R. Yosef Kapach
1917 CE–2000 CE · Modern · Jerusalem
Rabbi Yosef Kapach (1917-2000) was the towering 20th-century Yemenite scholar — grandson of R. Yihya Qafih (the Dor De'a leader) — who single-handedly produced critical Hebrew editions and translations of nearly every major Judeo-Arabic work of the medieval Sephardic-Yemenite tradition. His editions of Rambam's Pirush HaMishnayot, Moreh Nevuchim, Sefer HaMitzvot, and the Mishneh Torah (drawing on previously-unknown Yemenite manuscripts) revolutionized Maimonidean scholarship.
He also translated Saadia Gaon's HaEmunot veHaDeot, Rabbeinu Bachya's Chovot HaLevavot, and Yehuda HaLevi's Kuzari from the original Judeo-Arabic. A dayan on Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court for over 40 years and the most cited modern authority on the original Baladi nusach, he received the Israel Prize for Torah Literature in 1969. His Halichot Teiman remains the standard codification of Yemenite custom.
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Sana'a (Yemen)צנעאYemen
What they did here
Lived in Sana'a as a young communal figure after the passing of his grandfather, functioning as a local posek and teacher for the Yemenite Jews there. Faced opposition from kabbalistically inclined adversaries of Rabbi Yihyah Qafih, who attempted to have him converted by exploiting orphan legal status under Yemeni law. Averted this threat through the intervention of the Yemeni ruler and his marriage to his cousin under that legal arrangement, while continuing his Torah work and craft. These years consolidated his role within the Sana'a community prior to emigration.
Sana'a (Yemen) in this era
San'a in the 20th century was the home of the largest Yemenite Jewish community — about 60,000 at its 1940s peak. R. Yihya Qafih and his disciples engaged in the modernist Dor De'a controversy with the Iqshim (kabbalistic-traditionalist) party led by R. Yihya al-Abyadh. The 1947-50 anti-Jewish riots in San'a and across Yemen, combined with the founding of Israel, precipitated Operation Magic Carpet (Kanfei Nesharim, 1949-1950): essentially the entire Yemenite Jewish community — over 49,000 people — was airlifted to Israel in 380 flights. R. Yosef Kapach (1917-2000) emerged in Israel as the foundational modern Yemenite voice, producing critical editions of Rambam's Judeo-Arabic works that revolutionized Maimonidean scholarship.
About Sana'a (Yemen)
Center of Yemenite Jewry; home of Yihya Qafih (the Wars of God).
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.