20 Shevat · Yahrzeit
Chacham Ovadia Hedaya
Chacham Ovadia ben Shalom Hedaya - Aleppo, Syria (1889-1969)
Yahrzeit - 20 Shevat
Resting place - Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem
Chacham Ovadia Hedaya, son of Sarah Bitton and Chacham Shalom Hedaya, was born in 1890 in Aram Tzova, known today as Aleppo, Syria. His family moved to the Land of Israel in 1895, when he was five years old, and settled in Jerusalem.
Chacham Ovadia began his studies at Doresh Tzion Talmud Torah, and later studied under Chacham Shalom Bochbot.
Chacham Ovadia married Tzalcha (Shulamit) and joined the kabbalistic yeshiva "Beit El" in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. He taught at Yeshivat "Porat Yosef" and gave Torah classes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ohel Moshe.
In 1939 he was appointed Dayan in Petach Tikva and moved there. He was regarded as the rabbi of the city, although he was never officially appointed as such.
In 1951 he was elected to the Great Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem and to the Chief Rabbinical Council, and returned to Jerusalem. He restored the study of Kabbalah at Yeshivat "Beit El", which had been destroyed during Israel's War of Independence (1948). The yeshiva was rebuilt in Western Jerusalem, in the Yegia Kapayim neighborhood.
Chacham Ovadia compiled his writings into the following books: "Yaskil Avdi Responsa" - an eight-volume work covering the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch; "Dea Ve-Yaskil", a collection of responsa on Kabbalah, published as part of Yaskil Avdi; "Vayikach Ovadia" - four volumes of sermons; "Eved HaMelech" - an original commentary on Maimonides; and "Avda D'Rabbanan" - an original commentary on the Talmud.
Chacham Ovadia Hedaya passed away on 20 Shevat 5729 (1969) and was buried in the Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://www.hyomi.org.il/eng/default.asp?dateup=1/30/2024)