He initially studied in his father's library, and, at the age of 10, he left midrash ("school room") and began to study with his uncle, Rav David Hai Ben Meir who later founded the Shoshanim LeDavid Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1851, he married Rachel, the sister of Hakham Ovadia Somekh, his prime mentor. They had a daughter and two sons together.