Raphael Yosef ben Ḥayyim David Ḥazzan

Elijah Bekhor ben Raphael Joseph Ḥazzan (d. 1908) moved to Jerusalem at the age of ten with his grandfather, Rabbi Ḥayyim David ben Joseph Raphael Ḥazzan. From the 1860s, he fulfilled public roles in the Sephardi congregations of Jerusalem, and in 1870 he visited England, France, and Italy, meeting with Sir Moses Montefiore and Baron de Rothschild. Two years later he went to Algeria and Tunisia as a meshullaḥ and was profoundly impressed by the impact of modern French civilization on Jews there, particularly the emancipated Algerian Jews. He gave voice to his thoughts on modernity and emancipation in his important philosophical dialogue Zikhron Yerusalayim (A Remembrance of Jerusalem; Livorno, 1874). In 1875, he accepted the chief rabbinate of Tripoli and during his tenure restructured the city’s communal life. In 1888 Elijah Bekhor moved to Alexandria, where he remained for the rest of his life. Among his books are the responsa collection Ta‘alumot Lev (Secrets of the Heart; Livorno, 1878) and Neve Shalom (A Peaceable Habitation; Alexandria, 1893).

Yaron Ben Naeh

Bibliography

Biṭon, Daniel (ed.). Sefer She’elot u-Teshuvot Ḥiqrey Lev (Jerusalem: Mekhon ha-Ma’or, 1998), introduction.

Frumkin, Arye Leib, and Eliezer Rivlin. Toledot Ḥakhme Yerushalayim, 3 vols. (Jerusalem: Defus Salomon, 1927), index.

Gaon, Moshe David. Oriental Jews in Eretz-Israel (Past and Present), 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1928–38; repr. n.p., n.d .), vol. 2, pp. 245–253 [Hebrew].

Hazzan, Israel Moses. Words of Peace and Truth (London: Meldola, 1845).

Rosanes, Salomon A. Histoire des Israélites de Turquie et de l’Orient (Sofia: Amichpat, 1934–38), vols. 4–5 passim [Hebrew].

Stillman, Norman. Sephardi Religious Responses to Modernity (Luxembourg: Harwood Academic Press, 1995).

Zohar, Zvi. The Luminous Face of the East: Studies in the Legal and Religious Thought of Sephardic Rabbis of the Middle East (Israel: Hakkibutz Hameuchad, 2001) [Hebrew].

Cite this page

Yaron Ben Naeh. "Ḥazzan family." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online, 2013.<http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-...>

His artwork "HIKREI LEV" has been famous for many centuries. He was called "HA-YAREAH" (The moon of the sky) which was coming from the first letters of his name.

HIKREI-LEV HAS GIVEN HIS BENEDICTION to the next seven generations and prayed for them so that they should never be cheated.

He is the author of:

HIKREI-LEV (VOL.i. Salonika, 1787;

    VOL.ii. Leghorn, 1794; 

VOL.iii-viii. Salonika, 1806-1853)
Novellæ on the four parts of the Shulhan Arukh.
MA’ARKHEI LEV (Salonika, 1821-22): Homilies in two parts.

KONTES HAZICHRONOT :

The genealogy of the family HAZAN.

His four sons; Elijah Rahamim, Eliezer, Isaac and Hayyim David were all rabbinical scholars, one of his daughters became the mother of Hayyim Palaggi, the well-known chief rabbi of Izmir (Smyrna).

(Encyclopedia JUDAICA, p.1541

 Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 287.

Galanté, A. Histoire des Juifs d’Anatolie-Les Juifs d’Izmir. pp. 73-75.
Galanté, A. Histoire des Juifs de Turquie. pp. 29-30.)

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via father Hayyim David Ben Joseph Hazan by SmartCopy: Oct 28 2014, 21:04:57 UTC