Haïm Houri

Haïm Houri was born in 1885 in Djerba

Haïm Houri was born in 1885 in the small Jewish quarter of Djerba, the only child of his parents. As a young man he studied with Rabbi Moshe Zaken Mazuz and Rabbi Fraji Allouch, and he also worked in a printing house.

At 18 he was ordained as a rabbi and became a teacher and cantor in the Gabès community. He later returned to Djerba, where he served as a rabbi and religious judge. In 1926 he was called to Gabès to replace Rabbi Yitzhak Hai Bukhobza, who had become chief rabbi of Libya.

In Gabès he founded the Torah VeHaim yeshiva and charity institutions, and he printed and distributed books, translating some into Judeo-Arabic. In 1917 he helped found Ateret Zion, a group that taught Hebrew and farming to prepare for immigration to the Land of Israel. He encouraged Tunisian Jews to immigrate there and helped those who did.

In 1954 he immigrated to Israel and lived in Beersheba until his death in 1957. He was buried in the old cemetery of Beersheba, where a large structure was built over his grave and many people visit it. A yeshiva in Beersheba was named for him in 1981, and streets in several cities carry his name.