Rabbi Chaim Avraham Gagin [also Gaguine] (HaRav Agan) was born in Constantinople, Ottoman Turkey in 1787. At a young age, he immigrated to the Land of Israel, was educated in Jerusalem and studied at the "Beit El" kabbalist yeshiva. Later on, Gagin became the head of the yeshiva. In 1842, he was appointed by the Ottoman Sultan to two high positions: Chief Rabbi of the Jews of Jerusalem (Rishon Lezion), and Chief Rabbi of the Jews of the Ottoman Empire (Hachim Bashi). Gagin authored the Sefer Mincha Tahora, Sefer Hatakanot Vehaskamot (a compendium of Jewish religious rites and customs as practiced in the City of Jerusalem), Sefer Hukei Haim, Sefer Haim M'Yerushalayim, and others. Gagin died in Jerusalem in 1848. His son, Rabbi Shalom Moshe Chai Gagin (Smach), was also one of the leaders of Yeshiva Beit El. In the years 1862-1865, he went on a mission as an emissary from Jerusalem to Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers. On his return, he passed through Paris. In 1870, he went on another mission from Jerusalem to Italy. Rabbi Shalom Gagin died in Jerusalem in 1883. The Gagin archive in the National Library of Israel includes documents from the estates of the two rabbis - Chaim Avraham Gagin and his son Shalom Moshe Chai Gagin. The first archival deposit with the Library was in 1933, made by the family of the Aryeh Tauber in his memory. A second deposit came from the estate of Yigael Yadin in 1986. Another deposit came from the estate of Michal Rabinowitz in 1988 and 1994. The archive contains letters on public and personal matters, certificates and pledges, matters related to charities, Yeshiva holdings, and more. The National Library also possesses a scepter that belonged to the Agan, a gift from the Turkish Sultan, and acquired from his children in 1933.
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