Rabbi Rahamim Attia, Elder Sage of Aleppo Tradition, Dies at 95

Rabbi Rahamim Attia, a leading kabbalist and the senior rabbi of Aleppo, died at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem at the age of 95. He was a respected figure in Jerusalem’s Torah and Kabbalah circles and one of the sages of the Nehar Shalom yeshiva.

Attia was born on 22 Av 5691 to Rabbi Yitzhak Attia and Mrs. Jamila in Aleppo, Syria. In Jerusalem, he was known as one of the city’s righteous kabbalists and served as the Torah reader in the study hall of Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi. The article says Sharabi chose for that role only people who were very careful to avoid anger. Attia was also described as a close student of Sharabi, who studied Kabbalah with him and reportedly said that the name of God was engraved on his face.

Over the years, Attia became related by marriage to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi and chairman of the Council of Torah Sages, after his daughter married Ovadia Yosef’s son, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. The article says Rabbi Ovadia Yosef would send him to perform a "pidyon nefesh" because he was considered "accurate," and would even show him special honor when they met.

Among those said to visit his home were Rabbi Moshe Tzadka and the Rebbe of Toldos Aharon. He was the brother of Rabbi Yeshua Attia, a well-known Jerusalem dayan. He left behind a large family, including 13 children and hundreds of descendants, among them Rabbi Avraham Attia, author of "Pniniei Beit Levi," and a daughter married to Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the current Sephardic chief rabbi and chairman of the Council of Torah Sages.