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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 business ties across the globe as well as a prestigious rabbinic lineage, tracing back to Ribbi Nissim Ga’on. He was a promising schoolboy, and before long he was learning Gemara in-depth with the older students. He became the dedicated student of Hacham Moshe Hayim זצ”ל (grandfather of the Ben Ish Hai, and Rav of Baghdad) and Hacham Yaakov Roffe זצ”ל (author of Shemen HaTov, Ohel Yaakov and more).
Choosing a Path
Sometime after his marriage, Hacham Abdallah joined a partner to run a business, and was taken aback by the disregard his partner had for conducting business in good faith and monetary Halacha.
Choosing between the business and rabbinic worlds was not an easy decision to make, but upon realizing the dearth of Torah scholarship among the upcoming generation, the young Ovadia knew that he had a responsibility on his shoulders. Already an accomplished scholar, he took upon himself to teach ten young men the ways of the Talmud and the Poskim.
Partners in Torah
Only now, Hacham Abdallah was joined by a more serious partner. Mr. Yehezkel Menashe was a world-renowned philanthropist, who truly understood the value of this undertaking and committed to support the young men financially so that they may devote themselves to Torah study. At the time of his passing, some years later, Mr. Menashe was supporting sixty students, who, under the tutelage of Hacham Abdallah, have become masters in Talmud and Halacha.
After his passing, his son, Mr. Menashe Zbeda, doubled his father’s support and – joined by many more Ba’ale Battim – established the Yeshiva in which Hacham Abdallah served as Rosh Yeshiva until his passing: Bet Zilcha. Students from Kurdistan, Persia and India flocked to the Yeshiva whose students have begun to shine across the Torah world, including the Ben Ish Hai, Hacham Elisha Dangoor זצ”ל (author of Gedulat Elisha, and Av Bet Din of Baghdad), Ribbi Eliyahu Mani, Rav of Hevron and many more. [These students along with other noteworthy individuals helped establish Yeshivat Porat Yosef which produced generations of Talmide Hachamim, including Hacham Ovadia Yosef זצ”ל and Hacham Ben-Tziyon Abba Shaul זצ”ל.]
The Rav and his Talmidim
Hacham Abdallah’s success with his students may have had a lot to do with the support and respect he accorded them. Overseeing the meteoric rise of his prime student, the Ben Ish Hai, Hacham Abdallah would arrive early at the young R’ Yosef Hayim’s shiurim, and rise to his feet when his student would enter the room. In one instance, when a secular newsletter slighted the honor of the Ben Ish Hai, Hacham Abdallah staged a full-scale protest and did not rest until the kavod of the Ben Ish Hai was restored.
Over the course of many years, Hacham Abdallah and his students compiled the great work “Zivhe Tzedek” – on the first part of Yore De’ah – in which the toil and camaraderie of the Yeshiva is evident. Hacham Abdallah, author of the majority of this work, took into account his students’ opinions and also visited the slaughterhouses and butcher shops many times to clarify the practical Halachot of Shehita, T’refot and Issur V’Hetter. Zivhe Tzedek serves as a seminal work on these topics as well as a treasure of the Minhagim and Takkanot of Baghdad – many of which were instituted by Hacham Abdallah himself.
Laying the Law
Aside from his magnum opus, Zivhe Tzedek on Yore De’ah, which reflects Hacham Abdallah’s dedication to the adherence to the laws of Kashrut in his community, his Teshuvot (also titled “Zivhe Tzedek”) underscore the impact of his rulings throughout the Sephardic world. Questions ranging from Dikduk to Mikva’ot, global commerce, transportation and much more are analyzed in depth and with great clarity.
In 1883, the Hachamim of Baghdad were very disturbed by the way in which the Tefillin in the city were manufactured. They summoned Hacham Yehuda Ashkenazy ע”ה, an expert from Damascus, who taught the Tefillin-makers of the town how to make proper Tefillin. To ensure that this problem was fixed, Hacham Abdallah appointed supervisors in all of Baghdad’s synagogues (about seventy in total!) to verify that everyone’s Tefillin were kosher.
The Passing of a Tzaddik
The unfortunate – and wondrous – incidents surrounding Hacham Abdallah Somekh’s passing are recounted in many sources. In 1889, there was a widespread plague in Baghdad which forced many of its residents to flee to the nearby villages. The hateful Pasha of Baghdad and his cohorts forbade the Jewish residents from returning to or even burying their dead in the city, displacing many of the living and the dead.
When Hacham Abdallah fell ill and eventually passed away on that year’s 18th of Elul, the community was barred from burying him near his family in the city’s Bet Ha’Almin. In an apparent show of good will, the government allowed to bury him in the courtyard of the ancient tomb of Yehoshua Kohen Gadol. However, once the funeral procession reached the entrance of the tomb, they discovered that it had been deliberately locked. As an Arab mob formed, a few men lifted the coffin over the gate and buried Hacham Abdallah in a haste – while pretending that the burial has actually taken place outside the gate.
After that, the oppression of the Jews by the Pasha of Baghdad only worsened. Finally, after a few months, activists from London, Paris and Istanbul got involved and pressured the Turkish government to put an end to the Pasha’s tyranny. They were successful in returning the displaced Jews to their homes and even received a permit to bury Hacham Abdallah near his family. Arrangements were made, and with great trepidation, a delegation of Hachamim, joined by a heavy guard and medical team, was dispatched to exhume the body and bring it to its rightful resting place. When the grave was opened, everyone was shocked to find Hacham Abdallah’s body fully intact with no sign of decomposition whatsoever. The awe-struck crowd then conducted a second funeral with rounds of hespedim from the Ben Ish Hai and the sages of the generation. Zechuto tagen ‘alenu.