Obj. ID: 11675
Funerary Art Tomb of Rabbi Joseph Abraham Ben Hasson, Jewish Cemetery in Karnobat, 1881
To the main object: Jewish cemetery in Karnobat, Bulgaria
The rectangular tombstone has a slanted top and rests horizontally on the ground. It is inscribed with a rhymed Hebrew
epitaph chiselled in square letters in eleven lines, reads:
"איפה ישרים חכמים גם נבונים / נמס לב אנוש ונצרבו כל פנים / כי אנשי שם טוב ישבו 'במקום תנים' (תהלים מד:כ) / פה נטמן גדול הדור במסתר פנים' (מבוסס על תהלים קמג:ז; ישעיה נג:ג) / גבר הוקם על" (שמואל ב כג:א) צדיק שומר אמונים' (ישעיה כו:ב) / רב עצום לעדתו 'פאר זקנים' (מבוסס על משלי כוכט) / אם כי שאריתו תחת 'גל אבנים' (יהושע זכו; יהושע חוכט; שמואל ב יח:יז) / אך! עוד יוסף חי' (בראשית מה:כו) 'חסון הוא כאלונים' (עמוס ב:ט) / ה"ה (האדון המכובד) הרב הכולל כמוה'ר'ר (כבוד מורינו הרב רבי) יוסף / אברהם (ב)ן' חסון ז"ל (זכרונו לברכה) נ'ת'ב'ש'ם ('נתבקש בישיבה של מעלה' (בבלי, בבא מציעא, דף פו, ע"א); מת) יום ל' שבט / שנת ת'ר'מ'א' (641(5) ת'נ'צ'ב'ה' (תהי נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים)."
Translation: "Where are the righteous persons, the wise men and clever?! A man's heart shall melt and all faces shall be burned (from the Lord's furnace), as men (who have) a 'good name' rest 'in the place of dragons' (Ps. 44:19; in the darkness of death). Here the outstanding Rabbi of the generation was buried (in a grave 'where the Lord) hid His face (from him)' (based on Ps. 143:7; Isa. 53:3). 'The man who was raised up on high' (2 Sam. 23:1), a 'righteous who keepeth the truth' (Isa. 26:2). A great Rabbi to his congregation, 'old men's glory' (based on Prov. 20:29), though his remnant is under 'a heap of stones' (Josh. 7:26; Josh. 8:29; 2 Sam. 18:17). Alas! 'Joseph is yet alive (Hai)' (Gen. 45:26), 'he is strong (Hasson) as the oaks' (Amos 2:9; see: Remarks: no. 1). (This is the burial tombstone of) the honourable master, the kollel's Rabbi, our honourable teacher, Rabbi Joseph Abraham Ben Hasson (son of Hasson), of blessed memory, who was summoned before divine justice (T.B. Baba Mezi'a 86:a; Euphemism: died) on the 30th of Shevat, (5)641 (30.1.1881 (Julian: 18.1.1881), may his soul be bound in the bond of life."
A scrolled medallion set on the right encloses illegible Hebrew letters.
1. Joseph Hayyim Ben Hasson, emigrated from Salonika and served as the Chief Rabbi of Karnobat between the years 1840-1876. He composed a few Hebrew manuscripts that were never published (see: Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. "Carnabat"). The name Hayyim, which signifies life and remedy, was likely added to his birth name, Joseph Abraham, after he suffered a severe illness, in the hope that it would be a turning point in his destiny. The practice is clearly indicated in the epitaph of Rabbi Hezekiah Zvi, who became severely ill and hence was renamed Hayyim (life) as well as Raphael (the angel of remedy) (Sc_513, 25). For a summary of this magi ceremony, see: Bar-Levav, "Death," p. 286.
2. The Julian calendar was used in Bulgaria until 1.4.1916, when the Gregorian calendar formally replaced it. Julian 1.4.1916 became Gregorian 14.4.1916.
