ר׳ חיים בנבנישתי

ר׳ חיים בנבנישתי (1603–1673), known as the כנסת הגדולה, was a pre-eminent Ottoman halakhist whose compilations became indispensable guides to post–שולחן ערוך jurisprudence. Born in Constantinople into the distinguished Benveniste family, he studied under ר׳ יוסף מטראני and was the brother of ר׳ יהושע בנבנישתי. In 1644 he received a rabbinic appointment at Tire near İzmir, and in 1658 became one of İzmir’s leading rabbis. His כנסת הגדולה and שיירי כנסת הגדולה systematically gathered responsa and rulings omitted from or written after the בית יוסף, organizing an immense body of Sephardic and Ashkenazic precedent around the ארבעה טורים and שולחן ערוך. Portions on אורח חיים and חושן משפט appeared during his lifetime; other sections were printed posthumously. During the Sabbatean crisis he initially accepted שבתאי צבי’s claims under intense local conditions but withdrew after the apostasy and opposed the movement’s adherents. Alongside his codes he wrote בעי חיי, a substantial responsa collection, and Talmudic novellae. His method of recording divergent customs and authorities preserved otherwise inaccessible legal material, and later decisors—especially ר׳ חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי—treated consultation of כנסת הגדולה as essential before issuing a ruling. He died and was buried in İzmir in 1673.