The Saintly Gaon of Salonica: Rabbi Yosef Taitazak
An interior view of Lechem Setarim– credit The Klau Library, Cincinnati, HUC-JIR
From Spain to Salonica: The Resettlement of Spanish Jewry in the Aftermath of 1492
When Spain expelled its 300,000 Jews in 1492, the majority of them (approximately 250,000) found temporary refuge in nearby Portugal. But this safe haven didn’t last long. Just a few years later in 1496, Portugal expelled its Jewish population as well. By the early 1500s, most of the Iberian Jews had resettled in various communities across several continents. Thus, in the 16th century, we find Iberian Jews living in such cities as Amsterdam, Hamburg, Naples, Venice, Salonica, Constantinople, Fez, Tlemcen, Algeria, Tunis, Cairo, Alexandria, Yerushalayim, Tzfat, Damascus, and Izmir.
Rabbi Yosef Taitazak, a prominent Spanish rabbi, was an important figure in this transitional phase of Sephardic Jewish history. Born in Spain around 1465, Rabbi Yosef spent much of his youth in Zamora, Spain, where he developed a close relationship with Rabbi Levi ibn Habib, also known as the HaRaLBaCh. For context, Rabbi Levi ibn Habib was the son of the renowned Rabbi Yaakov ibn Habib, author of the Ein Yaakov. Rabbi Levi ibn Habib would eventually become the chief rabbi in Yerushalayim and would staunchly oppose Rabbi Yakov Bei-Rav of Tzfat and his attempt to reinstate semicha based upon a ruling of the Rambam in Hilchos Sanhedrin, 4:11.
After the Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1496, Rabbi Yosef Taitazak moved to Italy and settled in Mantua. Around 1500, Rabbi Yosef and his family moved again, this time to Salonica, Greece where his father, Rabbi Shlomo, together with Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Arama and Rabbi Yaakov ibn Habib were appointed to head Salonica’s Jewish community. Upon the passing of these three great rabbinic leaders, Rabbi Yosef Taitazak and Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni were selected in their place. Despite Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni’s advanced age, he admired Rabbi Yosef Taitazak and consistently sought his opinion on halachic and communal matters. After Rabbi Eliezer HaShimoni’s death, Rabbi Yosef Taitazak was the sole leader of Salonica’s Jewish community, but his stature as a renowned halachic authority went far beyond Salonica. His opinion on important matters of halacha was sought out by communities throughout the Ottoman Empire. With Rabbi Taitazak at its helm, Salonica’s Jewish community rose in prominence to equal that of Constantinople, which was headed by prominent rabbis such as Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi (until his death in 1526) and Rabbi Tam (Yaakov) ibn Yichya.
Rabbi Yosef Taitazak’s incredible degree of preishus was described after his passing by the KabbalistRabbi Eliyahu de Vidas (student of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero) in his Reishis Chochmah, Shaar HaKedusha, Ch. 7: “For forty years Rabbi Yosef Taitazak slept on top of a box with his legs dangling instead of in a bed and would arise each night at chatzos.”
Rabbi Yosef Taitazak was the leading rosh yeshiva in the region and attracted some of the most brilliant minds of the generation. It is reported that Rabbi Taitazak had more than twenty students who reached the status of “Moreh hora’ah” and were fit to be roshei yeshiva in their own right. Among his students we find Rabbi Shmuel di Medina, Rabbi Yitzchak Adrabi, Rabbi Shlomo Molcho, Rabbi Shlomo Elkabetz, and Rabbi Moshe Alshich. Although not a student, Rabbi Yosef Karo held Rabbi Yosef Taitazak in great esteem and corresponded with him on several occasions. Rabbi Yosef Taitazak was also one of the great Kabbalists of his generation, and as the Chida records, a heavenly Magid taught him secrets of Kabbalah.
According to Rabbi Yitzchak Adrabi, Rabbi Yosef Taitazak wrote a commentary on the Rif’s Sefer Halachos; however, this work has been lost. Although his numerous responsa were never formally collected and published, nearly one-hundred of them were cited in other sefarim.
Rabbi Yosef Taitazak’s published works include Ben Poras on Koheles and Lechem Setarim on Daniel and the Five Megillos (see photos). Other works, including a commentary on Avos, still remain in manuscript form. Toward the end of his life, Rabbi Yosef Taitazak moved to Constantinople where he served as rosh yeshivaand devoted his time to his students. Despite his attempt to avoid the public sphere, his opinion on halachicmatters was constantly sought out by the rabbinic figures of Constantinople. He died there in 1546, at around the age of eighty, Yehi Zichro Baruch. n
Nosson Wiggins (@jewishhistorysheimhagedolim) is the author of two books on the subject of Jewish history, “The Tannaim & Amoraim” and “The Rishonim” (Judaica Press). He researches Jewish History at the Klau Library, HUC-JIR in his hometown of Cincinnati and leads tours of Klau’s Rare Book Room. He is a passionate enthusiast of Jewish history and when he’s not in the hospital working as a nurse, he can be found researching and writing posts for his Substack, “Jewish History—Sheim Hagedolim.”
