Yitzhak Nissim

Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim יצחק ניסים‎
Title	Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel
Personal
Born	1896 1981
Religion	Judaism
Parent	Rabbi
Denomination	Orthodox
Jewish leader
Predecessor	Benzion Uziel
Successor	Ovadia Yosef
Began	1955
Ended	1972

Yitzhak Nissim (Hebrew: יצחק נסים‎; 1896 - August 9, 1981) was a Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel. Nissim was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Israel in 1925. He studied under Rabbi Sadqa Hussein.

In 1955, he became Chief Sephardic Rabbi. As a gesture of goodwill, he visited some kibbutzim, which at that time were predominantly Ashkenazi and secular. He was also emphatic that the Bene Israel, who had been rejected as Jews by other rabbis, were Jewish.^[1]

In 1964, Pope Paul VI visited Israel but refused to visit the heads of other religions, insisting that they come visit him. In protest, Nissim boycotted this visit, insisting that he was willing to visit the Pope as long as there would be reciprocity if a chief rabbi came to Rome.^[2]

He was the father of Moshe Nissim and Meir Benayahu.