Rakh ve-Tov — Khalifa ben Malka

Rakh ve-Tov — “Tender and Good” — the principal collection of Khalifa ben Malka (c. 1670-1760), a rabbi and merchant of Salé, the Atlantic port of Morocco. The work gathers responsa, talmudic glosses, and halakhic observations drawn from a dense correspondence with the Sephardic communities of Amsterdam, Livorno, and the Maghreb. Correction (June 2026): several sources give the Rakh ve-Tov — responsa on the Tur and the Shulḥan Arukh, cited by the Ḥida — as a work lost over the generations, known until the early twentieth century then vanished (not to be confused with the Kaf Naki, preserved in autograph). Provenance: 1 Personal library of Khalifa ben Malka, Salé 2 Reputed lost over the generations (cited by the Ḥida) Codicological notice — origin Salé, Atlantic Maghreb, Morocco; script: Maghrebi; editorial status: to be confirmed. — Source: Mémoires des Manuscrits Juifs du Moyen-Âge Maghrébin (MMJMM), https://mmjmm.org/corpus/catalogue/to-locate-khalifa-ben-malka-rakh-ve-tov.

Sources & resources

• Récit MMJMM : « Khalifa ben Malka — un judaïsme atlantique ».
• Hirschberg, H. Z. A History of the Jews in North Africa, Brill, 1974-1981.
• Fiche MMJMM : https://mmjmm.org/corpus/catalogue/to-locate-khalifa-ben-malka-rakh-ve-tov