Abdallah Somekh

Abdallah Somekh was a prominent rabbi and posek who lived in Baghdad, Iraq. He was born in 1813 to a family of sayyids who traced their lineage to Nissim Gaon. He studied under Rabbi Jacob ben Joseph Harofe and became a ritual slaughterer, circumciser, and scribe. He was the rosh yeshiva of Midrash Bet Zilkha, which was established by him and his influential students, such as Yosef Hayyim (the Ben Ish Chai) and Yaakov Chaim Sofer (the Kaf HaChaim). He issued a great number of rulings, particularly in matters of shechita and treifot. These rulings have been published in the work Zibhei Tzedek, which became the handbook for Baghdadi Jews throughout India and the Far East. He also authored responsa on all of the Shulchan Aruch. He died in 1889 during the cholera pandemic. He was the ancestor of several prominent rabbis, such as Ezra Reuben Dangoor, the chief rabbi of Rangoon, and Nissim Dangoor, the founder of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center.