Ezra Attiya
| Rabbi Ezra Attiya | |
|---|---|
| Rosh yeshiva | |
| Yeshiva | Porat Yosef Yeshiva |
| Began | 1925 |
| Ended | 1970 |
| Predecessor | Rabbi Shlomo Laniado |
| Successor | Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 January 1885 Aleppo, Syria |
| Died | 25 May 1970 (aged 85) Jerusalem, Israel |
| Buried | Har HaMenuchot |
| Parents | Yitzchak and Leah Attiya |
Ezra Attiya (Hebrew: עזרא עטייה; Arabic: عزرا عطية) (31 January 1885 – 25 May 1970) was one of the greatest teachers of Torah in the Sephardic Jewish world during the 20th century. He was rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for 45 years, nurturing thousands of students who, together with their students, constitute the bulk of Sephardic Torah leadership today. Among Attiya's most famous students are Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul, and Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri.
Attiya was born on 31 January 1885 (Tu Bishvat 5645 on the Jewish calendar) in Aleppo, Syria, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His parents, Yitzchak and Leah, had lost several children in infancy, and before his birth they traveled to the gravesite of the Prophet Ezra to pray that if the child they were expecting was a boy, they would name him Ezra and see that he dedicated himself to a life of Torah. He had one brother, Eliyahu. His father, a respected Aleppo melamed (teacher), was a direct descendant of Rabbi Shem Tov Attiya, a disciple of Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch.
When Attiya was 16 years old, his family immigrated to Jerusalem's Old City, to which a large number of rabbis from Aleppo had immigrated. Soon after, his father died, leaving an impoverished widow and two orphans. While his mother hired herself out for domestic work in the homes of wealthy people, young Ezra decided to devote his life to Torah study. He went to learn, pray, and sleep on a bench in a small beth midrash in the Bukharim neighborhood of the New City called Shoshanim LeDavid, covering vast amounts of the Talmud with commentaries and poskim (halakhic decisors). As money was scarce in his household, he sustained himself with a nightly meal of dry pita seasoned with salt. In his old age, he told his students, "When I was young, I studied Torah through hardship. If we were truly fortunate, my mother and I had a whole pita to share. On rare occasions we also had an egg, which we divided in half. But the hunger did not bother me in the least."
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