Hakham Ashear was born at the end of 1877.  He was the closest student of Hakham Raphael Tabbush.  In fact, Ashear wrote down many of Tabbush’s songs because Tabbush was blind.  In 1904, he became the hazzan and qore in Knis Kebirah in Aleppo until 1913 when he moved to New York.

Moses Ashear was adopted by Hakham Raphael Tabbush as a young child, having lost his parents.  Ashear was taught music, poetry, and the love for pizmonim.  In 1912, Hakham Ashear immigrated to New York, where he lived first in Manhattan and later in Brooklyn.  He brought the pizmonim that he had learned from Tabbush in Aleppo with him and composed many new ones.  Hakham Moses Ashear would listen to recordings of new Arabic songs to learn new melodies for new pizmonim.

When in Brooklyn, Hakham Ashear was a constant reference to past pizmonim as well as a bridge to the new, functioning as a direct uninterrupted link to the sources.  He would help to identify some forgotten songs and teach others in order to continue the transmission of pizmonim.

His passing was on 2 Hol Hamoed Sukkot 1940.  Copies of his weekly notes for the last 4 years of his life (1937, 1938, 1939, 1940) have been preserved and are available to the public.