Hacham Hizkiya di Silva


Hacham Hizkiya di Silva

Date of Birth: 5416 (1656)
Date of Death: 28th of Kislev, 5456 (1695)
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A Short Tribute

Hacham Hizkiya di Silva, son of Hacham David di Silva, was born in 1656 in Livorno, Italy. He began his Torah studies in Livorno with Hacham Samuel Costa and Hacham Yehudah Sarraf. In 1676 he immigrated to the Land of Israel and settled in Jerusalem, where he studied at the Beit Yaakov Viga yeshiva with the Rishon LeZion, Hacham Moshe Galante.

In 1678 he married Hannah, the daughter of physician Hacham Raphael Mordecai Malqui, and the couple had a son whom they named David.

In 1689 his teacher, Rishon LeZion Hacham Moshe Galante, passed away, and Hacham Hizkiya di Silva succeeded him in the role of Rosh Yeshiva at Beit Yaakov Viga. The yeshiva closed because of financial difficulties and Hacham Hizkiya di Silva left for Europe and traveled through Italy, France, England and Holland as a rabbinic emissary.  When he reached Amsterdam, he was greeted with great honor, and the aged rabbi of the city, Hacham Yitzhak Abouhav di Fonisca, invited him to serve as Rabbi of Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, in 1692, he had the first volume of his book on the Yoreh De'ah section of the Shulchan Aruch, Pri Hadash, published. That same year, he returned to Jerusalem to teach in his yeshiva, which had been reopened with the support of Hacham Israel Yaacov Fereira. Rishon LeZion Hacham Yitzhak Hacohen Rappaport, author of Batei Kehuna, Hacham Shlomo Elghazi (the 2nd), Rabbi of Cairo and Hacham Yishaya Azoulay, the HID"A's father, were among his students.

In his book Pri Hadash, he settled old and unsolved Halakhic conflicts between adjudicators, even ruling against the Shulchan Aruch in certain cases. His fiery style and his ruling in contradiction to the Shulchan Aruch led the Egyptian sages to excommunicate him, hide his book and forbid its reading. His excommunication did not spread beyond Egypt, and he was released from it by the leading Egyptian sage of the time, Hacham Abraham Halevy, author of Ginat Veradim. Pri Hadash has since become a one of the fundamental sources for Halakhic ruling, although in later editions his language was softened in those cases where he opposed rulings. Numerous books have been written in the attempt to reconcile Pri Hadash with the Shulchan Aruch, including Hacham Haim Ben Attar's work, Peirot Ginossar (Peirot To'ar), published in 1742.

Hacham Hizkiya di Silva passed away on 28 Kislev, 5456 (1695) and was buried on the Mount of Olives, near the Tomb of the Prophet Zachariah. After Hacham Hizkiya di Silva's passing, his physician son, Hacham David di Silva, published the second volume of Pri Hadash on Orach Haim and the third on Even Ezer. His book Mayim Haim was also published, and contains original commentary on the Talmud and on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah; additional published works of his include the Ma'amar Bein HaShemashot booklet and the Drashat Mussar, originally published in Spanish in 1691. The HaDrushim booklet has been lost and his book Shitot, on the Talmud according to the Kabbala, was kept out of circulation in keeping with his will; apparently the section on Sabbath halakhot was mistakenly archived as well.

 

A few quotes from the Rabbi on Redemption of Israel
in which he teaches that we return even to the desolate Temple - that can be found within every person

Because of our transgressions we were exiled from that holy place, for such was the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. Nevertheless, because of our love of country, or better put, because of the thought that it was our country, we return to her, for Jacob loves her earth. We return to her, though not as we wished, for we see the land desolate and the Temple destroyed. With great concern, we see the words of Jeremiah's lament come to be: "On Mount Zion, which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it…" For amid all this adversity, the comforting words of our Sages remain (and the nations confirm this with the admiration in which they hold this place) and its sanctity has not changed, as Tractate Megillah reads on the verse "And I will bring desolation to your sanctuaries – their sanctity remains even when they are desolate". Our sages note (the reversed order of the words) that desolation precedes the sanctuary and say that even after the Temple's destruction the Holy One, blessed be He, refers to its sanctity as before. The Western Wall is what remains of the Temple, and our Sages say that its sanctity has not departed, and it is there that we customarily hold our prayers. However, dear honorable people, if we lack the Temple, we can each seek it within ourselves, through charity and benevolence, and each of us can make the effort to carry an appropriate part of the load. These are the best temples, and the sacrifices that we can offer on the altar of our hearts are those of determination to study our Torah.

Hacham Hizkiya di Silva, From a sermon translated from the Spanish by Rabbi Daniel Touito, in Likutei Pri Hadash, pp. 258 – 259, Abraham Goldstein, Jerusalem, 2008 From 'The Daily Sage'
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"It is our custom to light a yahrzeit candle in honor of the memory of the Sages, as it is said: “the life breath of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Proverbs 20:27). And it is good to add from the light of the Torah to the light of the candle, as it is said “For the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light” (Proverbs 6:23). And it is good to increase the teaching of the Sage on the anniversary of his death, as Rabbi Yochanan based on the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said, “Each scholar whose sayings are taught in this world, his lips speak from the grave (Bechorot 31B).”

“Even if all of the skies are a blank parchment, and all human beings are clerks, and all of the forests are quills, we would never be able to write down what our Sages have taught us. But even a few righteous are also good, and thanks to the sacred Torah and the teachings that Israel will learn in the Sage’s name on the anniversary of his death, the Holy One Blessed be He, will share our part with them, and we will never be ashamed because of our faith in the Holy One Blessed be He, and on his great benevolence and truth will we lean, for He hides his abundant goodness for those who are worthy and revere Him.”

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Rabbi Chananaia son of Akashia stated, God wanted to grant merits to Israel, therefore he gave them many laws and commandments as it states, "Because God wants righteousness he increased the amount of Torah and splendor." (Isaiah 42:21).