Eliyahu Ben Haim

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Rabbi
Eliyahu Ben Chaim
Ezra Attia, Rabbi Yaakov Ades, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Rabbi Ovadia Hedaya

Eliyahu Ben Chaim (born August 4, 1940) is a

Sephardi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Orthodox halachist. He is the Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinical court) of Mekor Haim in Queens
, New York, and a prominent leader of New York's Sephardi Jewish community.

Early life

Eliyahu Ben Haim was born in Jerusalem, Israel. His father was from

Ezra Attia and other rabbis. At the age of 17, he was tested on the entire Shulchan Aruch. In Porat Yosef, Rabbi Ben Haim fostered a close relationship with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who studied Even Ha'ezer with him.[1]

Community work

In 1962, at the age of 22, he was appointed

Mashadi Jews
as a rabbi and hazzan.

In 1979, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, he went with his family to the United States and served as the chief rabbi of the Mashadi Persian Jewish community of Long Island (UMJCA). Since 1993, he has lectured at Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (RIETS) at Yeshiva University.

Ben Haim was considered a close friend of Mordechai Eliyahu and delivered many eulogies for him. Ben Haim runs the Beth Din Mekor Haim, where he addresses the needs of the Queens Jewish community in matters of marriage, divorce, conversion, civil law, and kosher supervision. He also runs a kollel affiliated with the Beth Din.

Rabbi Ben-Chaim welcoming Rabbi Amar
David Ben Gurion (bottom row) shortly after the Six-Day War (1967). This picture hangs in the Old City of Jerusalem's Four Sephardic Synagogues

Beliefs

Rabbi Ben Haim, like his teacher, Ovadia Yosef, advocates using the Kochah DeHeterah (power of leniency) to assist every Jew in need, especially agunot, women whose husbands refuse to provide a get (Jewish bill of divorce).

Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Chaim, Rosh Yeshiva at YU and Av Bet Din in Queens, with The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Works

Ben Haim's students have released publications containing his rulings. They include:

  1. Shenot Haim: Laws and Customs of Mourning in Accordance with the Mashadi Jewish Tradition, by Rabbi Mosheh Aziz and Avraham Ben-Haim, Independent Publisher, Nov 21, 2018,
    ISBN 9781532395581
  2. טהרת חיים: Laws and Customs of Family Purity in Accordance with the Sephardic Jewish Tradition, by Rabbi Mosheh Aziz, September 1, 2020,
    ISBN 979-8677304910
Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Chaim, Rosh Yeshiva at YU and Av Bet Din in Queens, with Yitzchak Shamir
Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Chaim, Rosh Yeshiva at YU and Av Bet Din in Queens, with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

References

  1. ^ Memories of Rav Ovadia Yosef

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eliyahu Ben Haim.
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