hahambaşı

Hakham Bashi (Ottoman Turkish: حاخامباشی, Turkish: Hahambaşı, IPA: [haˈham baˈʃɯ]; Ladino: xaxam (חכם) baši; translated into French as: khakham-bachi) is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community. In the time of the Ottoman Empire it was also used for the chief rabbi of a particular region of the empire, such as Syria, the Land of Israel or Iraq, though the Hakham Bashi of Constantinople was considered overall head of the Jews of the Empire. In 1840, a position of Hakham Bashi was established in Jerusalem.