Daniel ben Perahyah Ha-Kohen
DANIEL BEN PERAḤYAH HA-KOHEN
DANIEL BEN PERAḤYAH HA-KOHEN (d. 1575), head of yeshivah and author. His family, which originated in Rome, claimed descent from *Josephus. From Rome his father moved to Salonika where, until his death in 1548, he was head of the yeshivah of the Italian community, being succeeded in that position by Daniel, who also served as a dayyan. In addition to his talmudic learning, Daniel studied philosophy, mathematics, medicine, and astronomy. A fire that broke out at Salonika in 1545 destroyed all his books, as well as most of his writings, of which only his commentary on She'erit Yosef by Joseph b. Shem Tov Ḥai on intercalation has been published (Salonika, 1568). To this work he appended material by himself on a variety of subjects, and also a work on intercalation by Abraham *Zacuto with his own commentary. With the rabbis of Salonika he was a signatory in 1573 to the ban against the physician Daud, the opponent of Don Joseph *Nasi. He was an intimate friend of Moses *Almosnino. On his death he was eulogized by the poet Saadiah *Longo. He had no sons and was succeeded by his brother Samuel.
bibliography:
M. Molho, Essai d'une monographie sur la famille Perahia à Thessaloniki (1938), 14–20; Molho and Amarijlio, in: Sefunot, 2 (1958), 32–33, 35–36; I.S. Emmanuel, Maẓẓevot Saloniki, 1 (1963), 148–9.
[Abraham David]