Ḥayyim Shabbethai


Rabbi Ḥayyim ben Shabbethai, commonly known by the acronym Maharhash was a Sephardic Rabbi and Talmudist, who is considered to be one of the great sages of Greek Jewry, serving as the Chief Rabbi of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Early Life

Born in Thessaloniki,, his father Rabbi Shabbethai may have been a minor community leader. In his early years he studied under Rabbi Aaron Sason, Rabbi Joseph Escapa, Rabbi Shlomo HaCohen and Rabbi Samuel de Medina. At the age of thirty seven, he subsequently became the Rosh Yeshivah of the "Shalom" community. Thousands of students came to his Yeshiva from surrounding Balkan communities and he had several illustrious pupils such as; Yehoshua Khandali, and David Conforte. In 1607 he succeeded Samuel Florentine as the Chief Rabbi of Thessaloniki.

Rabbinic position

During his time as the Chief Rabbi of Thessaloniki, the Maharhash exemplified himself as a leading halakhic authority of his time. His tenure was defined not only by excellent local leadership but also by an extensive relationship to other diasporic communities,. In fact one of the three volumes of his responsa "Sefer Torat Hayyim" relates to a question asked by the Jews of Brazil, regarding whether they should pray for rain, due of the reversal of seasons south of the equator. This ultimately ended up being the first recorded responsa of the New World. On top of this, he had close relationships with the communities of Safed, Venice, Sofia and Rhodes, who would often approach the Maharhash for halakic direction. He devoted himself assiduously to congregational matters, introducing many important halakic regulations, which still serve relevant to this day.

Works

Some of his most famous works are as follows:
He also wrote several commentaries on the talmudic tractate Ta'anit as well as others, which were printed in "Sefer Torat Moshe" written by his son Mosses Shabbethai.