Rav Shaul Mekiketz Shelai, born in Djerba, one of the two main cities in Tunisia, was the son of Rav Matuk Shelai, and grandson of Emmanuel Shelai. At an early age, he leaned under Rav Dovid HaKohen, and at the age of twenty, he began to teach in the Yeshiva of Rav Yosef Bereibi, the Ben Porat Yosef. With the latter’s passing, Rav Shaul became the Rosh Yeshiva. Rav Shaul edited and annotated many seforim by previous Gedolim of Djerba, including Kisei Rachamim by Rav Rachamim Mazuz and Ben Porat Yosef by Rav Yosef Bereibi. Later in life, he and his wife moved to Eretz Yisrael and settled in Shlomi, near Nahariya. In Eretz Yisrael, he wrote Midrasho Shel Shlomo in 1948 and Karmi Sheli (on Kiddushin) and Medrash Avos (on Avos) in 1963, as well as other writings. His final work, Bayit Va’Shem, was published posthumously in 1975. Appended to it is Va’Yatek Mi’Shom, offering guidelines and insights on raising children.
