A Short Tribute

Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz, son of Rachel and Raphael, was born in 1911 in Aryana, Tunis. He first learned Torah from his father and from Hacham Yehuda Hajaj. In 1922, he move with his family to Djerba, where he continued his studies with Hacham Rahamim Hai Hayutah Cohen who was, at the time, a young teacher who taught children.

In 1929, Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz married his cousin and the couple moved to Tunis, where he served as Rosh Yeshiva at Chevrat HaTalmud. His father supported him financially to enable him to study Torah, but he also worked as a watchmaker and broker.

In 1947 Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz was appointed dayan for financial matters and inheritances at the Djerba Rabbinic Court. Tunisia obtained its independence in 1956 and banned the Jewish Committee, and in 1958 its rabbinic court was also shut down; Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz went on to preside as a judge in the regional court.

In 1961, Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz withdrew from his position in the court because he was asked to work on the Sabbath, and began to divide his time between Torah study and working as a goldsmith.

In 1962, Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz opened the Sephardi Kiseh Rachamim yeshiva and taught there. He took care of all his students' needs himself, and also succeeded in raising money for them and for the yeshiva.

Attacks on the Jews in Tunisia exacerbated after the Six-Day War in 1967. On 21 Tevet, 5731 (1971), Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz, on his way to the morning Shacharit prayer, was shot dead by local anti-Jewish Arabs. Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz was temporarily buried in Tunis and, after forty days, his remains were brought to Jerusalem's Mount of Olives cemetery for burial.

Hacham Haim Kadir Matzliach Mazouz is the author of SHU"T Ish Matzliach, responsa in three volumes. His son, Hacham Meir Mazouz, re-established the Kiseh Rachamim yeshiva in the city of Bnei Brak.