16 Facts About Yehuda Tzadka

Yehuda Yehoshua Tzadka was a respected Sephardi rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Yehuda Tzadka became a student in the yeshiva after his bar mitzvah, and continued to study and teach there for almost 70 years.

The family lived in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood, and young Yehuda Tzadka attended Talmud Torah Bnei Tzion in the Bukharim Quarter.

Yehuda Tzadka was a diligent student who rose to the top of his class.

Yehuda Tzadka studied by day in the yeshiva and at night in the Be'er Sheva synagogue in Beis Yisrael.

Yehuda Tzadka taught in classic Sephardi style, focusing on the Talmudic commentaries of the Maharsha and the Maharam.

Yehuda Tzadka distinguished himself as a teacher by his ability to gear each lesson to the level of his students.

Yehuda Tzadka was characterized by his love of Torah and its sages, and his desire and alacrity to perform mitzvot.

Yehuda Tzadka lived simply and encouraged his students to be content without luxuries.

Beyond the walls of the yeshiva, Yehuda Tzadka was active throughout Israel, encouraging Sephardi families to give their children a Torah education rather than send them to secular schools.

Yehuda Tzadka spoke at rallies sponsored by the P'eylim organization on behalf of Torah education for new immigrants, and made the rounds on school registration days, begging parents to register their children in Torah schools.

Yehuda Tzadka agreed, but when he saw a new sign on the door of his classroom: "Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka, Rosh Yeshiva", he insisted that it be taken down and refused to be called by that title.

Yehuda Tzadka suffered his last heart attack during the night of the Fast of Gedaliah in 1991 and was taken to hospital.

Yehuda Tzadka died on 20 October 1991 and was buried in the Sanhedria Cemetery in a family plot.

Yehuda Tzadka was succeeded as rosh yeshiva by Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul.

Yehuda Tzadka married Fahima Batat, daughter of Rabbi Selim Tzalach Batat of Baghdad, in 1934.