Hayyim Habshush - Biography

Rabbi Hayyim Habshush (Hebrew: ר` חיים בן יויא חבשוש also Hayyim ibn Yahya Habshush) (c. 1833-1899) was a coppersmith by trade, and a noted nineteenth century historiographer of Yemenite Jewry. He also served as a guide for the Jewish-French Orientalist and traveler Joseph Halévy, “twenty three years later (in 1893), Habshush began to write up the account of Halévy’s journey, first in Hebrew, and then, at the request of Edward Glaser, in his native language, the Judæo-Arabic dialect of Yemen.” As a prominent member of the Jewish community in Yemen, R' Habshush served as one of the principal leaders of the Dor Deah movement alongside Rabbi Yihhyah Qafahh, and Sa'id 'Arusi.

Published works

• Masot Habshush (Hebrew: מסעות חבשוש lit. "The Journeys of Habshush" ) The travels of R' Hayyim ben Yahya alongside Joseph Halévy in Yemen and the life of Arabs and Jews living there (republished in 1941 as edited by S.D. Goitein).

• Korot Yisrael b'Teiman (Hebrew: קורות ישראל בתימן lit. "The Annals of the Israelites in Yemen") A history of the Jews in Yemen during the 17th and 18th Century CE.

See also

• Yemenite Jews
• Dor Daim
• Dor Daim and Iqshim
• R' Yihhyah Qafahh