Elijah Mizraḥi

Elijah Mizraḥi was born in Constantinople to a Romaniote family and received a broad religious and secular education. Despite suffering family misfortunes, financial difficulties, and illness, in 1498 he succeeded Moses Capsali as head of the Jews in Constantinople. Mizraḥi was also responsible for communal affairs, taught both Talmud and secular subjects, and raised money to help the Spanish and Portuguese exiles. His best-known work is his supercommentary on Rashi (1527) on the Hebrew Bible, but he also composed a mathematical text Melekhet ha-mispar (The Work of Number; 1533), and two volumes of responsa, published posthumously. He also wrote commentaries on works by Ptolemy and Euclid, which have not survived. His responsa, which shed light on daily life, reveal his negative stance toward kabbalah and relatively open attitude to the Karaites.