Wikipedia

Jabbar Choheili

Sheikh (Rabbi)[1] Ganzibra Jabbar Choheili (Persian: جبار چحیلی, also known as Sheikh Jabbar Ṭawūsī Al-Kuhaili, Arabic: جبار طاووس الكحيلي; born 1923, died December 27, 2014) was an Iranian Mandaean priest, the head of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz, which presides over the Mandaean community of Iran.[2]

Rishama
Jabbar Choheili
جبار چحیلی
Portrait of Jabbar Choheili displayed at Ganzibra Dakhil Mandi in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia, where his son Salah Choheili is currently serving as the head priest
TitleGanzibra
Personal
Born1923
Ahvaz, Sublime State of Persia
(present-day Iran)
DiedDecember 27, 2014(2014-12-27) (aged 91)
Ahvaz, Iran
ReligionMandaeism
ChildrenSalah Choheili
Najah Choheili
Nargess Choheili
CitizenshipIranian
Other namesMhatam Yuhana bar Sharat, Mhatam Yuhana bar Yahya
OccupationHead of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz in Ahvaz, Iran
RelativesAbood Tawoosie (brother)
Taleb Doraji (cousin)

Biography

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Jabbar Choheili held the Mandaean clergical ranks of Ganzibra (head priest) and Rishama (patriarch), the highest Mandaean clergical rank. He was born in 1923 in the city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Iran into the Kuhailia (Persian pronunciation: Choheili) family. His malwasha (baptismal name) is Mhatam Yuhana (Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡄࡀࡕࡀࡌ ࡉࡅࡄࡀࡍࡀ; full name: Rabbi Ganzibra Mhatam Yuhana bar Sharat; also known as Mhatam Yuhana bar Yahya; or in Arabic: Shaikh Jabar (= Šabur), the son of Ṭawoos) (note: Mandaeans typically have both a birth name and a baptismal name).[3]

Jabbar Choheili's father died in 1924 due to an armory explosion in Ahvaz during the Sheikh Khazal rebellion, a conflict between Reza Shah and Khazʽal Ibn Jabir. Mulla Sa’ad, his grandfather, raised him and his brothers during his childhood. Mulla Sa’ad was also a scribe and in 1930 had copied a version of the Haran Gawaita that was owned by Nasser Sobbi (1924–2018) in New York (Sobbi was the owner of the most extensive private collection of Mandaean manuscripts in the United States).[4]: 35 

In 1948, he traveled from Iran to Qal'at Saleh, Iraq to become initiated as a tarmida by Sheikh Abdullah, son of Sh. Sam Sh. Jabbar (a ganzibra who was the father of physicist Abdul Jabbar Abdullah). After he was ordained, Jabbar Choheili returned to Ahvaz, where he completely copied the Ginza Rabba by hand.[3] Carlos Gelbert's Ginza Rabba (2011, 2021)[5][6] is primarily based on the "Mhatam Yuhana Ginza" (2004).[7]

Ganzibra Jabbar Choheili was the chairman and secretary general of the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz. He was also a goldsmith by profession.

He died on the morning of Sunday, December 27, 2014. He was buried in a Mandaean cemetery in Ahvaz.[8][9][10]

Family

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Jabbar Choheili's sons are the priests Najah Choheili, currently the head of the Mandaean community in Iran,[11][12] and Rishama Salah Choheili,[3] who is currently the head of the Mandaean community in Australia.[13]: xxvii–xxxii  Salah and Najah Choheili[14] have served leadership roles in the Mandaean Council of Ahvaz, also known as the Sabian-Mandaean Association of Iran. Additionally, Nargess Choheili is the daughter of Jabbar Choheili.[4]: 30 

Jabbar Choheili's cousin, Taleb Doraji (born 1937 in Ahvaz; also spelled Taleb Dorragi[4]), is a goldsmith who owns a jewellery shop in the Ahvaz bazaar. He became a tarmida in 1998 and later attained the rank of ganzibra.[15] Jabbar Choheili and Taleb Doraji both have the same grandfather, named Salim.[3]: 223 

Jabbar Choheili also has a brother, Abood Tawoosie (d. 2013).[4]: xvi 

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Open discussion with the Sabaeans Mandaeans", YouTube-Holy Spirit University of Kaslik - USEK, 27 November 2017, retrieved 27 October 2021
  2. ^ آمریکا, صدای (2014-12-29). "رهبر منداییان جهان در ایران درگذشت". صدای آمریکا (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  3. ^ a b c d Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history. Piscataway, N.J: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-59333-621-9.
  4. ^ a b c d Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2023). 1800 Years of Encounters with Mandaeans. Gorgias Mandaean Studies. Vol. 5. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-4632-4132-2. ISSN 1935-441X.
  5. ^ Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
  6. ^ Gelbert, Carlos (2021). گینزا ربَّا = Ginza Rba (in Arabic). Edensor Park, NSW, Australia: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780648795407.
  7. ^ Mhatam Yuhana, ed. (2004). Ginza Rba. Ahvaz: Mandaean Council of Ahvaz. (Right Ginza: 497 pp.; Left Ginza: 177 pp.)
  8. ^ "خوزستان". ایسنا (in Persian). 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  9. ^ "رهبر صابئین جهان در خوزستان درگذشت". تابناک; Tabnak (in Persian). 2014-12-29. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  10. ^ ادیان, موسسه گفتگوی (2013-12-05). "موسسه گفت و گوی ادیان برگزار کرد: نگاهی به آئین و متون مندایی" (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2014-02-08. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  11. ^ "صابئین مندایی خدمت به ایران را باعث افتخار می‌دانند". خبرگزاری خورنا (in Persian). 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  12. ^ "دیدار رهبر صابئین مندایی ایران با سرپرست معاونت سیاسی و اجتماعی استانداری خوزستان". ایسنا (in Persian). 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  13. ^ Gelbert, Carlos (2017). The Teachings of the Mandaean John the Baptist. Fairfield, NSW, Australia: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034678. OCLC 1000148487.
  14. ^ "A Mandaean Priest's Dashed Hopes for Change in Iran". IranWire. 2022-03-18. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  15. ^ "Talib Doraji". YouTube. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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