YIHYE Origin of surname
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a patronymic surname based on a male ancestor's personal name, in this case of biblical origin.
The surname Yihye is based on the Hebrew and Arabic word meaning "he will live", and is an equivalent of the Hebrew male personal name Hayyim, which means "life". Hayyim does not appear as a name in the Bible. As a name Hayyim in its various forms - Hayyim, Hai, Hiyya, Yihye, and the feminine Haya - can be traced to the 3rd century CE.
It became a popular practice among Jews to add Hayyim to a personal name either during circumcision or, in the event of sickness or danger, later on in life. This was done to ensure health and long life. Among Sephardi Jews, Hai/Chai ("alive") is still a popular additional name while Yihye ("he will live") was widespread among Yemenite Jews. In the course of Jewish wanderings, the name Hayyim was influenced by local pronunciation - becoming, for example, Aim or Haym in Spain, Heim or Hayems in Germany and Alsace, Chajjim in Turkey, Hagin in England, Hayon, Yahya, Yihya and many others in Arabic-speaking countries. Many of these personal names derived from Hayyim became Jewish family names. In the 12th century, a well-known Portuguese family called Ben Ya'ish (also based on Hayyim) changed its name to Ibn Yahya in honor of an ancestor called Don Yahya Ibn Ya'ish. Distinguished bearers of names in this group include Joseph Ibn Yahya Hazaken, who built a synagogue at his own expense in Lisbon (Portugal) in the 13th century; the Lisbon-born philosopher, Gedalya Ibn Yahya Ben David (1473-1487), and the Italian historiographer and talmudist, Gedalya Ben Joseph Ibn Yahya (also called Ibn Yihya), who settled in Alexandria after his expulsion from Italy by Pope Pius V.
Saddeh, Al-Saddeh
(Place)Al-Saddeh
A chief town in the district of Bilad Amar, south Yemen. Al-Saddeh is situated at the foot of Jabal Shuqeir.
The Jewish settlements of south Yemen and in the sultanates east of Yemen on the coast of the Indian ocean were remnants of ancient communities when the region was inhabited by the tribe of Himyar which established a kingdom in the 1st century and whose kings adopted the Jewish faith.
In the Middle Ages the Jews of these communities played a central role in the trade with India. In the 16th century the Jews served as intermediaries for the Portuguese, who penetrated into the region by way of the Red Sea.
The community of Al-Saddeh was one of the big communities in the district towns and in the big towns of Yemen which served also the Jews in the surrounding villages. Dar Sa’id was one of the communities served by Al-Saddeh.
In the years 1678-1679 most of the Jews in the Jewish settlements of Yemen were exiled to Mawza on the southern shore of the Red Sea (Tihamah) by a decree of the Imam Al-Mahdi, the ruler of Yemen. A year later the expellees were allowed to return to their places but most of them were obliged to build for themselves new quarters as their former homes were either ruined or occupied by Muslims. Some demographic changes followed the year of exile. There were exiles who returned to other than their original places, while other returnees came to their place.
The Jewish communities in Yemen had no real organizational structure. Until the second half of the 19th century, the organization of the bigger communities had been based on a limited number of institutions and functionaries . When the protection tax (jiziya) was abolished, the former system came apart and only certain officials remained, mainly in the bigger communities.
The relations with the authorities and the Muslim environment were based on the payment of tax in return for protection. In the towns protection was given by the local governor and in the villages by the heads of the tribes.
The head of the community was an appointment of the authorities. The bet-din (court of justice) in Yemen formed the spiritual leadership of the community and its authority was absolute also in secular matters, although without the sanction of the authorities.
According to the tradition of the Jews of Al-Saddeh, Jews had come to their town from the desert of Hijaz at the middle of the 7th century. They were called members of the “Sect of Wise Men” (or the Mourners of Zion) who arrived after Muhammad and his supporters killed the Jews of the Quritha tribe and conquered the Jews of Khaibar. When they arrived they went to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and formed a treaty with the tribes of the area. The mountain has been called since then Jabal Al-Amana (the Mountain of Testimony).
The community of Al-Saddeh was formed from the beginning as an independent community. It was directed by a group of ten scholars that acted also as a bet-din. Until the end of the 18th century the local Arabs, too, used to refer to that court of law and accept its verdicts. The family of presidents, Salem Jehuda, was permitted by the authorities to serve as judges and that permit was in force until the middle of the 19th century.
At the middle of the 18th century the president of the community of Al-Saddeh was Salem b. Sa’id Al-Sanjab, a big merchant whose title was “sheikh”. Families called Alsheikh attest that one of their ancestors had once been a sheikh, namely a president of a community. The president was in close touch with the authorities and was confirmed by them in his office. Among his duties was also the duty to collect the crop tax from the Muslims. The Akel was the president’s assistant. He was the head of 5-10 representatives of the different living quarters and synagogues whose task was to assist in collecting the taxes from the members of the community and carry out the orders of the president.
At the end of the 19th century and in the 20th century there were two synagogues at Al-Saddeh. One was the Al-Ulya (upper) synagogue of the Yussef Sa’id family, that was built in 1724 with funds donated by the benefactor Shalom Aharon Al-Usta. It was a stone building with a raised bamah, on which the “Mori” (rabbi and teacher) sat. Next to the synagogue was a bet-midrash, where the Mori taught the children. The other synagogue was the “Al-Sufla” (lower) synagogue, that was built by the families Yihya and Uzeiri. The other functionaries of the community were the rabbi, two slaughterers, one for poultry and one for cattle, and the performer of marriages. There were also Torah scholars, who enjoyed high regard for their learning, and the public preacher, whose task was to expose the sinners, admonish them and make them repent. Weddings were held at two diwans, them and make them repent, public halls, and the festivities lasted as long as seven days. Marriages at Al-Saddeh were all
arranged within the community, so that practically it consisted of one big family. The required witnesses at marriages had to be brought from other communities. At times of drought or other calamities the Jews of Al-Saddeh used to go up the mountain Jabal Al-Mashhad with scrolls of the law and shofars (ram’s horns) to pray, to bring salvation to Israel. Likewise they used to visit a cave in a mountain, where righteous rabbis had been buried, and pray for rain.
As in most of the Jewish communities of Yemen, the majority of the Jews of Al-Saddeh were craftsmen, silver and goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and weavers. Some of them were traders in grains, breeders of cattle and farmers. As in most of the big communities, there were at Al-Saddeh a number of scribes (copyists of scriptures).
In the 20th century the majority of the Jews were weavers or makers of iron tools for the Arab villagers. The members of 4 families were blacksmiths, one family specialized as scribes, 3-4 families engaged in spinning of yarn and one family in soldering. Among the merchants were the families of Yihya Shar’abi and Yihya Al-Sadeq.
During the years 1916-1926 the Jews of Al-Saddeh were victims of pogroms instigated by the governor of the town and his soldiers. The synagogue was broken into, scrolls of the torah were torn and furniture broken.
During the last years of the community the leading families were Mansur, Mahbub, Jarama, and Al’uzeiri. Mori Yihya Shar’abi, one of the notables of the community, was its link with the surrounding population. One synagogue functioned at that time. Ritual purification was done in the local river, an all year round stream.
All the Jews of Al-Saddeh went to Israel in the framework of the magic carpet operation in the years 1949-1950. Months before actually boarding the aircraft they walked to Aden, then a British colony, where they were accommodated in transit camps at the suburbs until their departure.