Ḥayyim Ha-Kohen

German rabbi; born at Prague at the end of the sixteenth century; died at Posen about the middle of the seventeenth century. He was the son of Isaac ben Samson ha-Kohen, and, on his mother's side, a grandson of the renowned Löw ben Bezaleel, rabbi of Prague. His brother Naphtali was rabbi at Lublin, and his sister was Eva Bacharach. From 1628 to 1630 he was rabbi at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The earliest proof of his activity there is a regulation regarding the election of representatives of the congregation. In another document he limits the lectures of learned members of the congregation to the hours from 2 to 4 o'clock on Sabbath afternoon, while he reserves the morning hours of the Sabbath to himself. Among his hearers was Joseph Hahn, who speaks highly of him in his "Yosif Omeẓ" (§§ 520, 529, 729). In 1630 he accepted a call to Posen, where also he was held in high esteem (preface to "Ḥawwot Yair"). In David Oppenheimer's collection is a manuscript written by Ḥayyim's nephew and disciple,Samson Bacharach, which contains Ḥayyim's novellæ and explanations to the four codes of the Shulḥan 'Aruk.

Bibliography:

  * Horovitz, Frankfurter Rabbinen, ii. 25-29;
  * Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 880.



D. S. Man.