In 1627, a slim pamphlet was published in Venice. Written in flowery Hebrew, it told a story of cruelty and bravery, danger and determination. It was the story of how the Jewish community of Jerusalem was taken hostage by a cruel tyrant who imprisoned and persecuted them in an effort to enrich himself and increase his power. Apparently written to raise awareness of the people’s plight, it tells of how a mysterious dream led to his miraculous downfall.
Read on for the dramatic story of the rise and fall of Ibn Farouk.
Our story is set in early 17th-century Jerusalem, which was home to a vibrant and growing Jewish community numbering several hundred people. As told in the pamphlet:1
The City of G‑d contained more of our people than at any time since the Jews were banished from their country. Many Jews came daily to live in the City, apart from those coming to pray at the Western Wall … Moreover, they brought with them bountiful gifts of money to strengthen the Jews of Jerusalem. It was reported in all countries that we were dwelling in peace and security. Many of us bought houses and fields and rebuilt the ruins, and aged men and women sat in the streets of Jerusalem, and the thoroughfares of the City were thronged with boys and girls … The teaching of the Holy Law (the Torah) prospered, and many houses of study stood open to all who sought to engage in the labor of Heaven. The leaders of the community provided the students with their daily needs. All the poor were relieved of their wants …
Among the leaders of Jerusalem’s Jewish community at the time was Rabbi Isaiah Halevi Horowitz, known as the Sheloh, an acronym of the title of his most famous work, Shnei Luchot Habrit. The Sheloh arrived in Jerusalem in 1621, following an illustrious career as the chief rabbi of Prague. After the death of his wife, the Sheloh fulfilled his life-long dream of settling in Jerusalem, where he was warmly welcomed and appointed the Ashkenazic chief rabbi. It was in Jerusalem that the Sheloh completed his magnum opus.
A Tyrant Seizes Power
At the time, the Land of Israel was part of the vast Ottoman Empire, ruled by Sultan Murad from his seat in Constantinople. The sultan, however, rarely got involved in the affairs of the provinces, and local governors enjoyed almost complete authority, as long as they maintained basic order and collected enough taxes to fill the empire’s treasury.
Jerusalem was governed by a mayor appointed by the governor of Damascus. A qadi, a Muslim judge, maintained judicial power. The sultan’s small garrison was stationed in the citadel, though its presence was largely symbolic. They rarely participated in law enforcement.
This system was reasonably fair until a corrupt and evil man, one-eyed Muhammad Ibn Faroukh, bribed the governor in Damascus and appointed himself ruler of Jerusalem.
Ibn Faroukh arrived in Jerusalem with 300 mercenaries. He deposed the rightful mayor and imposed a reign of terror on Jerusalem’s residents, seeking to enrich himself at their expense. He extorted money from Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike.
Jerusalem’s qadi objected to the injustice. He tried to speak to Ibn Faroukh to no avail. Finally, the qadi publicly condemned Ibn Faroukh’s actions. In response, the tyrant drew his sword and would have murdered the qadi had his attendant not acted quickly and saved his life.
His anger somewhat abated, Ibn Faroukh fired the qadi and replaced him with a corrupt judge who was happy to accept his bribes and overlook his wrongdoings.
With his tyranny firmly established, Ibn Faroukh took his extortion to a new level. He appointed his brother-in-law, Ibrahim Agha, as his deputy and instructed him to obtain money. Ibrahim entered Jerusalem’s marketplace with Ibn Faroukh’s soldiers and detained several of the wealthier Muslim merchants. They were released only after a large ransom was paid.
In desperation, the local Muslims attempted to flee Jerusalem, but Ibrahim locked the city gates and posted guards to ensure no one left Jerusalem without his permission. By cutting off Jerusalem’s residents from the rest of the world, Ibn Faroukh and Ibrahim made sure that no word of the corruption and tyranny would reach the sultan or the provincial governor in Damascus, allowing them to oppress the local residents without any fear of retribution.
Ibn Faroukh and the Jews
Ibn Faroukh and his cronies targeted the Jewish community in particular. An anonymous Jewish resident of Jerusalem recorded the events of the time in the pamphlet mentioned above. He wrote that in addition to demanding large amounts of money, Ibn Faroukh forced the Jews to dig ditches around the city walls, to prepare for a potential attack in case his evil deeds were discovered.
The reign of terror continued for two years. Ibrahim continued to demand astronomical amounts of money, which the Jewish community was not capable of paying. The community’s leaders were imprisoned and tortured. A few Jews managed to escape the city, but most were forced to go into hiding. They lived in cramped quarters and subsisted on a bare minimum of water and vegetables. Jewish institutions – synagogues, schools, soup kitchens – were forced to close. Even the Western Wall became off limits to Jewish worshippers.
In the summer of 1625, Ibn Faroukh and Ibrahim set off on a pilgrimage to Mecca, leaving Ibrahim’s brother, Uthman Agha, in charge of Jerusalem.
Though Uthman demanded money from the Jewish community, the amount was much more reasonable than what was demanded by Ibn Faroukh and Ibrahim. In addition, Uthman did not issue any threats. Jerusalem’s Jews allowed themselves to hope that in Ibn Faroukh’s absence they would be safe.
Slowly, they began to come out of hiding and attend the synagogues and other communal institutions once more. Unfortunately, they fell into Uthman’s trap.
On Shabbat, a little over two weeks before Rosh Hashanah, Uthman and his soldiers stormed the synagogues while the Jews were in the middle of prayers. They arrested fifteen of the community’s leaders, including the Sheloh, Rabbi Shmuel Ibn Sid, and Rabbi Yitzchak Chavilio, demanding a large ransom for their release.
Concerned for the welfare of their beloved elderly rabbi and other leaders, the Jews of Jerusalem made a desperate attempt to collect the amount Uthman demanded. Since the communal funds and their personal savings had by then been depleted, the Jews turned to their Arab neighbors, who agreed to lend them money, but at an outrageous 50% interest rate.
Thanks to their efforts, the fifteen leaders were freed before Rosh Hashanah. But the Jewish community remained in heavy debt.
Ibn Faroukh’s Rebellion Against the Sultan
Upon his return to Jerusalem, Ibn Faroukh took his most daring step, which proved to be his undoing. In an effort to gain even more power, Ibn Faroukh and his soldiers stormed and occupied the Citadel, driving away the sultan’s garrison. This constituted open rebellion against the sultan.
The residents of Jerusalem, and especially its Jewish population, were now completely at the mercy of the evil tyrant, who kept demanding more and more money. One of Ibn Faroukh’s henchmen attempted to arrest Rabbi Yitzchak Gaon, but the rabbi managed to escape. The henchman then arrested the Jewish doctor, Rabbi Yaakov ibn Amram, and held him hostage for ten days, until he was ransomed by the community.
The Jews of the city lived in fear, never knowing who the next victim would be. The anonymous writer reports, “We knew no peace or rest: we ate our bread in trembling and drank our water in anxiety. Even at night we could not sleep.”2
In addition, many Jews were no longer able to feed their families. They began making escape plans.
Though escape wasn’t easy, many Jews managed to sneak out of the city. The Sheloh fled to Safed and later moved to Tiberias, where he passed away several years later, in 1630.
Some of those who managed to escape went to Damascus and reported the rebellion. The governor sent an army to Jerusalem, threatening to attack the city and depose its tyrant. At the time, Ibn Faroukh was not in Jerusalem, but Uthman had no intention of giving in. He prepared the city for the impending siege, collecting weapons, filling the moats, stopping the water cisterns, and confiscating food for safekeeping in the Citadel. Jerusalem’s residents were left without food or water and under strict military command.
Uthman increased the guards at the city gates, making sure that no one would be able to sneak out of the city. When the Jews tried to leave Jerusalem to bury their dead, the cruel guards pierced the coffin with their swords to make sure that the person was truly dead.
The anonymous contemporary Jew wrote:3
The people were sorely afraid, for a great force had gathered at Ramleh to wage war on Uthman. All sought hiding places to conceal their wives and children. There was joy at the thought that the rule of evil was about to end; but there was anxiety lest the place be devastated by the cannon. Yet it was generally agreed that devastation and death were preferable to the City’s remaining under the rule of a wicked and heartless man.
Unfortunately, the joy was premature. After two months, the governor’s forces, seeing that Uthman was determined to withstand the attack, called off the siege and returned to Damascus.
Uthman’s Coup
Blinded by his success, Uthman decided that he could do better than serving as second-in-command. He plotted to assassinate Ibn Faroukh and usurp his post for himself.
When Ibn Faroukh returned to Jerusalem, he found out about Uthman’s plot. Ibn Faroukh promptly executed Uthman, and Jerusalem’s residents rejoiced to be free of their sworn enemy.
However, Ibn Faroukh himself now turned to the Jews as a means to fill his coffers. He continued to arrest and torture Jews at random, expecting the community to ransom them.
Two rabbis from Jerusalem, Rabbi Shmuel Ibn Sid and Rabbi Shmuel Tardiola, managed to leave the city and reach Constantinople in order to plead before the sultan for intervention. In Constantinople, they were joined by a qadi who became aware of the situation in Jerusalem.
Once he heard about the audacious rebellion, the sultan dispatched an army to quash it.
Meanwhile, on the last day of Sukkot, Ibn Faroukh arrested two prominent members of the Jewish community, the doctor Rabbi Yaakov ibn Amram and Rabbi Yitzchak Gaon, demanding a large ransom. On the next day, Simchat Torah, Jerusalem’s Jews were unable to rejoice, not knowing where they could possibly get the money to ransom the two hostages.
Eight days later, the Jews still hadn’t managed to obtain enough money. To exert more pressure on them, Ibn Faroukh brought the two Jewish hostages to the synagogue and tortured them in front of the community members. Even Ibn Faroukh’s army commander was so disturbed by the cruelty of the torture that he intervened with Ibn Faroukh on behalf of the two Jews.
The Dream
Soon afterwards, Ibn Faroukh heard that the sultan’s army was on its way to Jerusalem. A few weeks later, he had a dream in which he was being strangled by an old man. When Ibn Faroukh asked the man who he was, the old man replied, “I am King David. If you spend another night in this city, you will die!”
Faroukh woke up in terror. He loaded his camels with whatever loot they could carry and escaped Jerusalem with his henchmen, taking two Jewish hostages—hapless prisoners named Tuvyah and Yosef—with him.
When the Jews woke up, they were overjoyed to find their tormentor gone:
In the morning we thanked G‑d in the synagogue, and we praised His name in Great Hallel for all His goodness to us in removing heathen from our land and driving away from us the wicked foe, Ibn Faroukh. Some of the sages and leaders of the Community went round the city and collected food and gifts for the poor; and there was light and joy for the Jews.
Soon, the two Jewish hostages returned, a new mayor was installed in Jerusalem, and its Jewish community began to rebuild after two years of tyranny.
The Aftermath
Finally free from their cruel oppressor, the Jewish community was left with large debts at steep interest rates. Much of the debt was owed to Jerusalem’s Arab residents who were now waiting to be repaid. The anonymous writer reports, “Today, we are mortgaged – men, women, and children – to the Ishmaelite dwellers of this land.”
The Jews of Jerusalem sent messengers to communities throughout Europe, requesting their help. The anonymous account of the events was likely written in order to explain to their European brethren why the need was so great. The Sheloh also wrote letters to his native Prague and to other European communities, asking for their support.
European Jews tried to help as much as they could, but ultimately, it took years for Jerusalem’s Jewish community to restore the peace and contentment they had enjoyed before Ibn Faroukh’s reign of terror.
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