Community Magazine November 2009

Deciphering Nus Qalam Publishing the manuscript proved to be no simple task. The text was written mostly in hasi qoulmos or nus qalam, the Judeo-Arabic script used years ago by Sephardic talmide hachamim (Torah scholars) in the Middle East, and with which most people today are unfamiliar. Morris, and his brothers Alfred and Joe, tried to enlist the help of several learned men in the Brooklyn community to decipher and edit the papers, but with little success. During the late 1990’s, Morris discussed the matter with his good friend Joey Harari (whom he later discovered to be a relative!). Joey had moved to Israel and is involved in the administration of Kenees Ades, the renowned Halabi synagogue in Jerusalem. Joey advised Morris to speak to his friend Rabbi Yeshua Salem, who had published – among other works – manuscripts of the revered Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad), z.s.l. Over the course of the next year, the text in the manuscripts was transcribed into contemporary Hebrew. The content of the material unfolded, it was discovered to contain, among other things, piske din (jurisprudential decisions) in commercial matters from old Halab, which were rare, making this manuscript an especially valuable work. Rabbi Avishai Teharani, a young, capable talmid How an invaluable set of manuscripts from Old Halab in antiquated shorthand, was resurrected after nearly a century. It wasn’t every day that Morris Harary, Esq. was summoned by the revered Chief Rabbi. So on that evening in the late 1980’s, when Hacham Yaakob Kassin, z.s.l. , leader of the Halabi and Sephardic communities of Brooklyn, New York, invited him to his home, he was somewhat puzzled to say the least. Upon entering the rabbi’s living room, Morris noticed a plastic envelope filled with aging papers, some even sewn together. Slowly, Hacham Yaakob handed over the package and lamented over not having been able to advance the holy and important project, which was given over to him some four- and-half-decades earlier. The rabbi explained that the documents were the kitvei yad (handwritten manuscripts) of Morris’ grandfather and namesake, HachamMoshe benHachamYizhak Harary, z.s.l. Hacham Moshe’s wife, Garaz Harary d’Bet Nasi, had entrustedthis treasurewithHacham Yaakob shortly before her passing in 1943, and requested that he review the manuscripts and prepare them for publication. Hacham Yaakob was regretfully unable to fulfill this undertaking during his lifetime, so he requested that Morris accept an appointment as his shaliah (agent) to carry out the promise made to his grandmother. Decoding a Treasure of Halab Mr. Morris Harary Esq., with the handwritten documents of his grandfather andnamesake, Hacham Moshe Harary z.s.l., which was organized into the sefer Pene Moshe. Notation by Hacham Yaakob Kassin z.s.l. recording his receipt of the set of manuscripts. 46 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE