A Short Tribute

Hacham Chalom Messas, who would become Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, was born on 22 Shevat 5669 (1909) in the city of Meknes, Morocco, to Rachel Soudri and Rabbi Maimon Messas – author of Otzrot Shama'im. He was named after his grandfather, who had also officiated as rabbi and dayan in Meknes and wrote Divrei Shalom, a book of Responsa.

Hacham Chalom Messas began studying Torah at a young age, with Rabbi Yitzhak Assebag, his principal teacher. He wrote his first book on Halakha, Memizrach Shemesh, in 1928, when he was 17 years of age. In the introduction, he testifies that "…during my boyhood days, I did not know what a coin even looked like, and all the wealth in the world seemed worthless when compared to the passion of studying the holy Torah." He married Jamila, daughter of Rabbi Moshe Elkrief, and the couple had two sons, David and Abraham.

In 1944, he founded and began to head the Keter Torah yeshiva in Meknes. In 1949, he moved to Casablanca, where he served as dayan. He was elected head of Casablanca's Rabbinic Court in 1962 and subsequently officiated as Morocco's Chief Rabbi.

The exceptional affection King Hassan II had for him was a well-known fact, and when Hacham Chalom Messas would bless the monarch in events at the Royal Palace, the king would bow down.

In 1978 Hacham Chalom Messas immigrated to Israel and took on the position of Jerusalem's Chief Rabbi. He passed away on 10 Nissan 5763 (2003) and was buried in Jerusalem's Har HaMenuhot cemetery.

Hacham Chalom Messas wrote many books during his lifetime, including Memizrach Shemesh – Halakha on prohibitions and permissions, Tevu'ot Shemesh – rulings on the four parts of the Shulchan 'Aruch, Shemesh U'Magen – questions and responsa on daily affairs, Beit Shemesh - on Maimonides' Yad HaHazaka, and Cham HaShemesh – sermons on the Torah.