim Menahem MiTerani.
The book of Esther by Rabbi Rafael Hiya Pontremoli.
Rabbi Shemuel Kravitzer (aka “Rabbi Shmuel Yerushalmi”, 1992-1997), completed many missing books of Me’am Loez and translated parts of it to Hebrew.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who died in NY in 1983, translated Me’am Lo’ez from Ladino to English.
