Who is Zaki from The Source; a Novel and what is their importance?

Zaki is a rabbi in the Italian town of Podi. He is married to Rachel and works as a shoemaker. They have three daughters. He senses the impending dangers of the Inquisition and he and his family emigrate to Salonica. They eventually settled in Safed.

Zaki finds husbands for his three daughters, arranging for the oldest to marry Abulafia. When Rachel dies, he marries Elisheba, the daughter of Eliezer. He decides that he has to go to Rome to argue the case of Judaism with the Church.