Amoo Yaäghob Masaband
Yaäghob Masaban, known as Dayi Yaäghob and Aamoo Yaäghob, was born in 1871 in Kashan, Iran. His father was Ebrahim Masaband, who was a silk merchant. During the first three years of his life, Dayi Yaäghob suffered from an illness that he wasn’t expected to survive.
Yaäghob Masaband learned Hebrew and Persian from his father and also in various Maktab classes in Kashan, which was the common education process of that period. He also apprenticed to his father during this time.
Aged 20, he married Rivgha from the Hai family in 1891. They had five children—three sons and two daughters. A few years later, Yaäghob left for Tehran alone in order to find a better job and prepare for his family’s arrival, hoping to build a better life for them. He rented a store in “Ayyub Caravanserai”, where he sold material and sewing from Kashan. Acquaintances from Kashan would stay with Dayi Yaäghob when they arrived in Tehran, since they were strangers there and had no place to stay. He would take them to his small house, which was atop of his store, and help and guide them.
During that period, poverty and poor sanitation had led to many complications, specifically in the Oudlajan district in Tehran. Contagious illnesses, especially Cholera and Typhosis, were prevalent. Illnesses of various kinds were claiming lives and most families did not have access to physicians or drugs. As the number of deaths increased, burial utilities became scarce and could not be provided immediately. Therefore, burial was mostly up to volunteers. Dayi Yaäghob often volunteered with the help of Haji Yehazghell Ashoori. They would meet at the Beheshtiyeh Jewish Cemetery, which was to the south of Darvazeh Shemiran, to help in the burial. Nowadays, that plot is a retirement home and Ort School.
Cholera spread to Kashan as well, taking Yaäghob’s mother, brother, wife, and three of his children, among others. Losing six members of your family is a tragedy that few can bear, but Dayi Yaäghob accepted what fate had deemed for him and pursued his endeavors. He protected his family and organized their affairs, which turned into an incentive for him to engage in community service. He returned to Kashan in 1912 and married “Jahan Khanom” from the Shadi family. They had four boys and three girls.
Meanwhile, Yaäghob also learned of the philanthropic activities of one of his previous wife’s relatives called Agha Yeghotiell, and felt deeply affected. Agha Yeghotiell had no children of his own. He had not only converted and endowed his house to a school as a Waqf (i.e. the act of donating a structure to a specific cause, usually for public benefit, and revoking your rights of reclaiming it), but also, as an intellectual and benevolent member of the community, had invested his time and wealth in bringing about major reforms in the Jewish education system in Kashan. As schools were preparing to open for the new educational year, Agha Yeghotiell had faced financial problems and failed to raise the money needed to purchase enough tables and chairs for the school. Aamu Yaäghob Masaband found a newly constructed school in one of the villages of Kashan that had not opened for that year for unknown reasons. He bought all the tables and chairs of that school and delivered them to Agha Yeghotiell. He also negotiated with the Hebra to charge an extra five riyals (Iranian currency) for every animal that the butchers slaughter (Shehitah), and donate it to Agha Yeghotiell’s school.
Dayi Yaäghob moved to Tehran with his family a few years later and settled in the Oudlajan district. He rented a store at “Amir Caravansarie” and sold fabrics. He set up several carpet weaving machines in a few of the houses in Oudlajan and started producing carpets, which also became a source of income for the residents of those houses.
He also dedicated part of his day and wealth for curing and providing the drugs needed for the sick. He would first meet the needy and help them as much as his financial capability allowed him to. Afterward, he would befriend affluent individuals and marketeers, and occasionally ask them for a contribution to the poor. A group in the caravansary decided to allocate a monthly payment to Dayi Yaäghob to fund his philanthropy. The late Shaban Sham, who had a store in the Lalehzar district of Tehran, would collect help from his colleagues for Dayi. Dayi had a list of needy people, whose needs he would fulfill continuously.
Dayi Yaäghob signed contracts with several physicians to diagnose the patients that Dayi sent to them and charge a lower fee. He had an agreement with two drugstores—the “Beynol-melali drugstore” that was in the neighborhood, and “Ettihad drugstore” that was administered by Mirza Rahim Torbati and was opposite of the “Reza Gholi Khan Tekye”. They were to provide the needy with the drugs they needed and be reimbursed by Dayi at the end of each month. Most mornings, Dayi would stand on Sirous Street to guide anyone who needed help or approve patient prescriptions for free dispensing.
Dayi Yaäghob provided heaters for the poor before winter came. He helped more in moadim, specifically in the Nisan moed. Dayi would deliver food—rice, oil, and matzo—and slack to the poor, but place them behind their door before knocking and immediately leaving, in order to protect their prestige and honor. It is worth noting that Haj Yehoshua Yadegar also collaborated with Dayi. By mid 1931, Dayi Yaäghob Masaband had become a familiar name in the Jewish community, known for his philanthropy for the Jewish community. He was a main figure in many of the charity centers, synagogues, and cultural and social societies.
Dayi Yaäghob, along with Agha Jan Khayyat, Agha Baba Rahman, Abdollah Nayeb, Ataollah Yomtoob, and Rahim Ghandi—all members of the cemetery, contributed significantly when the graves in Mazandaran Street cemetery were transferred to a new plot in Khavaran Street. Dayi funded the renewing of the shrouds of the dead himself.
During World War II, the Jewish Youths Foundation was established, which Dr. Ruhollah Sapir was a member of. Considering how bad a situation the Jews were going through in the Oudlajan district, Dr. Sapir and his friends at the Jewish Youths Foundation attempted to provide the means for public hygiene and to aid the poor of the community. They used the help of experienced philanthropists such as Dayi Yaäghob, Haji Yehoshua, and Abdullah Nayeb. After several meetings, they finally decided to establish an organization. This coincided with the forced abdication of Reza Shah when the Allied Powers occupied Iran and Typhosis became an epidemic. Therefore, the organization decided to provide the poor members of the community with free sanitary products and clinical services. The Molla Hanina synagogue overlooked Sirous Street and had a relatively large yard. It was immediately decided that the yard would be converted into the Kheyrkhah Foundation Clinic. Before the clinic was opened, Dr. Sapir examined the patients in the main hall of the synagogue. A meeting was held between the Hebra, members of the Kheyrkhah Foundation, and the Council of the Synagogue, where it was decided that a clinic would be built in a part of the yard of the synagogue. Dayi Yaäghob was given the honor of the symbolic-pickaxing in the groundbreaking ceremony. Soon, another plot was bought for the clinic and given to Haji Yehoshua. Dr. Sapir examined many patients and eventually contracted Typhosis himself. Unfortunately, treatments failed, and to the disbelief of the people of Oudlajan, the young Dr. Sapir passed away.
The news of Dr. Sapir’s death scared the people from getting close to Typhosis patients. Dayi Yaäghob remained the only individual who continued to visit them. Soon, he contracted the disease, and although he wasn’t expected to survive, he miraculously recovered and returned back to helping the poor among the Jews until the end of his life.
Dayi Yaäghob was cheerful, friendly, and also extremely modest, humble, and reliable. He spoke little of his contributions, prioritized the ill and the poor, and visited the sick frequently. He passed away after a period of illness on 27th January 1952, equal to 29 Tevet 5712, aged 80.
Groundbreaking ceremony of the clinic of the Kheyrkhah Foundation, 1942, Tehran, Iran:
Aziz Bana, Dr. Naser Akhtarzad, Dr. Rahim Kohn, Dayi Yaäghob Masaband, Abdollah Yomtoob, Haj Shaban Shams, Dr. Ruhollah Sapir, Benhamin Nehoraii
The trusted representatives of the Jewish community, who constituted the first administrative board of the Kheyrkhah Foundation, along with Rabbi Shlomo Kohan-Sedq in the Groundbreaking ceremony of the clinic of the Kheyrkhah Foundation performed by Dayi Yaäghob Mosaband, Tehran, 1942
The “Jewish-Cause Foundation of Iran” along with the administrative board of Tehran and Sulayman Hayyem (sitting second person from the right) and Dayi Yaäghob Masaband, 1940s.
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Dayi Yaäghob Masaband, his wife Jahan Khanom, his son Rabi Shimon, and his daughter in law, Tehran, 1948
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Groundbreaking ceremony of the clinic by Haj Yehoshua Yadegar in the presence of the representative of the [Jewish] Joint, members of the Kheyrkhah Foundation, administration board of the Tehran Jewish Committee, and Dayi Yaäghob Masaband, Tehran, Winter of 1945