A timely acquisition I made this week was a manuscript from the Kaf Hachaim, authored by R. Yaakov Chaim Sofer, whose yahrzeit occurred this week, on the 9th of Sivan. R. Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870–1939) was a Sephardic posek and Kabbalist, born in Baghdad, he settled in Eretz Yisrael in 1904. Kaf Hachaim, his work which he is most often remembered for, was a brilliant and comprehensive commentary on the Shulchan Aruch, on the sections of Orach Chaim and Yoreh De’ah. The manuscript that I obtained indicates part of his thought process, with additions, corrections and erasures throughout. Written on graph paper, the Hebrew font used is that of Iraqi Jews, and as with the writing in sifrei Torah, the letters are written under the lines, rather than above.
While it is often compared to the Mishnah Berurah, as it served as the alternative to the Mishnah Berurah throughout the Sephardic world, it differs greatly both in structure and approach to halacha. The Kaf Hachaim when possible used full quotations of the sources to indicate the different opinions, and his approach to determining the halacha from within the many traditions was generally Kabbalistically inclined, following the tradition of his teacher, the Ben Ish Chai, R. Yosef Chaim of Baghdad.
During the composition of the tenth and final volume, R. Y. H. Sofer passed away, leaving the completion of his work, to the then young prodigy, Chacham Ovadia Yosef, whom he came to know in their time shared learning the the Bet Medrash Shoshanim LeDavid in Jerusalem. It is told over that as a six year old, in 1927, the young R. Ovadia was alone in Shoshanim LeDavid with the R. Sofer when an earthquake occurred, causing the ceiling the fall in, trapping them both. Eventually making their way out, R. Sofer brought the young Ovadia home to safety. The relationship developed and when the former aged he instructed his family that in his passing, the young R. Ovadia, 29 years old at the time, should complete his monumental work. As a token of gratitude, R. Sofer willed his large library to R. Ovadia, this becoming the core of Chacham Ovadia’s legendary massive library of sefarim.
The Kaf Hachaim’s influence on Sephardic halacha was immense, with societies founded as far as Morocco, as early as 1936 devoted to studying the Kaf Hachaim daily. With time, Chacham Ovadia came to develop his own method of determining halacha and his influence has come to far outweigh that of the Kaf Hachaim. In Kabbalistic circles, as well as in Iraqi Jewish communities, the Kaf Hachaim is still often followed throughout for halachic decisions.
