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Sassoons in India and the employment opportunities and community facilities they afforded the co-religionists from their country of birth.
For many years, David Sassoon was the sole owner of the firm. Then, his two sons from his first marriage, Abdallah, in 1852 and Eliyahu soon afterwards, were made partners. The other brothers (who were all from his second marriage) were all active in the business, but none was made a partner during Dawid Sasson's lifetime.
As David Sassoon & Co. flourished, so did Dawid Sasson's charitable deeds and benefactions. Jewish communities need to have a place of worship and Midrashim. Dawid Sasson built several. He constructed a synagogue in Poona and one in Byculla (which was a fashionable part of Bombay in those days). The latter still functions today. In Hilla/Hilli near Baghdad, he built a synagogue which he dedicated also as a Yeshiba in the name of Hesqel Hannabi a"h (the prophet Ezekiel).
He built Midrashim, schools (offering free education), hospitals, burial plots in India, Baghdad, Israel and China. He built a library and youth training centers. He helped the poor and helped people to publish religious books. He made large financial contributions in India, Baghdad and Israel. It is said that in his later years, no Jewish beggar was seen in the streets of Bombay.
Through all their wealth of successes and resulting immense riches, Dawid Sasson's religion and origins never took second
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place. His entire household strictly followed the religious teachings and customs of Baghdad. Every morning, he and his household, dressed in their traditional Baghdadian attire, would rise for the Shahrith prayer. Every Shabbath, as well as Monday and Thursday mornings (times when a Sefer Torah is read from) he would go to the synagogue in the town, and on the other days of the week he would take his carriage to the synagogue which was some distance away. Every evening they would pray Minha and 'Arbith in his office. It goes without saying that his offices were closed on Shabbath and all Jewish Holidays.
He spent much of his spare time in the study of Torah. After Minha on Shabbath, many people would come to his home where they all studied Torah. Hakhamim would expound on the Parasha and other religious subjects. After 'Arbith of Mosi Shabbath, all would sing Shbahoth in Hebrew and 'Amrani and have light refreshments before going home.
Dawid Sasson, himself, attributed his success to the following: his sons were a valuable asset whom he could rely on in every branch of their company the majority of his staff were young Jewish Baghdadians who were devout in their religious practices and he, himself, was very particular to keep all the Miswoth, large or small.
Apart from his significance to the Jewish and Indian population, Dawid Sasson was respected by the British as well, to whom he gave assistance and support. In 1853 David Sassoon became officially British. But he never forgot himself or his origins. He signed his naturalization papers in Hebrew, using the Rashi script which is favored by Sephardi Jews. (To be continued)
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as "the father of
the eldest son". Thus Dawid Sasson was referred to by his friends as Abu 'Abdallah - the father of 'Abdallah.)
In 1838, at the age of 21 Abdallah Dawid (Albert) Sassoon married Hannah Moshi, of a Baghdadian family who had also settled in Bombay, and they moved into exquisite dwellings with a vacation home in the hills of Mahableshwar. Eliyahu Dawid (Elias) Sassoon, the second son, married Leah Gubbay.
The Sassoon family in Bombay was growing rapidly, with new children by Dawid Sasson's second wife, and grandchildren through his first. Construction was embarked upon. A summer retreat in Poona was built and then, later, a fabulous Mansion in the elite Malabar Hill section of Bombay. A Miqweh (ritual bath) as well as an area for prayers were an integral part of their premises.
On the business front, Abdallah was based in Bombay and Eliyahu in Shanghai. But Dawid Sasson would switch them around, back and forth, with all his sons. This way, each would become fully interchangeable with the next and each one could replace the other. The search for employees to work in their offices took them back to Baghdad where they recruited office staff, initially for China, and subsequently for all their branches. The meteoric rise of the amount of Baghdadian Jews in India and China is due entirely to the presence of the
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