[3] Praised effusively by his contemporaries and quoted frequently by major halakhic authorities of the 18th and 19th centuries, he served as Rabbi of Livorno, Italy, and apparently lived to an old age.
A decision by him, dated Nisan, 1732, and referring to a civil case at Rome, is included in the responsa of Rabbi Isaiah Bassani of Reggio (Todat Shelamim, No.
In addition to these, Malachi also wrote a Sefer Torah in his own hand which then became an authoritative reference for many details regarding the correct formation of various Hebrew letters.
Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes wrote that: "Every reader of this book will be amazed by the way this living lion, the high priest.....dives in the mighty waters, the sea of the Talmud.
No secret is hidden from him",[6] while Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai (the 'Chida') wrote: "And after much time, the sun shone upon the land.... with the precious book 'Yad Malachi', and as the eyes of servants to the hand of their masters, I have raised my eyes and seen..."[7] The 'Yad Malachi' was printed again in the late 20th century, and a new edition with greatly improved fonts, format, and biographical detail was printed in Israel in 2001.