Chaim Benveniste (1603–1673) was a prominent rabbinic authority in 17th century

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was a student of

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Joseph Trani and a brother of Joshua Benveniste. Born in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, he was appointed Rabbi of Tita (a town near

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) in 1644. In 1658, he was appointed one of the rabbis of İzmir. He initially followed Shabtai Tzvi, but later repented.

Writings

He authored several scholarly works, most notably the widely cited ''Shiyurei Kenesset HaGedolah'' and ''Kenesset HaGedolah'', halakhic commentaries to the

Arba'ah Turim ''Arba'ah Turim'' (), often called simply the ''Tur'', is an important Halakha#Codes of Jewish law, Halakhic code composed by Yaakov ben Asher (Cologne, 1270 – Toledo, Spain c. 1340, also referred to as ''Ba'al Ha-Turim''). The four-part stru ...

and

Shulhan Arukh The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in V ...

. These two commentaries are characterized by extensive analysis of halakhic sources from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century. The Chida recommended that these commentaries be consulted prior to rendering any halakhic decision. He also compiled the two volume Questions and Responsa, ''Ba'ei Chayei'', covering the four sections on the ''

''.

References

1603 births 1673 deaths Rabbinic legal texts and responsa 17th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire Rabbis from Istanbul Authors of books on Jewish law {{Judaism-bio-stub