The Abulafia family is considered one of the most famous Sephardic families of Castila, Spain, and according to their own traditions, they are descendants of David HaMelekh.
One of the most celebrated Rabbis of this family was Rabbi Hayim Abulafia, who was born in Hebron, Israel, in 1660. The family of Rabbi Abulafia moved to Yerushalayim and there Rabbi Hayim studied with the great luminaries of the time, Rabbi Shelomo Algazi and Rabbi Abraham Amigo.
From Yerushalayim he was sent to Turkey in a mission to encourage the thriving local community to support materially the Jews of Erets Israel. There in Izmir (Smyrna) he met the Rabbi of the city, Rabbi Israel Benveniste, who was so impressed with Rabbi Abulafia that he said about him that he was one of the greatest geniuses of his generation.
Rabbi Abulafia also lived for almost ten years in Tsefat, where he served as the rabbi of the community. He said that he “had the great merit of being born in Hebron, raised in Yerushalayim, and officiated as a Rabbi in Tsefat”, three of the four “holy” cities in Israel (we’ll talk about the fourth).
In 1705 Rabbi Israel Benveniste died and the local community invited Rab Abulafia to take his place. Rabbi Abulafia accepted and directed for several years the Jewish community of Izmir, which had over 15,000 families (sic). He was respected and admired by Yehudim and gentiles. And had an excellent relationship with the Sultan, who consulted with Rabbi Hayim on all kinds of subjects.
While he was in Turkey, Rab Abualfia kept thinking and worrying about Erets Israel. Rabbi Abulafia understood that his stay in Turkey might have been providential, not for him personally but for the future of Erets Israel. Thus his ambitious plan was conceived: to rebuild the city of Tiberias. Tiberias was the place where the last Sanhedrin functioned, after the destruction of the Second Bet haMiqdash. Since those days, the city was destroyed and despite the efforts of Don Yosef Nasi and Doña Gracia Mendes almost a hundred years ago, it was never restored.
He found a politically opportune moment, when the Turkish Empire was very influential in the Middle East. And he inspired the wealthy and very generous Izmir Jewish community to support its mission.
When he was 80 years Rabbi Abulafia traveled with his family to Israel and began to rebuild the city of Tiberias. He was engaged in creating jobs to stimulate Yehudim to settle in the city. And also founded schools and Yeshibot to study Tora. He also founded the Synagogue “Ets HaHayim”, which exists to this day, in the place of the old Synagogue of the Ari haQadosh.
Rabbi Abulafia z “l died and was buried in Tiberias in 1744.
His most famous book is “Ets haHayim” a profound commentary on the Torah. According to Rab Hida, the book “ets hajayim” can not be understood from a superficial reading, the greatest benefit is to discover its great depth. Click here to download it
He also wrote,
“Miqrae Qodesh” explaining some difficult texts of the Talmud.
“Yosef lemad” another commentary on the Tora.
“Shebut Ya’aqob” a commentary on the famous book ”’en Ya’aqob”.
