(president, Jewish community of Malta)
Nissim Ohayon writes:
As a community, we felt the need to pay tribute to a man who dedicated a lifetime to serving the Jewish community of Malta, latterly as its president.
Born in Lisbon, my father moved to Malta with his parents and five siblings in 1934, aged five. His father, Rabbi Nissim Ohayon, had been requested to serve as the Jewish community’s rabbi and he obliged.
Having spent his childhood in Valletta, which he considered his home town, he joined the family business, a local luggage manufacturing business, which he then took over following the demise of his elder brothers. He was often referred to locally as ‘Ohayon tal-bagalji’.
He took responsibility for attending to the community’s needs from a young age having lost his father in 1956. This included ensuring that religious services were held regularly and, to his credit, together with the late George Tayar, for a period of 50 years attended to undertaking the Jewish rituals prior to burying community members who had passed away. In this respect, he also ensured that memorial prayers were held for all within the community who passed.
Having been located in leased premises, the...
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