ר׳ אליהו מזרחי

ר׳ אליהו בן אברהם מזרחי (c.1455–1526), the הרא״ם, was a Constantinopolitan halakhist, biblical commentator, communal leader and mathematician. A member of the longstanding Romaniote community, he studied under ר׳ אליהו הלוי and was connected with the learning of ר׳ יהודה מינץ. He established a school in Constantinople that taught Talmud alongside mathematics and other sciences, reflecting his conviction that disciplined secular knowledge could serve Torah scholarship. After the death of ר׳ משה קפשאלי, he became the city’s foremost Jewish authority, conventionally dated to 1498. His tenure coincided with the arrival of large numbers of Jews expelled from Iberia; he raised funds for refugees, defended their communal needs and negotiated a Jewish society increasingly divided among Romaniote and Sephardi congregations. His best-known work, ספר המזרחי, is a supercommentary on the Torah commentary of ר׳ שלמה יצחקי, clarifying its rabbinic sources and defending it against objections, especially those of ר׳ משה בן נחמן. He also wrote responsa and mathematical works, including מלאכת המספר. These were printed mainly after his death in Constantinople, but established the הרא״ם as a central authority in biblical interpretation and early Ottoman halakhah.