Hezekiah da Silva (, also Hezekiah Silva; 1659–1698) was a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and Jewish author born in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

. He was the son-in-law of the dayan Mordechai Rafael Malachi.

Biography

Hezekiah Da Silva was born in 1659 in

, in the

. Around the year 1679, at age 20, Da Silva left his native city for

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in then-

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

(

Damascus Eyalet Damascus Eyalet (; ) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. Its reported area in the 19th century was . It became an eyalet after the Ottomans took it from the Mamluks following the 1516–1517 Ottoman–Mamluk War. By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan ...

), where he attended the

yeshivah 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 studyin ...

of Rabbi Moses Galante for ten years. In 1689, Galante died and Da Silva succeeded him as

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 ...

. He was sent to Europe to collect funds for Jerusalem. In 1691, when Da Silva was in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, he received an offer to become the city's Sephardi rabbi, which he refused.Rabbi Gavin Michal (2018)
"The Ban, Repeal, and Censoring of the Pri Chadash"
/ref> Instead, he began the printing of his work ''Peri Chadash'' (), a commentary on the ''

Yoreh De'ah ''Yoreh De'ah'' () is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), the ''Arba'ah Turim'', written around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marr ...

''. Wealthy Amsterdam Jews offered to finance the publication. ''Peri Chadash'' was published in 1691 and immediately hailed by European Torah scholars as a monumental contribution to the world of halacha. Da Silva remained in Amsterdam for a year. On his way back to Israel he visited Egypt, where the Torah scholars were incensed that he referred in his works to earlier scholars in what they felt was in a disparaging manner. (A "brazen questioning of the authority 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 ...

'' as the official codification and the final arbiter of Jewish Law.") The freedom with which Silva discussed

halakhic ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''mitzv ...

problems brought the ban of the rabbis of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

upon his ''Pri Chadash''. It was afterward removed by Rabbi Abraham Levi, although the two men - spiritually akin - were personally unacquainted. When he arrived back in Jerusalem Hezekia opened the doors of Yeshivat Bet Yaakov. Da Silva had secured the ongoing support of the Dutch philanthropist Israel Jacob Pereira while in Amsterdam, and in Pereira's honor the yeshiva was renamed Bet Jacob Pereira. Da Silva took a decided interest in the controversy that took place between

Moses Hagiz Moses Hagiz (1671 – c. 1750) (Hebrew: משה חגיז) was a Talmudic scholar, rabbi and writer born in Jerusalem during the time of the Old Yishuv. He was also one of the most prominent and influential Jewish leaders in 17th-century Amsterdam. ...

and Judah Vega. However, his death in Jerusalem in 1698 at age 39 cut short his activity in behalf of the former. He was buried at the foot of

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...

. Da Silva's wife was Chanah da Silva, the sister of the wife of

. In 1683 they had a son David de Silva, who became known as the Pri Hadas.

Works

Although originally controversial, many leading ''halachists'', in time, accepted the ''Pri Chadash''; its rulings were frequently quoted, for example by

Jonathan Eybeschutz Jonathan Eybeschutz or Eybeshitz (; 1690–1764) was a Talmudist, halakhist, and kabbalist holding positions first as Dayan of Prague and later as rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek. He is well known for his confl ...

in his ''Krethi U'Plethi'' and Joseph Teomim in his ''Pri Megadim''. Today, ''Pri Chadash'' is printed in the standard edition of ''Shulchan Aruch'' (see ) and is widely studied by rabbinic scholars. Note on Rabbi Chizkiyah Da Silva
aish.com ''Pri Toar'', a work on ''Shulchan Aruch'' by Or ha-Ḥayyim, especially discusses Silva's rulings. Silva was likewise the author of the ''Mayim Ḥayyim,'' ("living waters") containing a collection of notes on

Talmudic The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

treatises and the ''Yad'' of

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

; he also authored several

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

, . ''Pri Chadash'' was supplemented by a second and a third part edited by his son David Da Silva. The work bore the approbation of the chief authorities of the time (Amsterdam, 1706–1730). (David Da Silva expressly states that he was a teacher at Jerusalem, not a

, but despite this

Luncz Abraham Moses Luncz (December 9, 1854 – 1918) () was a Russian scholar and editor born at Kovno, Russia. At age 14 he came to Jerusalem. Luncz, who grew blind early in life, founded, in conjunction with Dr. Koisewski, an institution for the bl ...

claims that he was

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of Jerusalem and that he died in 1740.)

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* Azulai, Chaim Joseph, ''Shem ha-Gedolim'' *

Grätz, Heinrich Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (no ...

, ''Geschichte der Juden'', x. 320 * Luncz, Abraham Moses, ''Yerushalayim,'', i.120 * Fürst, Julius, ''Bibliotheca Judaica'', iii. 323-324 * Steinschneider, Moritz, ''Catalogus Librorum Hebræorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana'', col. 845

References

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Hezekiah da 1656 births 1695 deaths Livornese Jews Italian Sephardi Jews 17th-century Italian rabbis Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Syria Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives 17th-century rabbis in Jerusalem Authors of books on Jewish law Sephardi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Shelichei derabonan (rabbis)