One of the most prominent addresses in rabbinic literature towards the end of the nineteenth century, was in the quaint, unassuming town of Karaso-Bazar (Bilohirsk) in the Crimean Peninsula. The postman of this small town of 13,000 people – among them 3000 Jews of Krymchak (Crimean) and Ashkenazi descent – would deliver dozens of letters a day, from the most revered Halachic … [Read more...]
“Istai”: Our Mentor, Hacham Abdallah Somekh זצ”ל
The life of the great Rav and Rosh Yeshiva of Baghdad A Budding Scholar The Sephardic Torah world of the past century owes a great deal to the decision of a young man in his twenties to suspend his business ambitions to tend to the creation of the next generation of Talmide Hachamim. The young R’ Ovadia (Abdallah) Somekh, hailed from an aristocratic Iraqi family with … [Read more...]
The Guardian of Egypt: Ribbi Refael Aharon Ben Shimon זצ”ל
The modernization and rapid changes that defined the second half of the nineteenth century called for bold Jewish leadership and passionate visionaries. It was in this tumultuous era, that the young Refael Aharon was born to his parents, Hacham David Ben Shimon זצ"ל and Rachel ע"ה, in Morocco’s capital, Rabat. When he was only six years old, his parents settled in Yerushalayim … [Read more...]
My Wise Servant: Hacham Ovadia Hedaya זצ”ל
The great Posek and Mekubal, Hacham Ovadia Hedaya זצ"ל, author of the seminal Teshuvot “Yaskil Avdi” and other renowned works, straddled the worlds of Halacha and Kabbala – Nigle and Nistar – in the tradition of his ancestors and the outstanding Hachamim of Am Yisra’el. Born in Aleppo in 1889 to his father, Hacham Shalom and his mother, Rabbanit Sara, great-granddaughter of the … [Read more...]
The Radiant Sun: Ribbi Shalom Messas זצ”ל
Golden Roots One of the great luminaries of Moroccan Jewry in recent times was the revered Rav of Yerushalyim, Ribbi Shalom Messas זצ"ל. Ribbi Shalom was born in 1909 to his father Ribbi Mimoun and mother Rahel in Meknes, a city steeped in scholarship and Yir’at Shamayim, that has produced outstanding Hachamim for many generations. Ribbi Mimoun was the author of Otzrot … [Read more...]