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EXILARCH

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 71 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EXILARCH , in Jewish See also:

history, "See also:Chief or See also:Prince of the Captivity." The See also:Jews of Babylonia, after the fall of the first See also:temple, were termed by See also:Jeremiah and See also:Ezekiel the See also:people of the " See also:Exile." Hence the See also:head of the Babylonian Jews was the exilarch (in Aramaic Resh Galutha). The See also:office was hereditary and carried with it considerable See also:power. Some traditions regarded the last See also:king of Davidic descent (See also:Jehoiachin) as the first exilarch, and all the later holders of the dignity claimed to be scions of the royal See also:house of See also:Judah. Under the Arsacids and Sassanids the office continued. In the 6th See also:century an See also:attempt was made to secure by force See also:political See also:autonomy for the Jews, but the exilarch who led the See also:movement (See also:Mar Zutra) was executed. For some See also:time thereafter the office was in See also:abeyance, but under Arabic See also:rule there was a considerable revival of its dignity. From the See also:middle of the 7th till the 11th centuries the exilarchs were all descendants of See also:Bostanai, through whom " the splendour of the office was renewed and its political position made secure " (Bacher). The last exilarch of importance was See also:David, son of Zakkai, whose contest with See also:Seadiah (q.v.) had momentous consequences. See also:Hezekiah (c. 1040) was the last Babylonian exilarch, though the See also:title See also:left its traces in later ages. See also:Benjamin of See also:Tudela (Itinerary, p. 61) names an exilarch See also:Daniel b.

Ilisdai in the 12th century. Petahiah (Travels, p. 17) records that this Daniel's See also:

nephew succeeded to the office jointly with a R. See also:Samuel. The latter, according to Petahiah, had a learned daughter who " gave instruction, through a window, remaining in the house while the disciples were below, unable to see her." Our chief knowledge of the position and See also:function of the exilarch concerns the See also:period beginning with the Arabic rule in See also:Persia. In the See also:age succeeding the See also:Mahommedan See also:conquest th"e exilarch was noted for the stately See also:retinue that accompanied him, the luxurious banquets given at his See also:abode, and the courtly See also:etiquette that prevailed there. A brilliant See also:account has come down of the ceremonies at the See also:installation of a new exilarch. See also:Homage was paid to him by the rabbinical heads of the colleges (each of whom was called See also:Gaon, q.v.); See also:rich gifts were presented; he visited the See also:synagogue in See also:state, where a costly See also:canopy had been erected over his seat. The exilarch then delivered a discourse, and in the See also:benediction or See also:doxology (Qaddish) his name was inserted. Thereafter he never left his house except in a See also:carriage of state and in the See also:company of a large retinue. He would frequently have audiences of the king, by whom he was graciously received. He derived a See also:revenue from taxes which he was empowered to exact.

The exilarch could excommunicate, and no doubt had considerable See also:

jurisdiction over the Jews. A spirited description of the glories of the exilarch is given in D'See also:Israeli's novel Alroy. See Neubauer, Mediaeval Jewish See also:Chronicles, ii. 68 seq. ; Zacuto, Yuhasin; See also:Graetz, Geschichie, vols. iv.-vi.; Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary, ed. See also:Adler, pp. 39 seq. ; Bacher, Jewish See also:Encyclopaedia, vol. v. 288. (I.

End of Article: EXILARCH

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