Folktales of the Kurdistani Jews
Jonah ben Gabriel
ca. 1843
The Plague of Hailstones
The year 5573 (1813) was a leap year (in the Jewish calendar). On the twenty-fourth of Nisan, the Sabbath right after Passover, after midday, the skies became overcast and rain fell. Afterward it hailed for about half an hour. The hailstones were large and small, some as big as walnuts. However, a few people came forth…
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Creator Bio
Jonah ben Gabriel
What we know about Jonah ben Gabriel comes largely from his Folktales of the Kurdistani Jews, written around 1843, as the book includes numerous digressions on current events, superstitions, and other phenomena affecting life in his hometown Arbil—the capital of today’s Iraqi Kurdistan. A pious Jew, ben Gabriel played a prominent role in Arbil, including overseeing the building of a synagogue and negotiating the purchase of a town area from the Turkish governor to allow Jews to carry items on the Sabbath.
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