请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 Chaim HaKohen
释义

  1. References

Rabbi Chaim HaKohen (Egypt 1585- Italy 1655) was born in Egypt in 1585. His father was Rabbi Abraham HaKohen, who belonged to a famous family of Kohanim, descendants of Yosef HaCohen, from Spain. From his earliest childhood it was clear that he had a remarkable talent. Not only because of his tremendous love for the study of Torah, but also because of his human qualities. It is said that as a child, while his classmates spent their free time playing, Chaim went to the synagogue to study Torah, and to learn how to serve G-d. As a teenager, when people gathered in the synagogue on Shabbat, he would climb into the pulpit and give sermons on the weekly section of the Torah (the parashah), and on the laws related to jewish festivities, as well as giving lessons on Musar (jewish ethics), which attracted many listeners.

Later, Rabbi Chaim HaKohen moved to the city of Safed. There he studied with the rabbi and kabbalist Chaim Vital for three years. From Safed, Rabbi Chaim HaKohen moved to the city of Aram Tsoba, located near Aleppo, Syria, where he settled permanently. There he was elected rabbi of the community, to replace the former rabbi, Mordechai HaKohen, the son-in-law of the famous rabbi, Shmuel Laniado (Baal HaKelim).

When Rabbi Chaim HaKohen began serving as Rabbi of the community, Torah study flourished, even more than in Aleppo. New Talmudic schools and academies were opened, and more benches were added to the synagogue. Rabbi Chaim HaKohen served the Aleppo community as rabbi and head of the rabbinical court for decades. His knowledge was very great, and the rabbi answered very complex rabbinical questions, asked by members of some very distant Jewish communities from other parts of the world. Finally, he decided to organize all his writings and publish his books, especially his commentaries on Shulchan Aruch, the legal code that was written by his teacher's teacher, rabbi and kabbalist Joseph Karo.

In addition to his commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi HaKohen wrote many other works. These include the commentary on the Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim), the commentary on the Book of Lamentations, the commentary on the Book of Ruth, the commentary on the Book of Daniel, and many other books, all written in manuscripts. Until the end of the 16th century, books were copied by hand, but with the invention of the printing press that changed. Anyway, publishing books in Aleppo, or in the countries of the Middle East, was practically impossible, since the printing press had not yet arrived there. The only possibility was to print the books in Europe. The best printers of the time were in Venice, Italy, the city where half of the European books were published during most of the 16th century. It was in Venice that the first edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed, and where the first edition of Shulchan Aruch, by the rabbi and kabbalist Joseph Karo, was also printed.

Rabbi HaKohen sent his commentary on the Book of Esther to Venice. But time passed and the book was not published. Rabbi HaKohen then decided to travel to Venice, and personally took over the printing of his book. Together with his son they travelled by sea carrying with them all the Rabbi's manuscripts, possibly no less than 20 manuscripts, but his ship was attacked by pirates from the island of Malta. The pirates boarded the ship to steal the cargo and kill the passengers, or kidnap them and sell them as slaves. Rabbi HaKohen and his son jumped into the sea and miraculously were able to save their lives. But their books remained on board the ship.

The rabbi prayed to G-d, and asked him for help to retrieve his valuable books, or to help him write them again by heart. G-d granted the second request. Rabbi HaKohen spent several years in Italy, rewriting his valuable lost books. The first book that Rabbi HaKohen was able to print, with the help of Moses Zacuto, was entitled Torat Chacham (The Teaching of the Wise). This book was a collection of the rabbi's sermons on the weekly sections of the Torah. The book was published in Venice in 1654.

The next book that Rabbi HaKohen printed with the help of Rabbi Shmuel Abohab was Mekor Chaim (The Source of Life). This book is a commentary of Shulchan Aruch, consisting of several volumes. The first part of them was published in Venice, also in 1654. To print the second volume of his book Pitda, the rabbi travelled to Livorno, Italy. It was in this city that Rabbi HaKohen died in 1655. After Rabbi HaKohen's death, some of his books that were on the ship hijacked by pirates were found.

The famous Rabbi Yosef Jaim David Azulai (Hida), in his chronicle book Shem HaGuedolim, states that he had in his hands the manuscript Ateret Zahab, a commentary on the Book of Esther, written by Rabbi Chaim HaKohen. Another of his books, Migdal David, a commentary on the Book of Ruth, was also found. The book was printed in Amsterdam in 1680 by an impostor who falsely claimed the authorship of the book. Some manuscripts of Rabbi Chaim HaKohen were found. The Talmudic commentaries on the Berachot treatise were published in the israeli monthly publication Qobets Bet Aharon ve Israel, in 1983. Some books and commentaries by Rabbi HaKohen still exist in the form of manuscripts and remain unpublished.[1]

References

1. ^{{cite web|title=El Rab Jayim haCohen (1585-1655), sus libros y los piratas que robaron sus libros|url=http://esefarad.com/?p=85882|language=es|date=17 March 2019|publisher=E-sefarad}}

1 : Egyptian rabbis

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/9/21 13:17:42