Levi ibn Habib (; c. 1480 – c. 1545), also known by the acronym HaRaLBaCh, was Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem from 1525 until his death. Under King Manuel of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and when about seventeen, he was compelled to submit to

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

, but at the first opportunity fled to Salonica, 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 Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

, reintroduced the ancient practice of the

semikhah ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

(rabbinical ordination). 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 Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

. In his youth he edited his father's book Ein Yaakov (

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 ...

, 1516; by Jacob ibn Habib). He wrote:
She'elot u-Teshubot
', a collection of 147

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

; ''Kontres ha-Semikah'', a treatise on ordination; ''Perush Kiddush HaChodesh'', a commentary on ''Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh'' (rules governing the construction of the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' code of law). All these works were published together in

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(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 Julius Fürst (; 12 May 1805, Żerków, South Prussia – 9 February 1873, Leipzig), born Joseph Alsari, was a Jewish German oriental studies, orientalist and the son of noted maggid, teacher, and Hebrew grammarian Jacob Alsari. Fürst was a dis ...

, ''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 from Ottoman Palestine