Yiḥya Yitzḥak Halevi, son of Moshe (Musa) Yitzḥak Halevi ( also commonly known as Mori Yiḥya Yitzḥak from the house of Yitzḥak Halevi) (1867 – 1932), was a Yemeni born rabbinical scholar who served as one of the last great scholars and chief jurists of the rabbinic court at Ṣan‘ā’, which post he held for nearly thirty years,Amram Qorah, Sa‘arat Teman (2nd edition), Jerusalem 1987, pp. 62-68 (Hebrew) a time interrupted only during the siege laid to the city (Dec. 1904—Jan. 1906) by loyal Yemeni forces under Imām Yaḥyā Ḥamīd ad-Dīn (1904–1948) in their bid to oust the Ottoman Turks who then controlled the city. The Rabbi, meanwhile, had fled with his family to Dhamar.Shalom 'Uzayri, Galei-Or, Tel Aviv 1974 (Hebrew), p. 11
Early life
Yiḥya Yitzḥak Halevi was born in Ṣan‘ā’, the eldest of ten children born unto Musa Yitzḥak, a tanner of hides by profession, and a descendant of one of the city's more illustrious Jewish families.Yehiel Hibshush, Shənei Ha-Me'oroth, Tel Aviv 1987, p. 13 (Hebrew) Yiḥya Yitzḥak received his early education from his maternal grandfather, the Rabbi and kabbalist Shalom Mansura, and was already knowledgeable in the laws of ritual slaughtering at the early age of eleven.Yehiel Hibshush, Shənei Ha-Me'oroth, Tel Aviv 1987, p. 15 (Hebrew) In 1880, at the age of thirteen, he began to study the Talmud and the legal writings of the poskim, with other boys his own age, in the house of his grandfather, the said Rabbi Mansura, until his grandfather's death in 1883.Zekhor Le'Avraham, Shelomo al-Naddaf, Jerusalem 1992, p. 11 (Hebrew). Rabbi Avraham al-Naddaf relates in his autobiography that these lessons started in the early hours of the morning and continued until noon, and again, at night, from a little past midnight, while occasionally, they'd commence their studies at dusk. Afterwards, he studied under the prominent scholars in the famous Maharitz synagogue in Ṣan‘ā’. The synagogue served at that time as the city's chief seat of learning.A description of the Saleh Synagogue in Sana'a in circa 1914 CE, is brought down in the book, Galei-Or, by Shalom 'Uzayri (Tel Aviv 1974): "…Further along, [we find] the synagogue of the Saleh family, under the proprietorship of the elder, Avraham Sadoq and sons, a blessed family of [distinguished] Rabbis. This synagogue is situate in the centre of town, is large and is within close proximity to all the town's inhabitants from every side. This [place] has become like some large spiritual centre, where daily are gathered unto it in the morning hours, after the [morning] meal, the great men who are Rabbis, being free from their labours and remaining [there] until noon time, carrying on between themselves a discourse in the matters of the Law, from that which comes unto them by anyone who happens to have a question concerning [his] business affairs, or the things touching upon one's neighbour, whether [that which has come unto them] in writing or verbally; prohibited matters, as well as those things permitted, and all matters touching the community at large, as well as individuals. This [place] is [literally] the threshing floor of the Divine Law, [even] a wide threshing floor, [where] the clusters of the Law enlighten the eyes! This is the largest seat of learning. From the first day of the week until the fifth day of the week, the doors of [this] academy are opened unto all who seek or ask [for instruction], and of course, all this is [done] without the stipulation of receiving [in return some] recompense – everything is [done] for the sake of heaven!" In the evenings, he would continue his studies in the midrashic school belonging to the great teacher, Rabbi Ḥayim Qoraḥ (d. 1914), where they studied Ein Yaakov and the Shulchan Arukh and their respective commentaries.
Around the age of seventeen he married his first wife, Saadah Khamri, who died after she had given birth to five children (two sons and three daughters), two of whom died in their youth. One of his two sons, Shalom Yitzḥak (Ishaq) Halevi (b. 1891), immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1923 and became the Chief Rabbi of the Yemenite Jewish community in Tel Aviv-Yafo (1925 – 1961), serving also as the Av Beit-Din in a rabbinic court (1925 – 1956) in Tel Aviv, and was an active member of the Chief Rabbinate Council in Jerusalem for nearly forty years.Yehiel Hibshush, Shənei Ha-Me'oroth, Tel Aviv 1987, pp. 13; 15; 18 (Hebrew) Yiḥya, not willing to remain a widower, took in marriage a second wife, Rumiyyah, the daughter of Suleiman Hibshush, by whom he had other children. The Rabbi's youngest son, Hayyim Yitzḥak Halevi (born 1920), eventually immigrated to the Land of Israel in the airlift known as "Operation Magic Carpet," and served as the Chief Rabbi of Herzliya between the years 1972–2005.Aviran Yitzhak Halevi (ed.), Ish Yemini (vol. 4), Benei Barak 2013, pp. 203–228 (Hebrew)
As most scholars of his generation, Yiḥya Yitzḥak Halevi was trained in the laws of ritual slaughter of livestock such as prescribed in Jewish law and when later tasked with the public affairs and oversight of the community, he would ordain qualified ritual slaughterers of domesticated animals throughout the country, and periodically inspected them.
He was the scion of a prominent rabbinic family, the Sasson Halevi family, who came to Yemen from Iraq prior to the time of Muhammad.Hayim Hibshush, Masa'ot Hibshush (Travels in Yemen), Jerusalem 1983, p. 353. [According to Ḥayim Ḥibshush, the Yitzhak Halevi family is one of the earliest known Jewish families to have settled in Yemen, as he mentions the great ancestor of this family, Sassoon Halevi, who came from Iraq (Babylonia) and went into Yemen shortly before the advent of Islam, along with four other principal Jewish families, al-Bishārī, al-Futayḥī, al-‘Uzayrī and al-Marḥabī. The Ḥibshush family is said to have been originally known by the surname al-Futayḥī].
Family origins Although the family had lived in Yemen before the advent of Islam, the descendants of the illustrious Sasson Halevi of Iraq, the Bayt Yitzḥak Halevi family first rose to prominence during the return of the Jewish exiles from Mawza. In 1680, a certain man of this family, Rabbi Yeḥiya Halevi, was appointed governor over the affairs of the Jewish people. He begat a son, calling him by his own name, Yeḥiya, who in turn begat a son by the name of Shalom, who was the father of Abraham Al-Sheikh. He and his son, Shalom, became the first of their family to bear the name of Al-Sheikh, or "elder," owing to the king's great regard for this family.
Rabbi Yiḥya Yitzḥak Halevi and his family belonged to the Baladi-rite congregations of Yemen.
Election and arrest In 1902, at the young age of thirty-five, he was — on the basis of his scholarship and his counseling abilityYehiel Hibshush, Shənei Ha-me'orot, Tel Aviv 1987, p. 17 (Hebrew). In Yemen, only those persons who were distinguished in their learning, and had obtained a reputation for the same, obtained the good will of the people to officiate over them as judges. When a dispute came before them (i.e. the judges who sat in forum), they would determine a time and place to convene for settling the dispute in Court, and their determination would be binding, having the full-backing and support of the king (Imam). — one of the candidates for replacing the lately deceased Nasi and chief jurist of the rabbinic court at Sana'a, Rabbi Shelomo (Suleiman) Ṣaleh.Amram Qorah, Sa‘arat Teman (2nd edition), Jerusalem 1987, p. 62 (Hebrew); Shelomo Dov Goitein, The Yemenites (History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life), Ben-Zvi Institute: Jerusalem 1983, p. 189 (Hebrew). The heads of the community in Sana'a came together at the synagogue known as Bayt Saleh, which served at that time as the general seat of learning and of halakhic determination, in order to select a replacement. After much deliberation as to how to proceed, it was decided that lots would be cast, the names of the candidates written upon pieces of paper and pooled together, from which only one name would be drawn. The eldest of their Rabbis, the honorable Mori Hayim b. Yosef Qorah, a man then aged eighty, was he that was to draw the lot. The names were placed within the ark bearing the scrolls of the Law (Torah) and the doors were then shut. Mori Hayim Qorah then proceeded to recite one of the Psalms, wherein are to be found the words, "Thou maintainest my lot" (Ps. 16). The entire congregation recited aloud along with him in perfect unison the entire Psalm, while standing upon their feet. Expectations were high and could be seen on the faces of all those gathered in that place. When the Psalm's recital had come to an end, a great silence fell over the congregation. Mori Hayim Qorah put forth his hand into the ark and, with a trembling hand, he withdrew one slip of paper. He then called out to those there gathered, saying: "God's elect is Mori Yihya Yitzhak Halevi." Some began to murmur that perhaps there had been a mistake. The lot was repeated twice, and, again, a third time, with the results showing the same thing. A murmur could then be heard and felt by the people, some saying: Me’eth A-donai hoyǝtha zoth (This thing has come from the Lord). The lot had fallen to Rabbi Yihya, son of Moshe Yitzhak Halevi. When he perceived what had happened, and that he was elected to head the post of President, he concealed his face within his mantle, refusing to show himself. He later objected adamantly before the assembly who had gathered there, eventually fleeing from their presence. The men who had gathered at that place quickly followed after him until they reached his house. Yet, their pleas and platitudes were of no avail. He would not return with them to take up the office of President of the Court. Neither would the assembly cast lots again, a fourth time, so there remained in the Court at Sana'a only one, a certain Rabbi Ibrahim, the son of R. Sāleh, to adjudicate as judge, seeing that he was singularly qualified to pass judgment by himself. Yet, in matters which required three judges, he was joined by Rabbi Shalom b. Yiḥya Hibshush, the author of Shoshannat Ha-Melekh, and by Rabbi Hayim Hacohen. It was not until after the death of Rabbi b. Yihya Hibshush in the famine of 1905 that Rabbi Yihya Yitzhak Halevi decided to assume the role of leader of Yemen's community.
Only one year after Rabbi Yiḥya Yitzḥak's election, in 1903, the Rabbi and his fellow judges were accused of usurping authority over the Muslim judge (Ar. al-qāḍi), and he was arrested and put in prison, while his feet were shackled in fetters of iron. He was released owing to his unrelenting protests and his patient endurance.Yisrael Yeshayahu & Aharon Tzadok, Shavut Teman (Yom-Tov Tzemach's Journey to Yemen), Tel Aviv 1945, p.285 (Hebrew)
When the siege was lifted in early 1906, Sana'a was decimated of more than half its population because of the famine within the city.G. Wyman Bury, Arabia Infelix or the Turks in Yamen, London 1915, p. 80 Among the dead was the great Rabbi and scholar Shalom b. Yihya Hibshush, author of Shoshannat Ha-Melekh. In the spring of 1906, Rabbi Yiḥya Yitzḥak Halevi was confirmed by the ruling monarch as one of four representatives of the Jewish community in Sana'a, along with Harun al-Cohen, Yiḥya al-Qafiḥ and Yiḥya al-Abyadh. The document outlined the obligations of the Jewish community toward the Muslim State and the Poll Tax (Ar. al-jizya) assessed against every male 13 years of age and older.Shalom Gamliel, The Jews and the King in the Yemen, vol. 1-2, pp. 19-20, Jerusalem 1986 (Hebrew)
Return of the Imam