ר׳ חזקיה די סילוה

ר׳ חזקיה די סילוה (1659–1698), known as the פרי חדש, was a major Sephardic halakhist whose independent commentary became part of the standard שולחן ערוך page. Born in Livorno, he traveled around 1679 to Jerusalem and studied for a decade in the yeshiva of ר׳ משה גאלנטי. After his teacher’s death in 1689, he succeeded to leadership of the academy. As a Jerusalem emissary he traveled to Europe to raise funds and reached Amsterdam in 1691. Although offered a position in its Sephardic community, he declined and instead arranged publication of the first portion of פרי חדש on יורה דעה. The work subjects earlier rulings to close Talmudic review and does not hesitate to disagree with established authorities. Its unusually independent tone provoked opposition and a temporary ban in Cairo, yet later decisors widely accepted and cited it. Returning to Jerusalem, he continued teaching and writing and supported the side of ר׳ משה חגיז in a contemporary scholarly controversy. He died in Jerusalem in 1698 at only thirty-nine and was buried on the Mount of Olives. His son ר׳ דוד די סילוה continued the family’s literary legacy. Later editions expanded פרי חדש across additional sections of שולחן ערוך, ensuring his lasting influence on Sephardic halakhah.