_Haham_ Samuel Moses Mordecai Joseph _de_ Raphael _de_ Meyuchas was born in 1738 and died in _Jerusalem_ in 1806. He was the descendant of a family of _Rabbis_ and _Talmudic_ scholars of great fame in Palestine and elsewhere. His most valuable contributions to _Talmudic_ literature are his three works: _Mayim Shaal_ (Salonica, 5559), _Shaar Ha’mayim_ (Salonica, 5528) and _B’rehot Ha’mayim_ (Salonica, 5549), which show profound scholarship and wide learning. He was on terms of intimacy with the great _Talmudic_ scholars of his time, who addressed to him questions on various religious and communal matters. In the Preface to his _B’rehot Ha’mayim_ he speaks in exalted terms of his love “of the dear land, the Golden _Jerusalem_,” and of “the changeable events of his time.” He says that he has had much to suffer, and that, poverty-stricken as he is, he enjoys his miserable existence and keeps in good spirits; he expresses his humble gratitude to God for having allowed him to earn “a piece of dry bread,” and to bear his share in building up the city; and adds that his only hope and aspiration is to be able to spend his life there to a very advanced age. His use of the verse:―― “For He hath made strong the bars of thy gates;...” (Psalm cxlvii. 13). in connection with what he describes as the “good idea,” which he “carried out,” might be taken as an allusion to his remarkable action in 5559 (1799), when this old _Rabbi_ “stood with spade in hand labouring on the fortification of _Jerusalem_, digging and working with the greatest industry to make a new bastion and rampart around the fort, the Kallai,”¹ were it not for the chronological fact that his book was published in 5549 (1789). He is said to have practised medicine, and though this was not uncommon among the _Sephardi Hahamim_ of the old generation, it probably indicates that he was a man of wider outlook than that of the usual _Rabbi_ type. It is a mistake to suppose that all Palestinian _Rabbis_ of the older generation were superstitious and hostile to science. The _Sephardi Hahamim_ of that time in particular had preserved something of the scientific and rationalistic tradition of the Judæo-Spanish school. Some of them were men of great ability, well versed not only in the _Talmud_, but also in Oriental languages. They cherished an intense and sincere love for the Holy Land, and, if the position of the Jewish people in the country was maintained, through all the horrors and dangers of war and plague, stress and danger, it was due to the self-denial and the wonderful moral strength of those noble martyrs who guided and inspired the down-trodden people. Mostly descendants of the Spanish-Jewish fugitives who found refuge and shelter in the dominions of the _Sultan_, their loyalty and gratitude to their rulers were sincere and deep-rooted. The _Jerusalem Rabbis_ were attached to their masters and friends in Constantinople, Salonica, Smyrna,