Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia

Abulafia Synagogue, Tiberias

Hayyim ben Jacob Abulafia (born 1660 in Hebron, d.1744 in Tiberias,7 Ottoman Syria) was a rabbinical authority. He was the grandfather of Hayyim ben David Abulafia and grandson of Isaac Nissim aben Gamil. Abulafia was a rabbi in Smyrna, where he instituted many wholesome regulations. In his old age (1740) he restored the Jewish community in Tiberias.^[1]

The tomb of Rabbi Abulafia in the old cemetery of Tiberias.

He is the author of several works:

1. "Mikrae Kodesh" (Holy Convocations), Smyrna, 1729, containing treatises on Biblical and Talmudical themes;
2. "Yosef Lekach" (Increase of Learning), Smyrna, 1730–32, a work in three volumes on the Pentateuch;
3. "Yashresh Ya'akob" (Jacob Will Take Root), Smyrna, 1729; and
4. "Shebut Ya'akob" (The Captivity of Jacob), Smyrna, 1733, an elaborate commentary on the haggadic compilation "'Ein Yaakov," by Jacob ibn Habib and others.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

• Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 820.

References

1. J. Barnay, The Jews in Palestine in the eighteenth century, Uni of Alabama Press, 1990 p.149

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906. The entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia was written by Meyer Kayserling.