Eliyahu Ben Haim
| Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Haim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Position | Chief Rabbi |
| Synagogue | Sha'are Shalom (United Mashadi Community of America) |
| Position | Rosh yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan |
| Position | Av Beit Din |
| Organisation | Badatz Mekor Haim |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Eliyahu Ben-Chaim |
| Born |
August 4, 1940 Jerusalem, Israel |
| Nationality | Persian, Israeli |
| Denomination | Orthodox Judaism |
| Residence | Great neck, NY |
| Parents |
Saleh (Betzalel) Ben Chaim Simcha Ben Chaim |
| Occupation | Rabbi, Talmudic scholar, judge, lecturer, recognized halakhic authority |
| Alma mater | Porat Yosef Yeshiva |
| Semicha | Rabbi Salman Hugi Aboudi, Rabbi Ezra Attia, Rabbi Yaakov Ades, Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Rabbi Ovadia Hedaya |
Eliyahu Ben Haim (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
Born in Israel, Ben Haim studied at Yeshivat Porat Yosef, where he was recognized as a prodigy with a distinguished memory. He attended the shiur of Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul and received semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbi Ezra Attia and other great Rabbis at the age of 17, he was tested on the entire Shulchan Aruch. In Porat Yosef, Ben Haim fostered a close relationship with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who studied Even Ha'ezer with him.
Community work
In 1962, at the age of 22, he was appointed maggid shiur at Yeshiva Beth Harashal in Jerusalem. Five years later, he became the rosh yeshiva of that yeshiva. In 1973 he began teaching at the Lifshitz Teachers Seminary in Jerusalem. In 1975 he was sent by the Jewish Agency to serve as a rabbi in Tehran, where he hosted Ovadia Yosef during the latter's historic trip to Iran. In Tehran, Ben Haim began serving the local community of Mashadi Jews as a rabbi. In 1979, in the wake of the Iranian Revolution, he came with his family to the United States and served as the chief rabbi of the Mashadi Persian Jewish community of Long Island. Since 1993, he has lectured at Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (RIETS), also known as Yeshiva University.
Rav Ben Haim was considered a close friend of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and delivered many eulogies for the latter. The Rabbi also is very close to Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum, and many other great scholars. Rabbi Ben Chaim runs the Beth Din Mekor Haim, there he addresses the needs of the Queens Jewish community in matters of marriage, divorce, conversion, civil law, and kosher supervision. The Rabbi has a Kolel affiliated with the Beth Din as well.
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Vision and outlook
Rabbi Ben Haim, like his teacher, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, advocates using the Kochah DeHeterah (power of leniency) to assist every Jewish person in need, especially agunahs, women whose husbands refuse to provide a get (Jewish bill of divorce).
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External links
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