Yosef Hayyim

Yosef Chaim ( Ben Ish Chai) (* 1832 in Baghdad, Ottoman Empire, † 1909 in Kafil ) was a Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist.

Life

Better known he is under the name of Ben Ish Chai ( of the lively man's son ) because he wrote a book by that name, which explains the weekly Toraabschnitte and halachic after a Kabbalistic initiation, ie legislative decisions discussed. In this book he gives the Kabbalistic laws take precedence over the laws of the Gemara. In all, he wrote 83 books on Halacha, Kabbalah, Agada, Drascha, declarations to the Talmud and much more.

After the death of his father in 1857 he took over the post of Chacham ( sage ), which corresponds to the Sephardic Judaism about the rabbis in the Ashkenazic area. He died on the way back from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which he had visited twice (1869, 1909), after he had visited the grave of the Prophet Ezekiel. Yosef Chaim's influence extended far beyond Baghdad, so he wrote, among other responsa for the communities in Vienna, Palestine, Calcutta and Iran. Especially in the Sephardic communities of the Ben Ish Chai influence of unabated.