Moses ibn Habib

Moses ibn Habib

Moshe (Moses) ibn Habib (1654–1696) was the Rishon LeZion (Sephardic chief Rabbi of Israel), Hakham Bashi (chief rabbi of the Ottoman Empire) and the head of a major yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Contents

Background and family

Rabbi Moshe ibn Habib was born in 1654 in Salonika. His father, Rabbi Shlomo ibn Habib was a scion of a distinguished family that was forced to emigrate from Spain. Among his forefathers were Rabbi Jacob ibn Habib, the author the famous book Ein Yaakov and Joseph ibn Habib, author of the commentary Nimmuke Yosef.

At the age of 15 Moshe moved to Jerusalem, where he enrolled in the yeshiva (academy) of Rabbi Jacob Hagiz. He married the daughter of Rabbi Yonatan (Jonathan) Galanti, whose son, Rabbi Moshe Galanti, the Rishon LeZion, was known as The Magen.

Sons in law

Both of Rabbi Moshe ibn Habib's daughters married prominent scholars:

  • the famous scholar Rabbi Yaakov Culi, who initiated the collection Me'am Lo'ez
  • Rabbi Moshe Israel, the emissary of the communities of Zefat (Safed) and Jerusalem to diaspora Jewry.

Positions, novellæ and other works

Upon his arrival in Jerusalem, despite his young age, Rabbi Moshe was immediately recognized for his extraordinary talents. Such distinguished Jerusalemite scholars as Rabbi Hezekiah da Silva, the author of the work Peri Hadash, Rabbi Ephraim Navon, author of the work Mahane Ephraim and even his master Rabbi Jacob Hagiz recognized him as their equal and maintained halachic discourses with him.

At some point, Rabbi Moshe was sent as an emissary to the Jewish community Turkey; however, other than the fact of his dispatch, nothing else is known about this period of his life.

When his brother-in-law Rabbi Moshe Galanti died in 1689, Rabbi Moshe ibn Habib was appointed Rishon LeZion and head of the yeshiva in his stead. His colleagues on the rabbinical court (bet din) included the Jerusalemite scholars R. Jacob Molkho, R. Yom Tov Zahalon and R. Yoseph bar Yoseph.

Though young in years, Rabbi Moshe ibn Habib was well known for his erudition and scholarship in all areas of the Torah. However, his primary expertise was in the area of the laws of marriage an divorce and particularly in the thorny areas of the laws dealing with agunot ('anchored or chained' women). He authored two works in this area, Get Pashut and Ezrat Nashim, which remain standard references in these area to this day.

Rabbi Moshe wrote another book entitled Shammot ba-Aretz, which contains his Talmudic novellæ. The work is divide into three sections:

  • Yom Teruah, novellæ on Tracate Rosh Hashana (Ortakeni, 1714)
  • Tosphot Yom Hakipurim, novellæ on Tracate Yoma (Constantinople, 1727 )
  • Kapot Temarim, novellæ on Tracate Succah (Constantinople, 1731)

The work has been widely respected among Talmudic scholars since its publication, and it has been the subject of novellae by such luminaries as Rabbi Akiva Eger and Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson. The manuscript of his responsa was lost at sea; part survived and was published under the title Kol Gadol (Great Sound) in 1907 in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Moshe served as the rabbi and Jerusalem and the head of the yehiva until the day he died in 1696, before his 43rd birthday. He did not live to see any of his manuscripts published. However, his grandson (his daughter's son) Rabbi Jacob Culi edited his manuscripts and saw to their publication. At the time there was no printing press in Jerusalem and Rabbi Jacob traveled to Constantinople with the manuscript to try to get it published. Although he arrived there in 1714, the manuscript was only published in 1725, 25 years after the author's death. The publisher cited the help of Rabbi Haim Alfandari.

Bibliography

  • Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim;
  • Benjacob, Otzar ha-Sefarim

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • IBN ḤABIB, MOSES BEN SHEM TOV — (15th century), philosopher, grammarian, and Hebrew poet. Born in Lisbon, Moses lived in various towns in southern Italy – Naples, Bitonto, and Otranto. From his two works on Hebrew grammar, it is clear that he was influenced by profiat duran ,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Moïse ben Shem Tov ibn Habib —  Ne doit pas être confondu avec Moïse de León ni Moïse ben Salomon ibn Habib …   Wikipédia en Français

  • ḤABIB, ḤAYYIM BEN MOSES BEN SHEM TOV — (16th century), rabbinical author. Among the Jews exiled from Portugal in 1497, he escaped to Fez. In 1505 he compiled over 3,000 responsa of solomon b. abraham adret , in Sefer ha Battim. Ḥ.J.D. Azulai heard of the existence of the manuscript in …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ḤABIB, MOSES BEN SOLOMON IBN — (c. 1654–1696), Turkish rabbi and author. He was born in salonika , a descendant of , and went to Jerusalem in his youth. He studied in the yeshivah of Jacob Ḥagiz and from c. 1677 to 1679 he traveled as an emissary of Jerusalem, reaching as far… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • IBN ḤAYYIM, AARON — (II; before 1630–1688), rabbi and commentator. A grandson of Aaron ibn Ḥayyim I, Aaron II was born in Hebron. He lived in Cairo, Alexandria, and Rashid, Egypt, from 1670 to 1675. From there he proceeded   to Smyrna, where he was appointed dayyan …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Moses ben Jonathan Galante — For other uses, see Moses Galante (disambiguation). Moses ben Jonathan Galante (1621 – February 4, 1689 Jerusalem), grandson of Moses Galante, was a 17th century rabbi at Jerusalem. He served as the first Rishon Le Zion and was called Magen (מגן) …   Wikipedia

  • GHAZĀLĪ, ABU ḤAMID MUḤAMMAD IBN MUḤAM-MAD AL-TŪSĪ AL-° — (1058–1111), Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, mystic, and religious reformer, who wrote mainly in Arabic. Al Ghazālī s best known work is his Iḥyā Ulūm al Dīn ( Revival of the Religious Sciences, 1096–7), in which he successfully reconciled… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ḤAKIM, SAMUEL BEN MOSES HA-LEVI IBN — (?1480–after 1547), rabbi in egypt and turkey . Samuel came from a distinguished family of Spanish origin which had settled in Egypt. His father, Moses, was a personal friend of the governor of Egypt and, when difficulties arose, intervened on… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ẒAYYAḤ (Ẓiyyaḥ), JOSEPH BEN ABRAHAM IBN — (16th century), rabbi and kabbalist. Ẓayyaḥ was apparently born in jerusalem . There he completed his Even ha Shoham in 1538. From Jerusalem he went to damascus to serve as rabbi of the Mostarabian (the native Jewish) community but paid frequent… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Chief Rabbinate of Israel — The Kotel is under the supervision of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel (הרבנות הראשית לישראל) is recognized by law [1] as the supreme halakhic and spiritual authority for the Jewish people in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”