Mas'ud Hai Rakkaḥ was born in
Smyrna, Turkey, the son of Aharon Rakkaḥ. In his youth, he studied under Rabbi Yitzhak Hacohen Rappaport and Rabbi
Hayyim Abulafia, developing into a
Talmid Chacham of note. He emigrated to
Jerusalem with his teacher, Rabbi Rappaport. When the Jerusalem community experienced difficult economic times, it dispatched
shadarim (rabbinical emissaries) to collect funds from the
Jewish diaspora. Rakkaḥ was chosen to travel to
Jewish communities in North Africa. He set out for
Tunisia,
Morocco, and
Libya, and upon arriving in
Tripoli, sent letters to the communities of
Venice and
Livorno before visiting them as well. He trained students who became the future
hakhamim and
dayanim (rabbinical judges) of North African Jewry, including Hakhamim
Nathan Adadi (his son-in-law), Shalom Flus, Moshe Lachmish, Binyamin Vaturi, and David Tayyar. and his great-great-grandson,
Jacob Rakkah, a leading Sephardi
posek (arbiter of Jewish law) and author of approximately 40
sefarim. Rakkaḥ served the Libyan Jewish community for 20 years until his death on July 24, 1768 (10
Av 5528) at the age of 78. He is buried in Tripoli. ==Works==