Kaf HaChayim (Palaggi)
1788 CE–1868 CE · AH · Izmir (Smyrna)
R. Hayyim Palaggi (Palagi, 1788-1868) was the Chief Rabbi of Izmir (Smyrna) and one of the most prolific Sephardic poskim of the 19th century. He authored over 70 books across every area of halacha, homiletics, and kabbalah; his Kaf HaChayim (1859) — a comprehensive halachic-musar compendium — predates and is independent of R. Yaakov Chaim Sofer's better-known Baghdadi Kaf HaChayim (1905).
His Moed L'Khol Chai (laws of the festival cycle), Lev Chayim (responsa), Tzedakah u-Mishpat (laws of charity), and Chukei HaChayim (Halachic life-cycle digest) are cited authoritatively in modern Sephardic responsa. Palaggi served as Hakham Bashi of Izmir and was a tireless community builder, fundraiser, and educator.
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Izmir (Smyrna)Western Anatolia — major Sephardic port
What they did here
Born in Izmir to a rabbinic family; served as its Hakham Bashi from 1855. Wrote his vast halachic-musar corpus here over more than five decades. Died in Izmir 1868.
Izmir (Smyrna) in this era
Izmir from the 17th through 19th centuries was a major Sephardic halachic and commercial center, serving as the principal Ottoman port of Levantine trade with Western Europe. Spanish-exile families (Palaggi, Yedid, Hazan, Benveniste) anchored the rabbinate. R. Chaim Benveniste (Knesset HaGedolah, Chief Rabbi 1660-1673), R. Eliyahu HaCohen (Shevet Musar, fled Aleppo for Izmir), R. Hayyim Palaggi (Chief Rabbi 1855-1868, with over 70 books to his name), and dozens of major poskim made Izmir one of the most-cited Sephardic centers of acharonic responsa. The community was also the epicenter of the catastrophic Sabbatean movement: Sabbatai Zvi (1626-1676) was born and active here. The Izmir community produced its own Hebrew printing presses from the 17th century, publishing major Sephardic responsa and homiletics.
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.