Yaakov Ades
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Yaakov Hai Zion Ades (; February 24, 1898 – July 19, 1963), also spelled Adas or Adess, was a
Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
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 Rabbinical High Court judge. As rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in
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 ...
, he raised thousands of students, including Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef Ovadia Yosef (, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) also known as Maran (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מרן) "Our Master", was an History of the Jews in Iraq#Otoman rule, Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, hakham, posek, and the Sephardi Jews, Sephar ...
, Sephardic
Chief Rabbi of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel (, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. It was established in 1921 under the British Mandate, and today operates on the basis of the C ...
; Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef; and Rabbi Yehuda Hakohen Rabin,
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 Bukharan Jewry in Israel.


Family and early life

Ades' parents were Rabbi Avraham Haim Ades (1848–1925) and Tzalha, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Swed, Rav of
Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...
. In Aleppo, his father was regarded as a great Hakham, kabbalist, author, and teacher of future Sephardic Torah leaders such as Rabbi Yosef Yedid Halevi, Rabbi Ezra Chamawi, Rabbi Yaakov Katzin, Rabbi Shlomo Laniado, and Rabbi Ezra Attiya. Upon his parents'
aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
to Israel in 1896, his father helped found Rechovot Hanahar, a yeshiva for kabbalists in the Bukharim quarter, and served on the beit din of the Aram Soba (Aleppo) community. Ades was born in Jerusalem, the youngest of four sons. He received his early education from his father, but at age 12 was sent to study in Yeshiva Ohel Moed under Rabbis Yosef Yedid Halevi and Shlomo Laniado. Four years later, in 1914, the drafting of students by the Turkish army in World War I prompted many students to flee to
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...
and the yeshiva disbanded. Ades managed to remain in Jerusalem during the war and rejoined the yeshiva when it reopened in 1918. On March 7, 1919 Ades married Haya Esther, daughter of Rabbi Ezra Harari-Raful, a leading rabbi of Aleppo and founder of Yeshivat Ohel Moed. In 1920, at the age of 22, Ades was asked to serve as a '' maggid shiur'' (Torah lecturer) in Yeshiva Ohel Moed. Ades continued in this position until 1923, when the yeshiva closed and its staff and students relocated to the newly opened Porat Yosef Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. Ades taught at Porat Yosef for the next 20 years, raising thousands of students. Every day he delivered a ''
shiur A shiur (, , ; , ) is a lecture given any Torah-related topic of study, such as Gemara, Mishnah, ''Halakha'' (Jewish law), or Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), usually given in a yeshiva, though commonly in other Jewish communal settings. Histor ...
'' (lecture) on
Talmud 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 Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic topics in the morning and a ''shiur'' on the Tur and
Choshen Mishpat ''Choshen Mishpat'' (Hebrew: חושן משפט) is the Hebrew for "Breastplate of Judgement". The term is associated with one of the four sections of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim. This section treats a ...
in the afternoon. All of his unpublished Torah writings from that period were destroyed when the Jordanian
Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...
set fire to the yeshiva during their occupation of the Old City in 1948.


Rabbinical court judge

In 1935 Ades, then a senior ' at Yeshivat Ohel Moed, was offered a seat on the Sephardic Beit Din of Jerusalem by the Rishon Le-zion, Rabbi Yaakov Meir. Ades filled this role until 1943. In 1944, he was asked to sit on the Sephardic Beit Din of
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, and at the same time was appointed as the Rav of a
Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...
synagogue in Tel Aviv. He would spend the entire week in Tel Aviv, only returning to his home in Jerusalem for
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...
. In 1945 he was appointed as ''
av beit din The ''av beit din'' (), abbreviated ( ''avad''), was the second-highest-ranking member of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period and served as an assistant to the nasi. The av beit din was known as the "Master of the Court;" he was consid ...
'' of the Sephardic Beit Din of Jerusalem. In 1953 he was asked to serve as
Chief Rabbi of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel (, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. It was established in 1921 under the British Mandate, and today operates on the basis of the C ...
, but declined. In 1955 he accepted a seat on the Beit Din HaGadol (Rabbinical High Court), first as a ' and later as '. His fellow ' included Rabbi Betzalel Zolty,
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. Ades presided on the High Court until his death in 1963.


Personal

Ades was punctilious in his observance of
mitzvot In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discussion of these commandments ...
. He would spend hours selecting his ''arba'ah minim'' (the Four Species of
Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...
), examining hundreds of hadassim until he found the one that met all halakhic requirements. He was also known for his humility and modesty. Unbeknownst to his family, he would arise each night at midnight to study Kabbalah. Ades and his wife had seven sons and two daughters; one son and daughter died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
in their youth. In 1936 their firstborn son, Avraham Haim, died at the age of 16 after minor surgery. Three sons went on to become rabbinic leaders: *Ezra Nissim Ades (d. 2012) – Rav of Congregation Shaarei Tzedek in
Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and Rav in
Herzliya Herzliya ( ; , / ) is an affluent List of Israeli cities, city in the Israeli coastal plain, central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it had a populatio ...
, Israel *Moshe Yosef Ades, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva *Yehuda Ades, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Kol Yaakov, Jerusalem


Death and legacy

Ades died on July 19, 1963 (27 Tammuz 5723) after a four-month illness. He was buried in the Sephardic rabbinical section on Har HaMenuchot. His wife Haya Esther died in 1988 and was buried beside him. His son Rabbi Yehuda Ades founded Yeshivat Kol Yaakov in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem in his memory. His grandson and namesake Rabbi Yaakov Ades (b. 1964), son of Yehuda Ades, is a noted Torah scholar, kabbalist, and author.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ades, Yaakov Sephardi rabbis Rosh yeshivas 20th-century rabbis in Jerusalem Sephardi rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel Immigrants of the First Aliyah Burials at Har HaMenuchot 1898 births 1963 deaths