Ben Simeon, Raphael Aaron

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BEN SIMEON, RAPHAEL AARON

BEN SIMEON, RAPHAEL AARON (1848–1928), rabbi. Ben Simeon, who was born in Jerusalem, became chief rabbi of Cairo in 1891. Toward the end of his life he returned to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. Ben Simeon wrote a number of works, mainly dealing with questions of halakhah and ritual. They include Nehar Miẓrayim (1908), on the ritual followed by the Jews in Egypt, and Sha'ar ha-Mifkad (1908–19), on the various rituals observed by the Jerusalem communities. His collection of responsa, U-mi-ẓur Devash (1912), includes rulings by his father David; Tuv-Miẓrayim (1908) gives genealogies of Egyptian rabbis.

bibliography:

Frumkin-Rivlin, 3 (1929), 307–8.

[Eliyahu Ashtor]