Leilão Bidspirit | Letter Handwritten and Signed by

Letter Handwritten and Signed by the Ben Ish Chai – Baghdad, 1903 – ”I Bless You with Life and Peace, and May G-d's Will Succeed Through You” - Letter handwritten and signed by R. Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, the Ben Ish Chai. [Baghdad], Nisan 1903. Letter addressed to R. Ezra Chaim HaKohen, a dayan of Safed and an emissary of the Safed community. The Ben Ish Chai writes to him of the ”G-d-fearing community members” of Basra who already gave a donation (”about forty pounds”) to ”the emissary Shrem” (R. Yosef Chaim Shrem), and are concerned that the next emissary would not take into account they had already donated to the poor of Eretz Israel and would ask for more from them. The Ben Ish Chai asks R. Ezra Chaim HaKohen to take care of the matter. He subsequently writes that he heard that he was appointed rabbi and posek in Basra, and writes that ”if the matter is true, I bless you with life and peace, and may G-d's will succeed through you”. He then continues with a recommendation of a teacher of the Torah school, ”Ch. Aharon” of Iraq, who had apparently left Iraq for Safed. He recommends R. Ezra Chaim appoint him to a permanent teaching role, ”both due to his fear of heaven, as he truly fears G-d, and would absolutely certainly not do his work deceitfully, and likewise due to his thorough knowledge of learning technique…”. R. Yosef Chaim of Baghdad (1833-1909), author of Ben Ish Chai and dozens of other important books, son of R. Eliyahu Chaim son of R. Moshe Chaim Rabbi of Baghdad. Disciple of R. Abdallah Somech. He was known from youth for his genius and righteousness. After his father's death in 1859, R. Yosef Chaim, then aged 26, succeeded his father as preacher in the Great Synagogue, where he continued to give a discourse every Shabbat for some fifty years. Over four thousand listeners would gather to hear his sermons on the special occasions of Shabbat Teshuvah and Shabbat HaGadol, and he would captivate his audience for four or five hours, weaving in engaging parables. His sermons were mixed of both halachah and aggadah, applying simple, allusive and kabbalistic methods to interpreting Biblical verses and rabbinic sayings. The Ben Ish Chai was the greatest Torah scholar of his city and land, and all the rabbis and dayanim of Baghdad deferred to his word as the uncontested leader of Iraqi Jewry. He studied Torah for its own sake. He gained world renown for his unique mastery of revealed and hidden Torah and for his holiness. In 1869, he traveled to Eretz Israel to visit the gravesites of the tzaddikim, whereupon he received a heavenly message that his soul derives from that of Benayahu ben Yehoyada, which was the inspiration for the names of his books: Ben Ish Chai, Ben Ish Chayil, Ben Yehoyada, Rav Pealim, Od Yosef Chai, among others. His books include Leshon Chachamim, Aderet Eliyahu, Responsa Torah Lishmah (printed anonymously), Chasdei Avot, Birkat Avot, and more. [1] leaf. 20.5 cm. Fair condition. Stains, dampstains (traces of mold). Open tears, affecting text.