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.
Footnotes
1. Churvot Yerushalayim, adapted from the translation found in Ottoman Conquest 1517-1699 (Center for Online Judaic Studies).
2. Avraham Yaari. The Goodly Heritage: Memoirs Describing the Life of the Jewish Community of Eretz Yisrael from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries.
3. Avraham Yaari. The Goodly Heritage: Memoirs Describing the Life of the Jewish Community of Eretz Yisrael from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Centuries.
Reprinted from the current website of Chabad.org
