Semah Sarfati (1624–1717) was a Tunisian

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who was chief rabbi of Tunisia and was a member of the

Bet din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

of Tunisia. At the end of his life, he moved to the Holy Land, dying in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1717. Following a schism between the Granas and Twansa communities, in which two of his students – Abraham Taïeb and Isaac Lumbroso respectively – both succeeded him as Chief Rabbi of Tunisia. Another student was Taïeb's successor, Messaoud-Raphaël El-Fassi. Sarfati played an important role in the revival of Jewish study in Tunisia in the 17th century. While his judgements and commentaries have not been published in their own volume, his work has been cited by his students and their successors. One of the oldest oratories in Hara, the Jewish quarter of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, was named after Sarfati.Paul Sebag, Op. cit.,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarfati, Semah 1717 deaths 1624 births 18th-century Tunisian rabbis Chief rabbis 17th-century Tunisian rabbis Tunisian people of Italian-Jewish descent