Rav Chizkiyah da Silva

Early years

Rav Chizkiyah da Silva zt"l, known as the Pri Chadash after his great work, was born in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy, in 5419 (1659), the son of Rav Dovid da Silva. He was a talmid of Rav Shmuel Kosta of Constantinople, one of the greatest rabbonim of Livorno.

When the Yerushalmi shadar (an emissary sent from Yerushalayim to raise funds), Rav Yehudah Sharaf, arrived in Livorno, the young da Silva learned under him. Perhaps Rav Yehudah inspired the gifted young scholar to go to Yerushalayim, to learn in the famed Bais Medrash Bais Yaakov.

At the age of twenty he made aliyah and went to Yerushalayim to learn Torah under Rav Moshe Galanti, in whose yeshiva he remained for ten years. Two years after his arrival he married Chanah, the daughter of Rav Refoel Mordechai Malachi, also from Livorno, a parnas (communal leader), physician and dayan. Chanah's sister was the wife of Rav Moshe Chagiz. Their son, Rav Dovid, was born in 1683.

Torah and leadership

Rav Chizkiyah learned day and night with a hasmadah (diligence) that left almost no time to rest or sleep. His critical eye examined the opinions of every sage and left none free of scrutiny. He showed no favor to a sage or Rav because of his rank or station. He sought only truth, and followed the principle that a judge can rule only by what his own eyes see (Sanhedrin 6b).

In time the young talmid rose to become a Rebbe and teacher. After Rav Moshe Galanti passed away in 1689, Rav Chizkiyah succeeded him as Rosh Yeshiva. Among his talmidim were Rav Yitzchok Kohen, author of Botei Kehunah and later Rav in Izmir, and Rav Shlomo Algazi II, Rav of Cairo. Rav Chizkiyah himself wrote that he was a teacher in Yerushalayim, not a rav.

After 5448 he was sent on a shelichus (mission) to Western Europe to raise funds for Yerushalayim, and he also meant to travel to Amsterdam to print his sefer, the Pri Chadash. In Amsterdam in 1691 he was offered the post of Sephardi Rav of the city, and he declined it. Wealthy Jews of Amsterdam offered to pay for the printing, and he began to publish the sefer on Yoreh Deah. European Torah scholars quickly acclaimed it as a work of towering importance for halachah.

Rav Chizkiyah stayed in the home of the Rav of Amsterdam, Rav Yitzchok Abuhav, who hosted him with great honor, and he remained there for several years while the sefer was published. In his introduction to the Pri Chadash on Yoreh Deah, he thanks and praises Hashem for the great miracles he experienced on the way, though he does not describe them. He also thanks members of the community, above all Rav Yitzchok Abuhav. In Amsterdam he won the lasting backing of the Dutch philanthropist Yisroel Yaakov Pereira. In 5452 he returned to Yerushalayim.

Teachings and seforim

Rav Chizkiyah wrote the Pri Chadash, a classic commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, and Mayim Chaim, a collection of notes on masechtos of the Gemara together with teshuvos and a portion of the Rambam's Yad HaChazakah.

On his way home he passed through Egypt, where the Torah scholars were incensed at what they felt was a disparaging tone toward earlier authorities. Some felt that the Pri Chadash was too critical of the Rishonim, and even of the great Bais Yosef, Rav Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch. The freedom with which he discussed halachic questions led the rabbonim of Cairo to place the sefer in cherem. The ban was afterward lifted by Rav Avrohom Levi, though the two men were personally unacquainted, and the furor in Egypt died down entirely once Rav Chizkiyah's own talmid, Rav Shlomo Algazi, was elected Rav of Cairo and served there for forty-five years, ruling and teaching like his Rebbe.

Most of Klal Yisroel accepted the new sefer and the opinions of its great author. This is shown by the citations of Rav Yehonoson Eibschitz in his Kreisi U'Pleisi and of Rav Yosef Teomim in his Pri Megadim.

Later years and passing

On his return to Yerushalayim, Rav Chizkiyah opened the doors of the Bais Yaakov yeshiva. In honor of Yisroel Yaakov Pereira, his supporter in Amsterdam, it was renamed Bais Yaakov Pereira. He took a keen interest in the controversy between Rav Moshe Chagiz and Rav Yehudah Vega, and his early passing cut short his work on behalf of Rav Moshe Chagiz.

Rav Chizkiyah passed away in Yerushalayim on 28 Kislev 5459 (1698). He was laid to rest in Yerushalayim, at the foot of Har HaZeisim, not far from the kever of Zecharia HaNovi.

Legacy

After his passing, his son Rav Dovid, who became known as the Pri Hadas, published the other two volumes of the Pri Chadash, on Orach Chaim and Gittin. The work carried the approbations of the leading authorities of the time (Amsterdam, 1706 – 1730).