Yosef Hayim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) (
Iraqi Hebrew: Yoseph Ḥayyim; he, יוסף חיים מבגדאד) was a leading
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
i ''
hakham
''Hakham'' (or ''chakam(i), haham(i), hacham(i)''; he, חכם ', "wise") is a term in Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He ...
'' (
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
),
authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
on ''
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' (Jewish law), and Master
Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work on ''
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' ''Ben Ish Ḥai'' () ("Son of Man (who) Lives"), a collection of the laws of everyday life interspersed with
mystical insights and customs, addressed to the masses and arranged by the weekly
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
portion.
Biography
Hayim initially studied in his father's library, and, at the age of 10, he left ''
midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
'' ("school room") and began to study with his uncle,
David Hai Ben Meir, who later founded the
Shoshanim LeDavid Yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In 1851, he married Rachel, the niece of
Abdallah Somekh
Abdallah (Ovadia) Somekh (1813–September 13, 1889) was an Iraqi Jewish hakham, rosh yeshiva and posek.
Early life
Abdallah Somekh was born in 1813 in Baghdad to Abraham Somekh, himself a descendant of Nissim Gaon; he was the eldest of eight b ...
, his prime mentor, with whom he had a daughter and two sons.
When Hayim was only twenty-five years old, his father died. Despite his youth, the
Jews of Baghdad accepted him to fill his father's place as the leading rabbinic scholar of Baghdad, though he never filled the official position of ''
Hakham Bashi
''Haham Bashi'' (chachampasēs) which is explained as "μεγάλος ραβίνος" or "Grand Rabbi".
* Persian: khākhāmbāšīgarī is used in the Persian version of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. Strauss stated that there was a possibili ...
. ''The Sephardic
Porat Yosef Yeshiva
Porat Yosef Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת פורת יוסף) is a Sephardic yeshiva in Jerusalem, with locations in both the Old City and the Geula neighborhood. The name Porat Yosef means "Joseph is a fruitful tree" after the biblical verse Genesi ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, was founded on his advice by Joseph Shalom, of
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
—one of Hayim's patrons.
Hayim clashed with the reformist Bavarian Jewish scholar
Jacob Obermeyer
Jacob Obermeyer (21 March 1845 in Steinhart – 1 March 1938 in Würzburg) was a Bavarian Jewish oriental researcher, scholar and a traveler, and the grandfather of the Israeli agent Meir Max Bineth.
Biography
Early years
Jacob Obermeyer w ...
who lived in Baghdad from 1869 to 1880, and excommunicated him. Part of the contention was due to Obermeyer and Hayim's conflicting views on promotion of the
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...
.
Works
The Ben Ish Hai (בן איש חי) is a standard reference in some
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
homes (functioning as "a
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch") and is widely studied in Sephardi
yeshivot
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish education, Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish p ...
. Due to the popularity of this book, Hakham Yosef Hayim came to be known as "Ben Ish Hai", by which he is referred to by many today. The book is a collection of homilies he gave over two years discussing the weekly
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
portion. Each chapter begins with a
mystical
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
discussion, usually explaining how a
Kabbalistic
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
interpretation of a certain verse relates to a particular ''
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'', and then continuing to expound on that halakha with
definitive rulings.
Hakham Yosef Hayim authored over thirty other works, and there are many published
Iraqi rite siddurim
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.'
Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, '' ...
(prayer books) based on his rulings, which are widely used by
Sephardi Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
. Amongst the best known of his works are:
*''Me-Kabtziel'' (Miqqabṣiël): an esoteric exposition of Jewish law — which he refers to often in ''Ben Ish Hai'' — providing a more detailed explanation of the reasoning underlying certain decisions. It has been speculated that Hakham Yosef Hayim's insistence on having all his works printed in the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
prevented this essential work from being published.
*''Ben Yehoyada'' (Ben Yəhoyadaʻ) and ''Benayahou'': his commentary on the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, considered a basic resource in understanding the
Aggada
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...
(narrative sections of the Talmud).
*The
Responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
( he, She'elot U-Teshuvot) ''Rav Pe'alim'' (Rab Pəʻalim)
and
Torah Lishmah'.
* (reprinted in 1994)
The names ''Ben Ish Hai'', ''Me-Kabtziel'', ''Rav Pe'alim'' and ''Ben Yehoyada'' derive from
2 Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Book ...
br>
23:20 He chose these names because he claimed to have been a reincarnation of ''
Benayahu ben Yehoyada'' (described as ''Ben Ish Hayil'', the son of a valiant man); the man in whose merit, it is said, both the first and second
Holy Temples stood.
Hakham Yosef Hayim was also noted for his stories and
parable
A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
s. Some are scattered through his
halakhic
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
works, but have since been collected and published separately; others were published as separate works in his lifetime, as an alternative to the European-inspired secular literature that was becoming popular at the time. Hi
Qânûn-un-Nisâ (قانون النساء)is a book filled with parables concerning self-improvement. The book, directed towards, but not limited to women, is rare since it was composed in
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, encomp ...
. It was last published in Israel in the 1940s.
See also
*Jonatan Meir, "Toward the Popularization of Kabbalah: R. Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad and the Kabbalists of Jerusalem", Modern Judaism 33(2) (May 2013), pp. 147–172
*''
Kaf HaChaim Kaf Hachayim ( he, כף החיים; translation: "the hand, palm of life") is the title of two widely cited codes of Jewish law. It may refer to:
*a work by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer
*a work by Rabbi Hayim Palaggi
{{disambiguation
Rabbinic legal te ...
'' — a more discursive, and contemporaneous,
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
work of Halakha by Rabbi
Yaakov Chaim Sofer
Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870–1939) (Hebrew: יעקב חיים סופר) was a Sephardi rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and ''posek''. He is the author of ''Kaf Hachaim'', a work of halakha that he came to be known by.
Biography
Sofer was born in Bagh ...
.
*''
Yalkut Yosef Yalkut Yosef ( he, ילקוט יוסף, "Collation of Yosef") is an authoritative, contemporary work of Halakha, providing a detailed explanation of the Shulchan Aruch as based on the halachic rulings of the former Rishon LeTzion Rav Ovadia Yosef. ...
,'' a contemporary Sephardi work of Halakha, based on the rulings of Rabbi
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef ( he, , Ovadya Yosef, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodo ...
.
*
Yehuda Fatiyah
Yehuda Fetaya (Yehuda ben Moshe ben Yeshou`ah Fetaya; 1859–1942) was a leading Kabbalist and authored many works of Kabbalah, among which three are well known, ''Yayin haReqa`h'', ''Bet Le`hem Yehuda'' and ''Min`hat Yehuda''.
Life
Yehuda Fati ...
— a student of Yosef Chaim.
*Ben Ish Hai,
- The Life & Times of Hacham Yosef Haim by Yehuda Azoulay
References
The “Ben Ish Chai” Chacham Yosef Chaim (1834 – 1909) ou.org
Eliezer C. Abrahamson
tzemachdovid.org
Rabbenu Hakham Ribbi Yoseph Hayyim benishhai.org
torah.net
ascent.org.il
Resources
(
Hebrew language, Hebrew), shechem.org
''Ben Ish Chai'', fulltext He:Wikisource
''Ben Ish Chai'' audio lectures(
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
)
Les Fleurs de l'Orient: The Genealogy Site farhi.org
*''The Halachot of the Ben Ish Hai'', transl. S. Hiley, Philipp Feldheim.
*''Golden Apples: Parables Of The Ben Ish Chai '', Y. Kahn, Artscroll.
External links
*
Jonatan Meir
Jonatan is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Jonatan (footballer) (born 1992), Brazilian football midfielder, full name Jonatan da Silva Lima
*Jonatan Berg (born 1985), Swedish football midfielder
* Jonatan Briel (1942–1988), ...
br>
"Toward the Popularization of Kabbalah: R. Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad and the Kabbalists of Jerusalem" Modern Judaism 33(2) (May 2013), pp. 147–172
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayyim, Yosef
1835 births
1909 deaths
Sephardi Jews from the Ottoman Empire
Rabbis from Baghdad
Jewish mystical texts
Kabbalists
Sephardi rabbis
Writers from Baghdad
19th-century Iraqi rabbis
20th-century Iraqi rabbis
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Authors of books on Jewish law