Old Cemetery of Salonika, Gravestone Inscriptions

17th and 18th Centuries

Neḥemiah Espera (d. 1726)

Here is a man who revered     The Name with love
Whose name was known     For his generous spirit
He gave to charity     To failing souls
From his pocket and his     Until old age and hoary hair.
 wealth
The sick of Israel     He cured with generosity
With his body and strength,     sublime healing.
Exalted God upon high     Will place him on high,
In highest Garden of Eden     In comfort and repose
He is the foremost physician, mighty as a mountain, Neḥemiah,
Espera, may he rest in peace, and may his repose be honorable;
On the 6th day of the month of Heshvan in the year 5487 to Creation
May his soul be bound up in the Bundle of Life.

Abraham Molkho (d. 1738)

See a man who is perfect     A prince and a leader,
 in all;      a scholar of Torah
A great wise man full in all,     Old and fulfilled,       with a crown
The name of Abraham went     The lands with acumen.
 out before all
With his possessions     Charity to the scholar
 he supported all,       of Torah;
He was active in this city     The pure land of Israel;
 and in all
He converted converts in all,     Supplying what they lacked in proper order.
Old men and young, and all     Who pass and return to the Almighty
God blessed him in all     A good and honest character.
He died with a good name     Safra, and Sifrei and
 and with all       Gemara.
He would receive guests     Who pass through this city
 and all
  He is the foremost rabbi, our master R. Abraham
Molkho may his memory be for the life of the world to come. He was called to the heavenly yeshiva on the 26th of the month of Tishri, in the year
  5499 may his soul be bound up in the Bundle of Life

Buena (d. 1741)

This fortunate woman     A myrtle, so pure
With respect and honor     Her name is at the gates;
In all of her deeds     Comely and pleasant,
In giving to the poor     In compassion and grace
God in His Garden     Will dress her in lace;
 of Eden
Her soul will dwell     As well as her spirit and
 in goodness,       essence.
  She is the woman whom God has proven [see Genesis 24:44]
  Mistress Buena, widow of the magnate
   Who was exalted as a mountain, Don Moshe ibn
   Veniste. She passed away on the fourteenth
   Of the consoling month of Av in the year 5501

Translated by
Jeffrey M.
Green
.

Credits

Isaac Samuel Emmanuel, Matsevot saloniki be-tseruf toldot ḥayehem shel gedole ha-kehilah (Precious Stones of the Jews of Salonica), vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi Institute, 1968), pp. 573, 626–627, 649.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

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