Divre Yosef (The Words of Joseph)

Sultan Mehmed II and the Capture of Constantinople

Sultan Mehmed began his reign in the year 856, according to their count [1452 CE]. The king ordered the building of sailing ships on the top of the mountains of Galata, and as many ships were built as there are grains of sand. The King of Constantinople, Emperor Constantine XI Philologus, did not know his true intention, what he was plotting, because King Mehmed had said that he wanted to go to the Black Sea. [ . . . ] In his cunning, King Mehmed made many ships on Mt. Galata and pushed them all of a sudden at night into the sea at the port of Constantinople, containing a very large army, while he himself went over land with heavy force. The war was very serious; the city was under siege, cut off by sea and by land; these were on one side and those on the other. When the city was breached, he conquered it and the kingdom of Constantinople in the year 5213 [1453], and he killed the Emperor Constantine by sword. [ . . . ]

The Story of the Rabbis Who First Lived in the Kingdom of Mehmed at the Diwan of the King and the Story of Rabbi Master Capsali, Whom the King Promoted

In the first year of his rule, he issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, as well as a written missive, saying: “God gave the entire kingdom of the land into my hands, and now listen, the seed of the Jews who dwell in my kingdom. Every man among you in all his people, may his God be with him, let him ascend to Constantinople the mother of my kingdom, and you shall have a remainder in the land.¹ You will dwell in the best of the land together with us; multiply in the land and be fruitful in it.” From all the surrounding area, the children of Israel gathered like the sand of the sea, and the king gave them a portion in Constantinople, and they took possession of it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. He granted them permission to build synagogues and houses of study, and he created three seats in the diwan of the king: one for the mufti, and one for the lafteriki [Archpatriarch] of the uncircumcised, and one for the rabbi of the Jews, for there were set thrones for judgment [see Psalms 122:5], each nation to judge its people with justice and law.

From the seed of the Jews he placed at their head the venerable rabbi, our master R. Moses Capsali, of blessed memory. He placed his seat in the diwan of the court next to the mufti, and loved him dearly. The man Moses was very modest, more than any man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). He would fast all year long and sleep on the earth. His life was one of suffering while he toiled in Torah, and he would stand before the king and speak in friendly terms with him, and the king raised his seat above the throne of the other judges. King Mehmed imposed taxes upon the land in accordance with the law of kings: haraçi [a poll tax], avariz [a levy for emergencies], and akcheşi [the rabbi’s tax]. All the communities were organized by this rabbi, and the tax was collected by him and placed in the treasury of the king, and the king loved the Jews.

At that time there was a plague in Constantinople such as never had been before, and the king was frightened by the great number of deaths from it. For the land remained barren with no inhabitants, and it was tightly closed up [see Joshua 6:1] against the sons of Ishmael; none left and none entered. He sent for and called the wise men of the gentiles and asked them why God had done that to this land, and what was this great fury [see Deuteronomy 29:23], but they were unable to provide any explanation as to why the land was laid waste. The king then sent for the aforementioned rabbi and asked him about this matter. And he answered him, based on the Torah of our master Moses of blessed memory, that it had occurred due to the sin of licentiousness. This response pleased the king, and he ordered a great investigation and found much licentious conduct, and he killed many of the Janissaries. The rabbi likewise reprimanded his people and smote the evildoers of Israel and those who had committed capital offenses [see Numbers 17:3], with whips and tormented them with scorpions [see 1 Kings 12:11] for joining the Janissaries. Then God was filled with mercy for them and He granted favor to the land and the plague ceased. The Janissaries were subsequently envious of the rabbi, because they knew for certain that he had advised the king, and they wanted to kill Moses, but the Blessed Name saved him from their hand. The king then asked the rabbi for a Jewish physician who would stand before him and serve him, and this was done.