Abdallah (Ovadia) Somekh (1813 – September 13, 1889) was an Iraqi Jewish

hakham ''Hakham'' (or ''Chakam(i), Haham(i), Hacham(i), Hach''; ) is a term in Judaism meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise th ...

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

and posek.

Early life

Abdallah Somekh was born in 1813 in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

to Abraham Somekh, himself a descendant of Nissim Gaon; he was the eldest of eight brothers and eight sisters. He studied under Jacob ben Joseph Harofe. He married Sarah, who bore him the children Saleh, Haron, Raphael, Khatoon, Abraham, Sasson, Massouda, Rachel and Simha.

Career

At first, Somekh earned his living as a merchant, but he devoted himself to the field of education after he saw the level of Torah study wane in Baghdad. Somekh became

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

of the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

Midrash Abu Menashe (established in 1840 by Heskel Menashe Zebaida); the yeshiva was later expanded and renamed Midrash Bet Zilkha and remained in operation until 1951.see History of the Jews in Iraq: Modern times (1922-) As rosh yeshiva, Somekh was teacher of several Sephardi sages including

Yosef Hayyim Yosef Hayim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) ( Iraqi Hebrew: Yoseph Ḥayyim; ; or Yosef Chaim) was a leading Baghdadi ''hakham'' ( Sephardi rabbi), authority on ''halakha'' (Jewish law), and Master Kabbalist. He is best known as author of ...

("Ben Ish Chai"), and Yaakov Chaim Sofer ("Kaf HaChaim"). He issued a great number of rulings, particularly in matters of '' shechita'' (Jewish slaughter of animals) and '' treifot''. These rulings have been published in the work ''Zibhei Tzedek'' (Baghdad, 1914, 2 vols.), which became the handbook for Baghdadi Jews throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the Far East. He also authored responsa on all of the ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...

''.

Death

Somekh died on Friday night September 13, 1889 during the 1881–1896 cholera pandemic. He was buried in the courtyard of the tomb of Joshua the High Priest.

References

External links

Rabbi Abdallah SomechHakham Abdallah Somekh
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somekh, Abdallah 1813 births 1889 deaths 19th-century rabbis from Ottoman Iraq Rabbis from Baghdad Rosh yeshivas Sephardi Jews from the Ottoman Empire Sephardi rabbis