Rav Yosef Chaim was born in Baghdad, Iraq, where his father, Hakham Eliyahu

Chaim, was the active leader of the Jewish community. Yosef Chaim's talents
were evident from a young age (composing an anonymous responsum at age
14). When he was 7 years old he fell into a pit and was very close to dying.
When he got out the community believed it was a miracle so he decided to
dedicate his life to Torah.[citation needed]

He initially studied in his father's library, and, at the age of 10, he left midrash
("school room") and began to study with his uncle, Rav David Chai Ben Meir
who later founded the Shoshanim LeDavid Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1851, he
married Rachel, the sister of Hakham Ovadia Somekh, his prime mentor. They
had a daughter and two sons together.

When Yosef Chaim was only twenty-five years old, his father died. Despite his
youth, the Jews of Baghdad accepted him to fill his father's place as the leading
rabbinic scholar of Baghdad, though he never filled the official position of
Hakham Bashi. He was widely accepted as an authority on Jewish law
throughout the Middle East, and his decisions were considered to be
authoritative, even outside Sephardi communities. The Sephardic Porat Yosef
Yeshiva in Jerusalem, was founded on his advice by Joseph Shalom, of Calcutta,
Indiaone of Rabbi Chaim's patrons.

Chaim clashed with the reformist Bavarian Jewish scholar Jacob Obermeyer who
lived in Baghdad from 1869 to 1880, and excommunicated him.[1] Part of the
contention was due to Obermeyer and Chaim's conflicting views on promotion
of the Zohar.[2]

Rav Yosef Chaim was buried in Baghdad, but there is also a grave attributed to
him on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. His son, Rabbi Yaakov Chai, continued
his legacy.[citation needed] Some of his known students are Rabbi Yehuda
Fatiyah, Rabbi Yehoshua Sharabani, Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka, Rabbi Ben Zion Abba
Shaul, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira and Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi.

Works[edit]
The Ben Ish Chai ( ) is a standard reference in some Sephardi homes
(functioning as "a Sephardi Kitzur Shulchan Arukh") and is widely studied in

Sephardi yeshivot. Due to the popularity of this book, Hakham Yosef Chaim
came to be known as "Ben Ish Chai", by which he is referred to by many today.
The book is a collection of homilies he gave over two years discussing the
weekly Torah portion. Each chapter begins with a mystical discussion, usually
explaining how a Kabbalistic interpretation of a certain verse relates to a
particular halakha, and then continuing to expound on that halakha with
definitive rulings.

Hakham Yosef Chaim authored over thirty other works, and there are many
published Iraqi rite siddurim (prayer books) based on his rulings, which are
widely used by Sephardi Jews. Amongst the best known of his works are:

Me-Kabtziel (Miqqabil): an esoteric exposition of Jewish law which he refers

to often in Ben Ish Chai providing a more detailed explanation of the
reasoning underlying certain decisions. It has been speculated that Hakham
Yosef Chaim's insistence on having all his works printed in Israel prevented this
essential work from being published.
Ben Yehoyada (Ben Yhoyada) and Benayahou: his commentary on the
Talmud, considered a basic resource in understanding the Aggada (narrative
sections of the Talmud).
The Responsa (Hebrew: Sheelot U-Teshuvot) Rav Pe'alim (Rab Palim) and
Torah Lishmah.
The names Ben Ish Chai, Me-Kabtziel, Rav Pe'alim and Ben Yehoyada derive
from 2 Samuel 23:20. He chose these names because he claimed to have been
a reincarnation of Benayahu ben Yehoyada (described as Ben Ish Chayil, the
son of a valiant man); the man in whose merit, it is said, both the first and
second Holy Temples stood.

Hakham Yosef Chaim was also noted for his stories and parables. Some are
scattered through his halachic works, but have since been collected and
published separately; others were published as separate works in his lifetime,
as an alternative to the European-inspired secular literature that was becoming
popular at the time. His Qnn-un-Nis' ( ) is a book filled with parables
concerning self-improvement. The book, directed towards, but not limited to
women, is rare since it was composed in Judeo-Arabic. It was last published in
Israel in the 1940s.