Ximenes (Ish Yemeni), Solomon Mordecai
XIMENES (Ish Yemeni), SOLOMON MORDECAI
XIMENES (Ish Yemeni), SOLOMON MORDECAI (d. 1825), Sephardi rabbi. Ximenes' antecedents are unknown, but from 1769 to 1770 he served as the last Hakham of the Sephardi community of Hamburg, succeeding Jacob Bassan. Later he entered the service of the London Sephardi community as a teacher and member of its bet din and gave expert evidence of Jewish marriage law in lawsuits in 1793 and 1798. His views embroiled him in disputes with the community; he expressed contrition in December 1804 but was again at loggerheads with it in 1811. In 1800 he published in London Part 1 of his bizarre work The Expected Good end … containing the birth of Jacob, his dream of the ladder, various objections on some of the verses of King Solomon. Some observations on the structure of the Tabernacle. Temple of Solomon …, etc. He was active in Freemasonry. He hebraized his name to Ish Yemeni.
bibliography:
J. Piccioto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History (19562), 102, 458; Roth, Mag Bibl 271.