Ḥayyim Abraham Raphael ben Asher

views updated

ḤAYYIM ABRAHAM RAPHAEL BEN ASHER

ḤAYYIM ABRAHAM RAPHAEL BEN ASHER (d. 1772), Jerusalem rabbi and kabbalist. Ḥayyim was a member of the bet din of Raphael *Meyuḥas, and later av bet din in Jerusalem. Toward the end of his life, in 1771, he was appointed rishon le-Zion (Sephardi chief rabbi). In 1731 (or 1734) he published in Constantinople the Sha'arei Kedushah of Ḥayyim *Vital. Between the years 1734 and 1765 he traveled as an emissary of Jerusalem, seeking contributions in Constantinople, Italy, France, and Egypt. Ḥayyim was a signatory of the Shetar Hitkasherut ("articles of association") of the society of kabbalists. Head of the yeshivah Yefaʾer Anavim in Jerusalem, he cosigned the takkanah forbidding bachelors between the ages of 20 and 60 from residing in Jerusalem. He gave approbations to many works, among them the Zivḥei Shelamim of Judah Diwan (Constantinople 1728), and the Shulḥan Gavoha of Joseph Molkho, Salonika, oḤ 1756; yd 1764. He died during a famine and plague that raged in Jerusalem.

bibliography:

Frumkin-Rivlin, 3 (1929), 98f.; Yaari, Sheluḥei, 289–91; Rosanes, Togarmah, 5 (1938), 240, 243; Katsh, in: Sefunot, 9 (1964), 323–35.

[Simon Marcus]

About this article

Ḥayyim Abraham Raphael ben Asher

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article