KALAI (Kal'i), SAMUEL BEN MOSES (16^th century), Turkish rabbi. Kalai may have been born in Corfu. He was a son-in-law of Benjamin ibn Mattathias, author of Binyamin Ze'ev. At first he lived in Salonika and subsequently in Arta. In consequence of a dispute he left the town and stayed for a time in Trikkala, but later returned to Arta where he served as rabbi. In about 1560 he was appointed rabbi of Vidin in Bulgaria. He was compelled to leave Vidin because of a dispute that broke out between him and other rabbis as a result of his prohibiting the use of a certain cheese. He was among the signatories of the ban against the David (Da'ud), who had opposed Don Joseph *Nasi. In his old age Kalai settled in Salonika where he served as rabbi of the Keianah community. He was regarded as the talmudic authority for the whole country and problems were addressed to him from various Balkan towns. He was the author of the responsa Mishpetei Shemu'el (Venice, 1599).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Rosanes, Togarmah, 1 (1930²), 158; 2 (1937–38²), 112f.; M.D. Gaon, Yehudei ha-Mizraḥ be-Ereẓ Yisrael, 2 (1938), 627 n.1.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.

Kalai (Kal'i), Samuel ben Moses