NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ben Ish Chai

Yosef Chaim (1832 - 1909) was a Hakham and a Sephardic Rabbi, authority on Jewish law (Halakha) and Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai ("Son of Man (who) Lives"), by which title he is also known. 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Hakham or Chacham (Hebrew חכם lit. ... Sephardic Judaism, as opposed to Ashkenazic Judaism from Eastern Europe, is one of the two major traditions of Judaism. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew ×¨Ö´×‘Ö´Ö¼×™ ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli ×¨Ö·×‘Ö´Ö¼×™ rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as ×¨Ö´×‘Ö´Ö¼×™ (Ribbi... Halakha (Hebrew: ×”×œ×›×”; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ... The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Halakha (Hebrew: ×”×œ×›×”; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

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Biography

Chacham Yosef Chaim was born in Baghdad where his father was Rabbi. Yosef Chaim's talents were evident from a young age (composing an anonymous responsum at age 14). As a child, he spent most of his time studying in his father's library. At the age of 10, he left cheder ("school room") and began to study with his uncle, Rabbi David Chai Nissim. (Rabbi David later founded the famed "Shoshanim LeDavid" Yeshiva located in Jerusalem.) He married Rachel, the daughter of Rabbi Yehudah Someich, in 1851 - they had a daughter and two sons. Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Province. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ... Cheders (also known as Heders, Hebrew: room) are traditional elementary schools or classes teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ×™×©×™×‘×” pl. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... 1851 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

When Rabbi Yosef Chaim was only twenty-five years old, his father passed away. Nevertheless, the Jews of Baghdad accepted him to fill his fathers place and Rabbi Yosef Chaim became Rabbi of Baghdad. He became widely accepted as an authority on Jewish law throughout the Middle East. His decisions are considered to be of Halachik significance - even outside of the Sephardi communities. The highly respected Sephardic yeshiva, Ben Porat Yosef, was founded in Jerusalem by one of Rabbi Chaim's patrons at the rabbi's insistence. His main disciple was the kabbalist Rabbi Yehuda Moshe Petaya. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Posek (Hebrew ×¤×•×¡×§; pl. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ×™×©×™×‘×” pl. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ...

Works

The Ben Ish Chai is the standard reference in Sephardi homes (functioning as "a Sephardi Kitzur Shulchan Aruch") and is widely studied in Sephardi yeshivot. Due to the popularity of this book, Chaim came to be known as "The Ben Ish Chai", by which he is referred to universally today. The book is a collection of homilies he gave over two years discussing the weekly Torah portion. Each chapter begins with a mystical discussion, usually explaining how a Kabbalistic interpretation of a certain verse relates to a particular halakha, and then continuing to expound on that halakha with definitive rulings. See also Kaf HaChaim - a more discursive, and contemporaneous, Sephardi work of Halakha. Sephardim (×¡×¤×¨×“×™, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardÃ®; plural Sephardim: ×¡×¤×¨×“×™×, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Hungary 1804 to 1886) is best known as the author of the work of Halakha (Jewish law), the Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh (lit. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (Hebrew: ×™×©×™×‘×” pl. ... Torah (×ª×•×¨×”) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ... In Jewish services, a Parsha or Parshah or Parashah, ×¤×¨×©×”, meaning Portion in Hebrew, is the weekly Torah reading text selection. ... Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality, or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ... The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... Halakha (Hebrew: ×”×œ×›×”; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ... Posek (Hebrew ×¤×•×¡×§; pl. ... Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist and posek (decisor of Torah law). Sofer is author of the work on halakha (Jewish law) titled Kaf Hachaim, by which title he is also known. ... Sephardim (×¡×¤×¨×“×™, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardÃ®; plural Sephardim: ×¡×¤×¨×“×™×, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ...

The names of the above works - Ben Ish Chai, MeKabtziel, Rav Pe'alim, Ben Yehoyada - derive from 2 Samuel 23:20. The Talmud (×ª×œ×ž×•×“) is a record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories, which Jewish tradition considers authoritative. ... Aggadah ( Aramaic אגדה: tales, lore; pl. ... Note: This is based on an entry from the 1906 public domain Jewish Encyclopedia The responsa literature, known in Hebrew as Sheelot U-teshuvot (questions and answers), is the body of written decisions and rulings given by rabbis to questions addressed to them. ... Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 6 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... The Books of Samuel, also referred to as [The Book of] Samuel (Hebrew: ×©×Ö°×ž×•Ö¼×Öµ×œ), are (two) books in the Hebrew Bible (Judaisms Tanakh and originally written in Hebrew) and the Old Testament of Christianity. ...

In addition to the above, Rabbi Chaim authored over thirty other works including his siddur that is widely used by Sephardic Jews. The siddur is the prayerbook used by Jews the world over, containing a set order of daily prayers. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew Səfárad, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄áraḏ / Səp̄āraḏ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from...

External links

Categories: Religious biography stubs | Judaism stubs | Orthodox rabbis | Jewish texts | Mizrahi Jews Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 6 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... MP3 is a popular digital audio encoding and lossy compression format invented and standardized in 1991 by a team of engineers working in the framework of the ISO/IEC MPEG audio committee under the chairmanship of Professor Hans Musmann (University of Hannover - Germany). ...