Yaakov Peretz

Yaakov Peretz (Hebrew: יעקב פרץ, Arabic: يعقوب بيرتس, sometimes transliterated Ya'aqob or Ya'aqobh, 19362024) was a posek (rabbi who decides points of Jewish law) and rosh yeshiva (dean of a Jewish seminary) in Israel.

Biography Peretz was born in the Jewish Quarter of Marrakesh, Morocco where his father, Yossef Peretz, was a rabbi. As a child he attended Alliance Israélite Universelle schools. He was studied with and formed a close relationship with the Chief Rabbi of Morocco at the time, Shaʼul Ibn Danan he .

He studied for 20 years at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. He was ordained directly under the tutelage of the Ponevezh rosh yeshiva (dean), Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who decided to teach him specifically in Hebrew, as he did not speak Yiddish. He was also taught by Rabbi Baruch Dov Povarsky He was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Shehebar Sephardic Center and the Rosh Kollel of Kollel Hekhal Pinhas in Geula/Meah Shearim, Israel. He also oversaw the Shiviti Bet Din. around the globe.

He traveled to Jewish communities around the world, including in Argentina and Uzbekistan, to supervise matters of Jewish Law.

Beliefs Rabbi Peretz was very against Halakhic rulings that are overly stringent, and insisted on the importance of all Jews following the law as stated by Maran Bet Yossef to the letter. He rejected religious Anti-Zionism, maintained the importance of physical exercise and secular studies (English, Math, Science, etc.), and insisted on the value of not just focusing study on Talmud, but also on Miqra, Hebrew Grammar, and more. He also adamantly defended learning the Peshat as the ideal method (for learning Miqra, Talmud, etc.) as opposed to analytical or Pilpul oriented schools of thought. He viewed all of these positions as the way things were always done by the Jews of the Middle East and the way he was raised and taught in Morocco.