Saul Adadi | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Saul Adadi 1850 Tripoli, Libya |
| Died | September 18, 1918 (aged 67–68) |
| Buried | Tripoli |
| Nationality | Libyan |
| Parent | Abraham Hayyim Adadi |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Position | Rosh yeshiva |
| Yahrtzeit | 13Tishrei 5679[1] |
Saul Adadi (Hebrew:שאול עבדיה אדאדי, 1850 – September 18, 1918)[1] was aSephardiHakham,rosh yeshiva, andpaytan in the 19th-century Jewish community ofTripoli,Libya. He was heavily involved in youth education, founding ayeshiva and co-founding and serving as principal of aTalmud Torah. He preserved thepinkasim (community record books) of the Tripoli Jewish community, unpublished manuscripts of 18th-century Tripoli Jewish leader RabbiAbraham Khalfon, andsefarim belonging to his father, HakhamAbraham Hayyim Adadi, a senior rabbi of the previous generation.
Saul Adadi was born in Tripoli, the scion of a distinguished rabbinical family.[2] He was the son of HakhamAbraham Hayyim Adadi (1801–1874), head of the Tripoli rabbinical court and author of severalhalakhic works. He was the great-grandson of HakhamNathan Adadi (1740–1818), one of the leaders of the Tripoli Jewish community in the 19th century, and the great-great-grandson of HakhamMas'ud Hai Rakkah (1690–1768), author ofMa'aseh Rokeaḥ, who is credited with laying the foundation for the development of the Jewish community of Tripoli into one of "sages, scribes, and kabbalists".[3] He was a contemporary of HakhamJacob Rakkah (1800–1891), another great-great-grandson of Mas'ud Hai Rakkah and author of approximately 40sefarim.[4]
OnLag BaOmer 1870, Adadi's father and mother returned toSafed in theLevant, where the senior Adadi had lived in his younger years and served as ashadar (rabbinical emissary). Saul remained in Tripoli and corresponded with his father until the latter's death in 1874.[5]
Adadi founded ayeshiva in Tripoli[1] and served asrosh yeshiva.[6] With secular educational streams making inroads in Tripoli, Adadi, together with Rabbis Zion Tzaror, Mas'ud Jenah, and Nissim Nahum, founded aTalmud Torah called Yagdil Torah in 1893.[7][8] In its first year, this Talmud Torah enrolled 330 children, and by 1905, when its permanent building was erected, 400 students, mostly from poor families.[7] Adadi was the principal of the school,[1][9] and was responsible for testing the children once a week and recording their grades to track the success of the program.[7]
Adadi also built asynagogue in Tripoli; a commemorative marker that records his name along with the names of builders of all of the other synagogues built in Tripoli from the Middle Ages until the Second World War appears in the Eitz Chaim synagogue inOr Yehuda, Israel,[10] where many North African Jews settled.
Adadi also composedpiyyutim (liturgical poems), and left a volume ofpiyyutim in manuscript form.[1] He died in Tripoli[11] on September 18, 1918 (13Tishrei 5679).[1]
Scholars have uncovered thepinkasim (community record books) of the Tripoli Jewish community in Adadi'sstudy hall, as well as unpublished manuscripts (ktav yad) of RabbiAbraham Khalfon, one of the heads of the community in the 18th century.[12][13] Adadi also preserved thesefarim of his father, which carry his (Saul Adadi's) stamp and which have been sold at auction.[14][15]
| Aharon Rakkah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mas'ud Hai Rakkah | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yitzhak Rakkah | Nathan Adadi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Baruh Rakkah | Mas'ud Hai Adadi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shilomo Rakkah | Abraham Hayyim Adadi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacob Rakkah | Zion Rakkah | Saul Adadi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abraham Rakkah | Meir Rakkah | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
