Religionיצחק נסים

Isaac Nissim

Isaac Nissim was a rabbi who served as Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi from 1955 to 1972.

1896 to 1981Sephardic Chief Rabbi, 1955 to 1972Boycotting Pope Paul VI's 1964 visitRecognizing the Bene Israel as Jews

Died: 9 August 1981
Occupation: rabbi

Isaac Nissim was born in 1896 in Baghdad

Nissim was born in Baghdad in 1896. He studied Torah with rabbis including Sadqa Hussein. His brother Shlomo Zion was killed by the Ottoman authorities in Baghdad in 1917.

He immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1925 with his wife Victoria and settled in Jerusalem. Alongside his studies he worked in trade. In 1951 he ran for the Knesset on the Emunei Yisrael list, which did not pass the threshold.

In 1955 he was elected Sephardic Chief Rabbi, with 42 votes against 27 for Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Toledano. He visited kibbutzim to reach secular Israelis and held that the Bene Israel were Jews. In 1964 he refused to greet Pope Paul VI during his visit unless the visit would be returned.

In 1972 he and Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman were replaced by Rabbis Ovadia Yosef and Shlomo Goren. Bar-Ilan University gave him an honorary doctorate in 1976. He died in 1981, and his sons included Moshe Nissim and Meir Benayahu.