Mordecai Kalai

Mordecai ben Solomon Kalai (also spelled Kala'i; Hebrew: מרדכי בן שלמה קלעי‎) was a 17th-century Ottoman rabbi, preacher and teacher based in Salonica (modern-day Thessaloniki, Greece). He was a prominent figure in the Sephardic Jewish community and served as head of the Portuguese yeshiva in the city.

Kalai studied under several notable rabbis, including Aaron Ḥason, Aaron Sason and Isaac Franco. He later became the principal teacher at the Portuguese yeshiva in Salonica, where he educated many students, among them the historian David Conforte and Rabbi Daniel Estrumsa.

Kalai endured great personal suffering. His daughter, her husband (who was also his nephew, Rabbi Mazliach Luzio) and their daughter all died in a plague that struck Salonica. His wife and another daughter also died during his lifetime. His student, Rabbi Moses Judah Abbas, sent him a letter containing a poem of consolation upon the death of his wife.^[1]

Much of Kalai's written work, including responsa and sermons, was lost in the great fire of Salonica in 1625.

Kalai is cited in several halakhic works of his contemporaries. He delivered a funeral sermon for Rabbi Solomon ha-Levi, whose responsa (nos. 10 and 29, Salonica 1652) mention Kalai. He is also referenced in:

• Mekor Ḥayyim by his brother Baruch Kalai
• Responsa of Joseph di Trani (no. 81)
• Peletat Bet Yehudah by Judah Lerma of Belgrade (no. 2)

Kalai is also associated with the work Leḥem Mishneh, a commentary on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah by Abraham de Boton. According to Conforte, Kalai claimed that many of the glosses in the work were originally his.

• David Conforte, Kore ha-Dorot (Berlin, 1846), pp. 36, 44–48, 50–52
• Chaim Joseph David Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, vol. I, p. 130
• Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. "Kala'i, Mordecai b. Solomon"

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "ḲALA'I, MORDECAI B. SOLOMON". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.