Ben Ish Chai, "Son [of] Man [who] Lives", (actual Hebrew name Yosef Chaim) was a Sephardic Judaism rabbi (chacham) and Kabbalist who lived in Baghdad from 1832 to 1909. He is best known by the name of the work of Halakha (Jewish law) that he authored by the title Ben Ish Chai. Chaim succeeded his father as rabbi of Baghdad at age 25, on his father's death and became widely accepted as an authority on Jewish law throughout the Middle East. The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... Sephardic Judaism, as opposed to Ashkenazic Judaism from Eastern Europe, is one of the two major traditions of Judaism. ... brendan is gay ... 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. ... A street map of Baghdad Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and the Baghdad Province. ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Halakha (הלכה or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ... 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. ...

The Ben Ish Chai is considered by some, to be the "Sephardi Kitzur Shulchan Aruch" - it is the standard reference in Sephardi homes and is used in Sephardi eshivot. 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 within Judaism. The book is a collection of homilies he gave over two years along with the weekly Torah portion. Each chapter begins with a mystical portion, 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. In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) is a Jew original to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal: ספרד, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fárad, Tiberian Hebrew / ), or whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled during the Spanish Inquisition... 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. ... A yeshiva (or yeshivah, Hebrew, pl. ... Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. ... Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the... 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 (הלכה or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

Chaim is also the author of Responsa (in Hebrew: Sheelot U-Teshuvot) known as the Rav Pe'alim and Torah Lishmah. He arranged a siddur (Jewish prayerbook) that is widely used by Sephardic Jews. His commentary on the Talmud, Ben Yehoyada, is considered by many scholars of Judaism to be second only to the Maharsha as a resource in understanding the Aggada (narrative sections of the Talmud). He wrote an esoteric exposition of Jewish law in MeKabtziel which he refers to in Ben Ish Chai for more detailed explanations of his reasoning for certain decisions (see 2 Samuel 23:20) 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. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... 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... The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ... Samuel Edels (1555–1631), was a renowned rabbi and Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud, Chiddushei Halachot. ... Aggadah ( Aramaic אגדה: tales, lore; pl. ...

The most respected Sephardic yeshiva, Ben Porat Yosef, was founded in Jerusalem by one of Rabbi Chaim's patrons at the rabbi's insistance. A yeshiva (or yeshivah, Hebrew, pl. ... Jerusalem (31°46′ N 35°14′ E; Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is the capital of Israel and an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...

External links

References

• The Ben Ish Chai, Yated Neeman
• Great Jewish Leaders, Eliezer C. Abrahamson
• Ben Ish Chai, tzemachdovid.org
• Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, torah.net
• Benaihu Ben Yehoyada, ascent.org.il

Resources

• Ben Ish Chai (Hebrew full-text), shechem.org
• The Halachot of the Ben Ish Hai, transl. S. Hiley, Philipp Feldheim. ISBN 1583301607