Or 17081

Two documents relevant to the ruination of Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor's Rangoon Rabinate.

The back of folio 1 has Jewish calendar calculations for portions of the year 5657 Anno Mundi (1897 CE)

Background: Beginning in Shevat 5654 Anno Mundi = January 1894, Hakham Ezra Reuben Dangoor served a short stint as the rabbi of the Jewish congregation of Rangoon, Burma (today known as Yangon, Myanmar), a satellite community of the Jewish community of Baghdad. According to his account, several of his antagonists used a lenient legal ruling that he had made as a pretext to challenge his rabbinic authority. In an attempt to resolve the situation, it was agreed that his ruling would be presented for review by the rabbis of Baghdad; and they upheld his ruling. However, at the same time, his main antagonist sent a falsified version of the ruling to be reviewed by the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Palestine, Rabbi Jacob Saul Elyashar, who lambasted the ruling as well as Hakham Dangoor himself. Thus, at the beginning of Iyyar 5655 Anno Mundi = April 1895, Dangoor brought his Rangoon ministry to a premature end, not completing his initial two-year contract.

The two documents here consist of [1] a draft of a letter from Dangoor to Elyashar, in which Dangoor attempts to present his case and thereby clear his name with Elyashar; and [2] in light of Dangoor’s unsuccess with Elyashar, a draft of Dangoor’s subsequent write-up of the incident as a cautionary tale.

Or 17081 (1), side a: Draft of Dangoor's above-mentioned letter to Elyashar.

Side b: Jewish calendar calculations for portions of the year 5657 Anno Mundi (1897 CE).

Or 17081 (2): Draft of Dangoor's above-mentioned write-up of the incident as a cautionary tale. It is entitled Ṿenirgan mafrid aluf / ונרגן מפריד אלוף = ‘A Whisperer Separates Friends’ (Proverbs 16:28). While Dangoor is the author of this text, it is unclear whether he is the scribe of this document.