Peraḥyah, Aaron ben Ḥayyim Abraham Ha-Kohen

views updated

PERAḤYAH, AARON BEN ḤAYYIM ABRAHAM HA-KOHEN

PERAḤYAH, AARON BEN ḤAYYIM ABRAHAM HA-KOHEN (1627?–1697), rabbi and halakhic authority of *Salonika. Peraḥyah was born in Salonika and studied there under Asher b. Ardut ha-Kohen, Ḥasdai ha-Kohen *Peraḥyah, and *Ḥayyim Shabbetai. In 1689 he succeeded Elijah *Covo as chief rabbi of Salonika. He was regarded as an important posek among Salonika rabbis.

His works are: Paraḥ Matteh Aharon (2 parts, Amsterdam, 1703), responsa which reflect the contemporary condition of Turkish Jewry in general and of Salonikan Jewry in particular; Pirḥei Kehunnah (ibid., 1709), novellae to the tractates Bava Kamma, Bava Meẓia, Ketubbot, Gittin, Avodah Zarah, and Kiddushin; Bigdei Kehunnah (Saloniki, 1753), eulogies and homilies; and Zikhron Devarim (ibid., 1758), source references for the Arba'ah Turim of *Jacob b. Asher. In his Paraḥ Matteh Aharon he mentions another work, on *Alfasi, of which nothing is known.

bibliography:

Michael, Or, 136–7; M. Molho, Essai d'une Monographie sur la Famille Perahia à Thessaloniki (1938), 33–44; I.S. Emmanuel, Maẓẓevot Saloniki, 2 (1968), 491–4.

[Abraham David]

More From encyclopedia.com