Abraham ha-Levi (d. 1837), also known as Hezekiah and Nissim, was the first chief rabbi (haham başı) of the Ottoman Empire. He became a dayyan in the Jewish court in the Balat district of Istanbul in 1820, and later served as its chief judge (av bet din). In 1834 he was a dayyan in the court of the Istanbul community (bet dinissur ve-heter). In January 1835, Sultan Maḥmūd II issued an imperial decree (ferman) appointing Halevi the empire’s first chief rabbi. He served in this office only a short time, possibly because of blindness, and was replaced in September of…