Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen

Hayyim ben Abraham ha-Kohen (חיים בן אברהם הכהן; c. 1585–May 2, 1655^[1]) was a Jewish rabbi and writer. He spent his early career in Aleppo, tracing his lineage to "Don Joseph ha-Kohen the Spaniard".^[2] He was a disciple of Hayyim ben Joseph Vital^[3][4] in Damascus,^[5] and a teacher of Nathan ben Moses Hannover in Livorno.^[4] His customs and teachings are cited in the Hemdat Yamim.^[6]

Of his early life, Hayyim writes only that "In my youth the spirit of God lifted me and gave me an tongue fit to know and to ask and to answer Torah matters, and to gather crowds to synagogue study halls, teaching the laws of Passover on Passover and the laws of Shavuot on every sabbath . . ."^[7] On instructions from Vital, he "abandoned all non-Lurianic books and read nothing except Nachmanides and what other books are cited by Luria".^[8]

In c. 1650 he traveled to Istanbul to print the first part of his Mekor hayyim, a Kabbalistic commentary on the Shulchan Aruch,^[9] and remained there for several years.^[8] During this time, "he was very careful not to write amulets. He would take only the time necessary to recite prayers, saying 'I wish to spend the time at study, which others devote to continual prayer', and he studied all day and all night".^[8] In 1652 he met with Samuel Aboab in Venice to pursue further publication, and in 1653 we find him in İzmir.^[9] In 1654 his Torat hakham, a book of sermons, was printed in Venice; other parts of his Mekor hayyim were printed in Amsterdam and Livorno in 1655. Abraham Cardoso wrote c. 1668 that "I went to Egypt [in c. 1659 (!)], seeking succor for my troubled soul, and I lived there five years. I sought to have this affliction healed by Hayyim ha-Kohen . . . I also found there Benjamin ha-Levi".^[10] Some have interpreted this to mean that Hayyim was born in Egypt,^[5][11] but Cardoso probably met him in Italy and misremembered.^[12] In the introduction to his Torat hakham, Hayyim writes that

I decided to publish my books for the benefit of others, and first I sent my commentary on Esther to the press, it being short and symbolic of the miracles which occur despite difficult beginnings. But after I sent it, many years passed without response—for these were no generous men—and so, as the time passed and I grew more and more depressed, I decided to go myself to publish all of my books. Because of the great melancholy in my heart, I did not make copies of my manuscripts, in order to cause no delay, and I immediately set out from here (!), Aleppo, by ship. We had been at sea only one day when we came to a certain port, known to be dangerous, where we were held for five days by calm. There one frigate from Malta came upon us by night at the end of the sixth day, and the infidels had nearly overpowered us when I saw that there was no hope, so I cast myself into the sea and the waves, and the water rose to my neck, but slowly God brought me to dry land and saved be from my captors . . . After this my travails were so many on account of the hunger and the beasts, that the number of miracles which God performed for me—blessed by the One who pays out goodness to the condemned—equalled the bitter hardship of my lost manuscripts, twenty years' restless work . . . all because not one man had been kind enough to publish even my smallest book . . . But I said to myself, I will attempt to rewrite them as they were before . . .^[7]

Before embarking on the journey, he performed a dreamquest, and, assured of ten more years of life, he left with the intention to return for burial in Israel.^[13] He died less than ten years later,^[13] on May 2, 1655^[1] and was buried in Livorno.^[14] Moses Babo of Rome delivered a eulogy.^[13] After Hayyim's death, David Lida published a commentary on the Book of Ruth under the title Migdol david; later scholars, such as Jacob Emden, Chaim Yosef David Azulai, and Heimann Joseph Michael, considered the true author to have been Hayyim ha-Kohen.^[15][16][17] Chaim Yosef David Azulai prostrated himself before Hayyim's grave.^[18]