Koraḥ, Ḥayyim ben Joseph

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KORAḤ, ḤAYYIM BEN JOSEPH

KORAḤ, ḤAYYIM BEN JOSEPH (1824–1914), Yemenite scholar, preacher, and kabbalist, born in *Sanʿa. Many of the Yemenite scholars were among the disciples of his bet hamidrash. Queries in the fields of Torah and halakhah were addressed to him from all parts of Yemen. His sermons – a combination of Torah and halakhah, Midrash, and Kabbalah – enthralled the masses. He was deeply involved in mystical studies, and acts and miracles wrought by practical Kabbalah are attributed to him. He left three works extant in manuscript, one of which is a collection of responsa arranged according to the order of the Shulḥan Arukh.

bibliography:

J. Kafaḥ, in: Ha-Mesillah, 2 (1957), 3–5; A. Koraḥ, Sa'arat Teiman (1954), 45f.

[Yehuda Ratzaby]