Skip to content
This English version of the site was translated with AI assistance. We apologise for any errors and are working to improve it.

13 Elul · Yahrzeit

Ben Ish Chai

Rabbi Yosef Chaim ben Eliyahu of Baghdad, known throughout the Jewish world as the Ben Ish Chai. Yahrzeit – 13 Elul; Burial Place – Har HaZeitim, Israel   The Ben Ish Chai and Benayahu ben Yehoyada It is said in Shmuel (2, 23:20): "And Benayahu ben Yehoyada, the son of a valiant man (Ben Ish Chai), great in his deeds, from Kavtze'el… He was the most distinguished of the thirty, but he was not equal to the first three; David appointed him as executor of his commands." The Zohar HaKadosh says: "He opened and began. It is said: 'Benayahu son of Yehoyada.' This is a beautiful narrative, but it comes to reveal the higher secrets of the Torah. The very name Benayahu son of Yehoyada tells us of the secret of the light of wisdom – the light of chochmah. Ben Ish Chai is the tzadik who gives life to worlds. Rav Poalim speaks of Him as the master of all that happens, that all forces and the highest hosts all issue from Him, and He is called the Creator of Strength, Master of all, of everything, and within everything." The Arizal teaches that Benayahu ben Yehoyada (the great general and aide to King David and King Shlomo) is a gilgul – the rectification of Eliezer (the servant of our forefather Avraham). When Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad visited the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada as a pilgrim, he underwent a profound spiritual illumination, and great Kabbalistic secrets were revealed to him. Concluding that he was the gilgul of Benayahu ben Yehoyada, he named all his books in his honor, including "Ben Ish Chai," "Ben Ish Chayil," "Rav Poalim," and others. The grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada is, for me, a special and deeply personal place – here my Rav, Gaon Yaniv Ashuri, spends much time with Tikkunim through Shir HaShirim. On the yahrzeit of the tzadik Ben Ish Chai, it is a very powerful segula to study the Halachot of Netilat Yadayim with his commentaries by a lit candle, le'kavod (in honor of) the tzadik.   Ben Ish Chai – Kavanot for Netilat Yadayim https://silatehilim.com/13-элула-сгула-от-бен-иш-хай-на-парнаса-то/   25 Elul – The 1st Day of Creation – A Segula of the Ben Ish Chai https://silatehilim.com/25-элула-5-свечей-брахот-от-бен-иш-хай-2/   "Akeidat Yitzchak" with the Ben Ish Chai's Prayer in Aramaic https://silatehilim.com/особая-сгула-бен-иш-хая-на-арамите-пере/   The Ben Ish Chai's Prayer at the Grave of David HaMelech – "Kum David Malka Mishicha" https://silatehilim.com/молитва-бен-иш-хая-встань-давид-а-мел/   The Ben Ish Chai's Prayer on Erev Rosh HaShanah https://silatehilim.com/молитва-бен-иш-хая-перед-рош-hа-ашана/   The Ben Ish Chai's Prayer Before the Mikveh (for women) https://silatehilim.com/молитва-бен-иш-хая-перед-микве/   The Ben Ish Chai's Prayer for Success, Revealing the Hidden Meaning of Tehillim 67 https://silatehilim.com/молитва-бен-иш-хая-для-успеха-с-теилим-67/
Pilgrimage site: Grave: Ben Ish Chai