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Chaim ben Moses ibn Attar was a Talmudist and kabbalist; born at Mequenez, Morocco, in 1696; died at Jerusalem July 31, 1743. He was one of the most prominent rabbis in Morocco.
In 1733, he determined to leave his native country and settle in Palestine. But he was detained in Livorno by the rich members of the Jewish congregation there who established a Yeshiva for him, which was frequented by many pupils who later became prominent, and furnished him with funds to print his "Or ha-Ḥayyim"
He was everywhere received with great honor, due to his wide learning, keen intellect, and unusual piety. In the middle of 1742 he arrived at Jerusalem, where he presided at the bet ha-midrash Keneset Yisrael. One of his disciples there was Chaim Joseph David Azulai, who seems to have been completely overwhelmed by the excellencies of his master. In a truly Oriental strain he wrote of him: "Attar's heart pulsated with Talmud; he uprooted mountains like a resistless torrent; his holiness was that of an angel of the Lord, . . . having severed all connection with the affairs of this world."
He published:
- (1) "Ḥefeẓ Adonai" (God's Desire), Amsterdam, 1732—dissertations on the four Talmudic treatises Berakot, Shabbat, Horayot, and Ḥullin.
- (2) "Or ha-Ḥayyim" (The Light of Life), Venice, 1742—a commentary on the Pentateuch after the four methods known collectively as Pardes; it was reprinted several times. His renown is based chiefly on this work, which became popular also with the Ḥasidim.
- (3) "Peri Toar"(Beautiful Fruit), novellae on the Shulḥan 'Aruk,
Yoreh De'ah, dealing especially with Hiskiah de Silva's commentary "Peri Ḥadash," Amsterdam, 1742; Vienna and Lemberg, 1810.
- (4) "Rishon le-Zion," Constantinople, 1750—consisting of novellae to several Talmudic treatises, on certain portions of the Shulḥan 'Aruk, on the terminology of Maimonides, on the five Megillot, on the Prophets and on Proverbs.
- (5) Under the same title were published at Polna, 1804, his notes on Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Isaiah
Bibliography
- Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 894;
- Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 541;
- Luncz, in Jerusalem, i. 122 (epitaphs);
- Nacht, Meḳor Ḥayyim, Hebrew biography of 'Attar, Drohobycz, 1898;
- Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim;
- Franco, Histoire des Israélites d'Orient