Hacham Nissim Elyakim


A Short Tribute

 

Hacham Nissim Elyakim was born in 1850 in Tiberias.

His passion was Torah, and he studied night and day, teaching the young men of Tiberias Talmud, Tosphot and commentary.

His only son, Hacham Moshe Meir Hai Elyakim, who would eventually become President of the Casablanca Rabbinic Court in Morocco, was born in 1872.

Hacham Nissim Elyakim passed away from a harsh illness on 21 Adar, 5640 (1880) and was buried in Tiberias.

Although most of his writings have been lost, two of his books were published after his death by his son: Devar Na"Eh – original commentary on the Torah, published in Jerusalem in 1895, and Heder Na"Eh, published in Jerusalem in 1911. Pri Na"Eh, on the Talmud, remains in manuscript form.

A few quotes from the Rabbi on 'Israel and the Nations' in which he teacher that the learning of the children of converts has special sanctity
"Be careful [with regard to] the sons of paupers, as it is from them that the Torah will issue forth." For care must be taken with the children of converts, who are children of paupers and have no ancestral privilege, for the Torah that issues from them has the special mystical sanctity of "dwelling within their uncleanliness", in keeping with "out of the strong came something sweet".
Heder Na"Eh, Sermons on Va'Ethanan Torah Reading, p. 57a, Jerusalem, 1910

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