BORDJEL

BORDJEL (Burgel), Tunisian family of community leaders and scholars. In the 17th century ABRAHAM amassed a large fortune in Leghorn and returned to Tunis. His son NATHAN (d. 1791), a student of Isaac lumbroso , wrote Ḥok Natan (Leghorn, 1776–78), reprinted in the Vilna edition of the Talmud. A rabbinical authority, Nathan was consulted by rabbis from Ereẓ Israel and elsewhere. He died in Jerusalem.   His son ELIJAH ḤAI wrote Migdanot Natan (Leghorn, 1778) in two parts: commentaries on the Talmud and Maimonides' Yad Ḥazakah; and treatises and funeral orations. Elijah's son JOSEPH (1791–1857) supported a yeshivah at his own expense and had many disciples. He left two important works: Zara de-Yosef (1849) and Va-Yikken Yosef (1852). His brother NATHAN (II), scholar and philanthropist, published the first of these works and added a preface. His nephew ELIJAH ḤAI (II) (d. 1898), caid (Maggid) and chief rabbi of Tunis, published the second. SOLOMON, caid in 1853, had great influence on the bey. MOSES (d. 1945) was highly respected for his knowledge, piety, and authority. During the Nazi occupation, Moses served in the difficult position of a leader of the Tunis community. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: D. Cazè, Notes bibliographique sur la littérature juive-tunisienne (1893), 60–76; Hirschberg, Afrikah, 2 (1965), index. (David Corcos)