Hayyim Palache

Rabbi Hayyim Palache was the chief rabbi in Izmir, Turkey, then known as Smyrna, in the 19th-century . Born to a distinguished Turkish-Jewish family, he served as head of the rabbinical court and in other rabbinic roles before being appointed chakham bashi (the Turkish term for an area’s chief rabbi) at the age of 77. Palache authored more than 70 books, among them works of biblical interpretation, talmudic analysis, ethical works, legal responsa, and more.