ASHKENAZI, NISSIM ABRAHAM BEN RAPHAEL

ASHKENAZI, NISSIM ABRAHAM BEN RAPHAEL (1790?–1860), dayyan and rabbi of Smyrna. Ashkenazi was taught by his father, and one of his first responsa, dated 1816, notes his father's approval of his ruling. He was appointed rabbi in 1838. Ashkenazi compiled Neḥmad le-Mareh, a commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, in which he collected comments of the tosafists, the other early commentators, and, in particular, of later commentators. To these he added his own explanations of difficult passages. The work was published in four parts: Zera'im (Salonika, 1833), Mo'ed (ibid., 1846), Nashim (Smyrna, 1857), Nezikin ve-Niddah (ibid., 1861). His other published works are Darash Avraham (Salonika, 1841–48), in two parts, a collection of sermons arranged in the order of the Pentateuch (to which are appended his father's sermons, entitled Mareh Adam, with his notes); Ma'aseh Avraham (Smyrna, 1855), the first part of his two volumes of responsa; and Na'eh le-Hodot (Leghorn, 1865), a homiletical commentary on the Psalms. Ashkenazi also published his father's book, Mareh ha-Gadol (1820–31). Ashkenazi was known for his saintly ways and was a friend of the great sage, Ḥayyim Palaggi, whose eulogy to Ashkenazi is printed in his Ḥelkam ba-Ḥayyim (1874).