- Isaac Nieto
Isaac Nieto (1702-1774) (
Hebrew : יצחק ניטו) wasHaham of the Portuguese congregation Sha'are Shamaim,Bevis Marks ,London , and the son ofDavid Nieto . He was officially appointed as "ḥakam ha-shalem" in 1733, but gave up the post in 1741 and went abroad. He returned in 1747 and took up the profession of notary.In 1749 Nieto became
Gibraltar 's firstRabbi when he travelled to Gibraltar from London and established the Shaar Hashamayim congregation, the oldest synagogue in Gibraltar, otherwise known as the "Great Synagogue".In 1751 the congregation requested him to accept the post of
ab bet din , his colleagues beingIsaac de Valle andJacob Coronel . A few years afterward a violent dispute arose with regard to the titles of the members of the bet din and as to the relation of the members to one another. Nieto wrote a letter of resignationMarch 17 ,1757 , and onJuly 14 following he was prohibited from exercising the functions of assessor. He died in London in 1774.Nieto preached on
February 6 ,1756 , the day of fast and penitence ordered by the king, a "Sermon Moral," published in Spanish and English in London, 1756. Better known is his translation of the prayer-book in two volumes: "Orden de las Oraciones de Ros Ashanah y Kipur" (London, 1740) and "Orden de las Oraciones Cotidianas, Ros Hodes Hanuca y Purim" (ib. 1771). This translation was the basis of all subsequent translations (e.g., those of Pinto and of A. and D. da Sola).Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*
Moses Gaster , "History of Bevis Marks", pp. 129 et seq.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
