Levi ibn Habib (c. 1480 – c. 1545), also known by the acronym HaRaLBaCh, was
Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
The position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem was instituted centuries ago and was originally held by a member of the Sephardic community. Moses Galante served as Rishon LeZion, the title used from beginning of the 17th century to refer to the chief ...
from 1525 until his death.
Under
King Manuel of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, and when about seventeen, he was compelled to submit to
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
, but at the first opportunity fled to
Salonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
, where he could follow the dictates of his conscience in safety. In 1523 he went to Jerusalem, but in a short time returned to Salonica. In 1525 he settled permanently in Jerusalem, where his learning won him the position of chief rabbi. There he met Jacob Berab, with whom he often came into conflict on questions of rabbinical law. A serious quarrel broke out between these two rabbis when Berab, becoming chief rabbi of Safed, reintroduced the ancient practice of the Semicha, ordination of rabbis. They carried on a bitter and envenomed controversy for some time, in the course of which Berab referred to Ibn Habib's adoption of Christianity. The latter frankly admitted the fact, but pointed out that at the time he was a mere youth, that his involuntary profession of Christianity lasted hardly a year, and that he took the first opportunity to escape and rejoin the religion of his fathers. This controversy was chiefly responsible for the fact that the practice of ordination ceased again soon after Berab's death.
Writings
He was knowledgeable in mathematics and astronomy. In his youth he edited his father's book Ein Yaakov (Constantinople, 1516; by Jacob ibn Habib). He wrote:
She'elot u-Teshubot', a collection of 147 responsa; ''Kontres ha-Semikah'', a treatise on ordination; ''Perush Kiddush HaChodesh'', a commentary on ''Hilchot # Rosh Chodesh, Kiddush HaChodesh'' (rules governing the construction of the Hebrew calendar in Maimonides' code of law). All these works were published together in Venice (1565); the last-named work was also published separately (ib. 1574-76).
References
* Its bibliography:
*David Conforte, ''Kore ha-Dorot'', pp. 32a, 33b, 37a:
*Heinrich Grätz, ''Gesch.'' 3d ed., ix.293-296;
*Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, ''Dizionario'', i.84;
*Hazan, ''Ha-Ma'alot li-Shelomoh'', pp. 53a-54a;
*Julius Fürst, ''Bibl. Jud.'' i.153;
*Moritz Steinschneider, ''Cat. Bodl.'' col. 1606.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Levi ibn
16th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire
15th-century Portuguese Jews
Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Syria
1480s births
1540s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
Chief rabbis of Jerusalem
People from Zamora, Spain
Jews expelled from Spain in 1492
Authors of books on Jewish law
Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine