A Short Tribute

Hacham Shlomo Katzin, the son of Shaul Katzin, was born in 1905, in Jerusalem. He first learned Torah from his kabbalist father, author of Imrei Bina and Pri Tzaddik, and continued his studies at the Porat Yosef yeshiva in Jerusalem. In addition to his rabbinic studies, he was a qualified shochet and mohel, known for his mastery of languages, and an outstanding preacher.

Hacham Shlomo Katzin was ordained to the rabbinate by Rishon LeZion Hacham Ben Zion Meir Chai Uziel, of blessed memory. He first served as rabbi of the Nachalat Achim and Nachalat Zion Jerusalem neighborhoods. He was subsequently asked by the heads of the Egyptian Jewish community to take the position of rabbi and head of the rabbinic court, and accepted, with the blessings of the chief rabbis of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

He returned to Israel with its establishment as a state, in 1948, and served as rabbi and dayan in Jaffa, where he founded the Shivat Zion great synagogue. He then moved from Jaffa to Bnei Brak, where he served as a halakhic adjudicator and dayan in the greater Tel Aviv rabbinic court.

Hacham Shlomo Katzin passed away on 6 Heshvan, 5743 (1982). He is the author of Kerem Shlomo, Divrei Shlomo, Taharat Bnot Israel and Nitzotzei Or.