- Abdallah Somekh
"
Hakham " Abdallah Somekh (1813–September 13 ,1889 ) was arosh yeshiva andposek of Iraqi Jewry. He was born inBaghdad to Abraham Somekh, himself a descendant of Nissim Gaon; he was the eldest of eight brothers and eight sisters. He studied under RabbiYaakov Harofe . He married Sarah, who bore him the children Saleh, Haron, Raphael, Khatoon, Abraham, Sasson, Massouda, Rachel and Simha. [ [http://www.farhi.org/wc21/wc21_022.htm Les Fleurs de l'Orient] ]At first he earned his living as a merchant, but he devoted himself to the field of education when he saw the level of Torah study wane in Baghdad. [Introduction to זבחי צדק החדשות] Hakham Abdallah became head of the
yeshiva "Midrash Abu Menashe" (established in 1840 by Heskel Menashe Zebaida); the yeshiva was later expanded and renamed "Midrash Beit Zilkha" and remained in operation until 1951. [ see ]As rosh yeshiva, Hakham Somekh was teacher of several
Sephardi sages including his brother-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Chaim ("the "Ben Ish Chai "), and RabbiYaakov Chaim Sofer ("the "Kaf HaChaim "). He issued a great number of rulings, particularly in matters ofshechita (Jewish slaughter of animals) and treifot—these rulings have been published in the work "Zivhei Tzedek" (Baghdad 1914, 2 vols), which became the handbook forBaghdadi Jews thorughoutIndia and theFar East . He also authored Responsa on all of theShulchan Aruch . Hakham Abdallah died on Friday night 13 September 1889 during acholera epidemic, and he was buried in the courtyard of the tomb of Yehoshua Kohen Gadol.References
External links
* [http://www.hevratpinto.org/PDF/Anglais5764/023.pdf#search=%22Abdallah%20Somech%22 Rabbi Abdallah Somech]
* [http://www.dangoor.com/TheScribe36.pdf#search=%22Abdallah%20Somech%22 Hakham Abdallah Somekh]Persondata
NAME = Somekh, Abdallah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Rosh yeshiva and posek of Iraqi Jewry
DATE OF BIRTH = 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH =Baghdad ,Iraq
DATE OF DEATH =September 13 ,1889
PLACE OF DEATH =
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