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Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939) (Hebrew: ???? ???? ????) was an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
, Kabbalist, Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ist and posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 ("decisor of Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 law"). Sofer is author of the work of halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 ("Jewish law") titled Kaf hachaim
Kaf hachaim

Kaf Hachayim is the title of two widely cited codes of Jewish law. It may refer to the Kaf Hachayim by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer or an earlier work by Rabbi Hayim Palaggi....
, by which title he is also known.

r was born in Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
. He studied there under great Sephardi
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 sages such as Yosef Chaim ("the Ben Ish Chai
Ben Ish Chai

Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
") and Abdallah Somech
Abdallah Somech

Hakham Abdallah Somekh was a rosh yeshiva and posek of History of the Jews in Iraq. He was born in Baghdad to Abraham Somekh, himself a descendant of Nissim Ben Jacob; he was the eldest of eight brothers and eight sisters....
. In 1904, he journeyed to Palestine
Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
, in order to pray at the graves of tzaddikim ("the righteous").






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Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939) (Hebrew: ???? ???? ????) was an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
 rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
, Kabbalist, Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
ist and posek
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 ("decisor of Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 law"). Sofer is author of the work of halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 ("Jewish law") titled Kaf hachaim
Kaf hachaim

Kaf Hachayim is the title of two widely cited codes of Jewish law. It may refer to the Kaf Hachayim by Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer or an earlier work by Rabbi Hayim Palaggi....
, by which title he is also known.

Biography

Sofer was born in Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
. He studied there under great Sephardi
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 sages such as Yosef Chaim ("the Ben Ish Chai
Ben Ish Chai

Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
") and Abdallah Somech
Abdallah Somech

Hakham Abdallah Somekh was a rosh yeshiva and posek of History of the Jews in Iraq. He was born in Baghdad to Abraham Somekh, himself a descendant of Nissim Ben Jacob; he was the eldest of eight brothers and eight sisters....
. In 1904, he journeyed to Palestine
Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
, in order to pray at the graves of tzaddikim ("the righteous"). After visiting Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, he decided to settle there permanently. He studied in the Bet El yeshiva
Beit El Synagogue

The Beit El Synagogue , has been the center of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem for over 250 years.The yeshiva was founded in 1737 by Rabbi Gedaliah Hayon, originally from Constantinople, for the study of kabbalah in the Holy City....
 in the old city of Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
, well-known for the study of kabbalah
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
; and in 1909, he moved to the newly founded Shoshanim leDavid yeshiva. It was here that he composed his works.

Rabbi Sofer authored several works of halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 as well as aggadah
Aggadah

Aggadah refers to the Homiletics and non-legalistic Exegesis texts in classical rabbinic literature - particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash....
. His books are known for discussing the original traditions of Iraqi Jews and are studied to this day. Rabbi Chaim was well-known for his role in working on behalf of Torah education in Jerusalem. His great grandson founded two yeshivot
Yeshiva

Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
 in his memory: Kaf Hachaim and Torat Yaakov.

Works

Kaf Hachaim (?? ?????) is a monumental work, considered a classic by both the Sephardi
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 and Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 communities. In this work, Rabbi Sofer discusses the Halakha in light of the Rishonim
Rishonim

"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
 and Acharonim
Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
. Kaf Hachaim, usually published in ten volumes, covers Orach Chayim
Orach Chayim

Orach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law primarily pertinent to the Hebrew calendar ....
 (8 vol.) and parts of Yoreh De'ah
Yoreh De'ah

Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct....
 (2 vol.); it is often compared to the Mishna Berura in terms of scope and approach, but differs therefrom in its more extensive reliance upon quotations. This work also surveys the views of many kabbalistic
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
 sages (particularly Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
), when these impact the Halakha. Shinun Halacha is a work summarising the Halakhic conclusions
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 presented in Kaf Hachaim.

In addition to the Kaf Hachaim, Rabbi Chayim authored:
  • Kol Yaakov: on the laws of writing torah scrolls, tefillin
    Tefillin

    Tefillin, , also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with bible verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead....
    , and mezuzot
    Mezuzah

    A mezuzah is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew language verses from the Torah . These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema", beginning with the phrase: "Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."...
    , as well as on the tefillin in general
  • Yagel Yaakov: a compendium of Shabbat
    Shabbat

    Shabbat or Shabbos , is the weekly day of rest in Judaism, symbolizing the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. Though it is commonly said to be the Saturday of each week, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night....
     "drashot" (sermon
    Sermon

    A sermon is an public speaking by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Bible, Theology, Religion, or Morality topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or Human behavior within both past and present contexts....
    s) delivered while in mourning for his father
  • Yismach Yisrael: novellae on the parsha
    Parsha

    This article is about the divisions of the Torah into weekly readings. For this week's Torah portion, see Portal:Judaism/Weekly Torah portion box...
     - the weekly Torah
    Torah

    The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
     reading.


See also

  • Ben Ish Chai
    Ben Ish Chai

    Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
    , by Rabbi Yosef Chaim
    Yosef Chaim

    The name Yosef Chaim can refer to a few people:*Chacham Yosef Chaim of Baghdad , better known as the Ben Ish Chai *Yosef Chaim Brenner , a pioneer in Hebrew literature...
    , a contemporaneous Sephardi work of Halakha incorporating Kabbalistic teachings.
  • Yalkut Yosef
    Yalkut Yosef

    Yalkut Yosef is an authoritative, contemporary work of Halakha, providing a detailed explanation of the Shulchan Aruch as based on the posek of the former Chief_rabbi#Sephardi_2 Rav Ovadia Yosef....
    , a contemporary Sephardi work of Halakha, based on the rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
    Ovadia Yosef

    Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....
    .