Creator Bio
Yom Tov ben Israel Jacob Algazi
1727–1802
Born in Izmir, Yom Tov ben Israel Jacob (Yisra’el Ya‘akov) Algazi was a kabbalist who studied under Shalom Sharabi and succeeded him as rabbi of Jerusalem’s Bet El yeshiva. He traveled to Europe to collect funds for Jerusalem Jewry and was welcomed by Akiva Eger and Moses Sofer. When it was rumored that the local Jews were planning to aid Napoleon’s conquest of Jerusalem, Algazi sided with the Ottomans and played a large role in defending the city. His most famous work, Kedushat Yom Tov, is a collection of responsa and sermons.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Kedushat Yom Tov (The Sanctity of Yom Tov)
Reuben spoke in the marketplace with two men, inviting them to come to his house for the purpose of giving them the monies accrued from a business partnership, and they entered his house…
Related Guide
Rabbinic Scholarship, 1750–1880
Despite the challenges of the early modern period, rabbinic scholarship flourished in Central and Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century.