Moses Capsali

Moses ben Elijah Capsali (Hebrew: משה בן אליהו קפשאלי) (1495–1420) was Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of the Ottoman Empire.

Biography

Moses ben Elijah Capsali was born in Venetian-held

.

Capsali held various offices, which included the supervision of the taxes of the Jews, and the appointment of rabbis, and he even acted as a civil judge. It is said that the sultan's respect for the rabbi was because, disguised as a civilian, Mehmed II was present one day while Capsali was rendering his decisions; and he assured himself that the rabbi was incorruptible and impartial in his judgments.^[1]

When the sultan undertook to improve the moral conditions of some parts of Constantinople, it was said that this endeavor was prompted by the rabbi. It is certain that Capsali dealt very severely with Jewish youths who, intimate with the

, imitated them in leading un-Jewish and immoral lives. Some of these youths, enraged by the corporal punishment he had inflicted on them, attempted to kill him during a street riot in 1481, and he escaped only by flight.

Capsali's associations with Bayazid, the son and successor of Mehmed II, were equally pleasant; and Bayazid's friendliness toward the Jews, that became especially evident in the ready reception of the Spanish exiles fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, must be ascribed in no small measure to Capsali's influence.^[2]

Capsali died about 1495 in Istanbul; he was succeeded as Hakham Bashi by Elijah Mizrachi.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Capsali". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.