Rav akçesi
Encyclopedia
Rav akçesi was a "rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 tax" paid by Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 communities in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. The origins of Rav akçesi are unclear; it has been suggested that it was one of two taxes imposed specifically on Jews, and that it may have developed in parallel with the authority of a senior rabbi in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, who was at nominally a representative and judge for Jewish communities in the Ottoman empire, although their authority may not have extended far beyond Istanbul.

It has been suggested that Mehmet II imposed the tax in return for separate representation of Jews after 1455, as part of a broader effort to rebuild and revive Istanbul; this may also have served to undermine the Greek patriarchy. Under the Ottoman empire there was, at time, friction between "Greeks" and "Jews"; the authorities may at times have favoured one over the other.

Although rav akçesi was a cash tax, rather than a tax in kind, it could be hypothecated
Hypothecation
Hypothecation is the practice where a borrower pledges collateral to secure a debt. The borrower retains ownership of the collateral, but it is "hypothetically" controlled by the creditor in that he has the right to seize possession if the borrower defaults...

 to provide specific goods; tax records for 1655 show that the rav akçesi in Monastir
Monastir
-Places:Italy* Monastir, Sardinia - a comune in the Province of CagliariOttoman Empire* Monastir Province, Ottoman Empire, a vilayet covering parts of modern Albania, Greece and the Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia...

 (Bitola) was a significant source of funding of drapery for janissaries
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...

; the tax official responsible for purchases would be the same person responsible for collecting the tax.

Non-Muslims were usually taxed at a higher rate, overall, in the Ottoman empire, thanks to taxes such as rav akçesi and ispence
İspençe
İspençe was a tax in the Ottoman Empire.İspençe was a land-tax on non-Muslims in parts of the ottoman empire; its counterpart, for Muslim taxpayers, was the resm-i çift - which was set at slightly lower rate...

. Jews in particular may have been singled out to pay higher rates of ispence. The Porte was well aware of this - and even aware that this would tempt nonmuslims to convert; Bayezit II ruled that courts should treat nonmuslims more leniently (including such measures as lower fines), "so that the poll-tax payers shall not vanish".

As with other taxes in the Ottoman empire
Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
Taxation in the Ottoman Empire changed drastically over time, and was a complex feudal patchwork of different taxes, exemptions, and local customs.-Inheritance:...

, rav akçesi could be affected by a complex patchwork of local rules and exemptions, including muafiyet
Muafiyet
Muafiyet was a tax exemption mechanism for Ottoman towns or villages; an individual decree of tax exemption was called a muafname.After a muafname was issued to a town, the urban population would be exempted from some of the taxes on raya, such as resm-i çift...

; the Jews of Selanik (Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

) were among those exempted from taxes by a muafname after the city was conquered by Murad II
Murad II
Murad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....

.
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