Ezra Attia
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Rabbi Ezra Attia (1885 - 1970) was a distinguished Sephardic Rosh Yeshiva and Torah scholar.
Rabbi Attia was born in Aleppo, Syria, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He learned under Rabbi Avraham Ades. At the age of sixteen, he moved to Jerusalem with his parents. Rabbi Attia's father died at a young age and the family experienced difficult conditions.
At the beginning of the First World War, there was a general mobilization for the Turkish army, and the Rabbis of Jerusalem advised Rabbi Attia to flee to Egypt until the situation calmed.
For the next eight years Rabbi Attia taught Torah in the Yeshivot Keter Torah and Ahavah VeAchvah. Rabbi Attia then returned to teach at the recently founded Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem. After the death of its Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shlomo Laniado, Rabbi Attia was named its head.
He served for 45 years as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Porat Yosef, where he developed a unique Sephardic approach to Torah and Mussar. He trained thousands of students, many of whom serve Jewish communities in Israel, the United States and South America. His students included Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Sion Levy (Chief Rabbi of Panama).
Rabbi Attia was greatly respected by men such as Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank and the Chazon Ish. His opinon was sought and valued. He died in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1970.
