NIZZA, SOLOMON BEN ISAIAH BEN ELIEZER ḤAYYIM (),:

By: Isidore Singer, J. S. Raisin

Rabbi of Venice in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; equally prominent as sage, Talmudist, and liturgical poet. His father, Isaiah, whom he succeeded, was the author of "Derek Yashar" (Venice, 1633), on ethics, and of "Yesha'Yah" (ib. 1637), a commentary on the Zohar; and his grandfather Eliezer Ḥayyim, who was rabbi of Padua (c. 1600), wrote "Dammeseḳ Eli'ezer."

Many prominent Talmudists corresponded with Nizza and published his decisions in their works; and his approbations ("haskamot") were in great demand. He was the teacher of Moses and Gershon Ḥefeẓ, on the latter of whom he delivered a eulogy (published in "Yad Ḥaruzim," 1660). His seliḥah , in eight rimed stanzas, each of which ends with , was inserted in the morning service for New-Year's Day ("Shaḥarit") in the Roman ritual.

S. J. S. R.