Malkhi, Moses ben Raphael Mordecai
MALKHI, MOSES BEN RAPHAEL MORDECAI
MALKHI, MOSES BEN RAPHAEL MORDECAI (d. 1747), head of the Safed community in the first half of the 18th century. Moses was a brother of Ezra *Malkhi. He was head of the Jewish community of Safed for many years, and as such his signature appears first on the letters of appointment of various Safed emissaries. Malkhi was one of the intermediaries between Sheikh Zāhir al-Omar and Ḥayyim Abulafia for the renewal of the Jewish community in Tiberias in 1740. He died in Acre and was buried in Kafr-Yasīf. In the letter of the community of Safed reestablishing the Jewish community of Kafr-Yasīf written in Elul of that year, the tomb of "the distinguished rabbi Moses Malkhi of blessed memory" and that of Moses Ḥayyim Luzzato, who died that year in the plague in Acre and was buried in Kafr-Yasīf, are listed together with those of tannaim and amoraim. It may be conjectured that Malkhi also died in that plague during a visit to Acre in connection with the affairs of the Safed community.
bibliography:
Yaari, Sheluḥei, 431, 432, 437, 438, 501, 850.
[Avraham Yaari]