Baruch Ben Haim

Baruch Ben Haim (; November 18, 1921 – June 2, 2005) was a Sephardi Hakham who served as Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York for 55 years. He taught at Magen David Yeshiva and established the Shaare Zion Torah Center at Congregation Shaare Zion. He was a protege of Rabbi Ezra Attiya, rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva, who trained and dispatched students to leadership positions in Sephardi communities around the world.

Early life Ben Haim was born in Jerusalem in 1921. He was one of nine children of Haim Mizrahi and Miriam Shalom, both natives of Iraq. The family changed its surname from Mizrahi to Ben Haim ("son of Haim") after Haim Mizrahi's death in 1951 to honor their patriarch. Ben Haim was especially close to Yosef, who was his chavruta (study partner) from a young age and with whom he spent up to 15 hours a day engaged in Torah study.

Rabbinical career Ben Haim received rabbinic ordination from his rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Ezra Attiya, and from the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel. where he made a number of important contributions to the synagogue, including the establishment of the Shaare Zion Torah Center to educate the community in subjects of Torah and Jewish law. As a public service, he recorded the Hebrew Psalms with the proper ta'amim (cantillation). The recordings were released to the public during his lifetime, and have been posted online after his death on the DailyTehillim.com website.

Ben Haim was a respected leader in the Brooklyn Syrian Jewish community. At that time, the name Raphael was added to his Hebrew name (Baruch Raphael ben Miriam) as a prayer for a complete recovery. He recovered from the operation, but his health deteriorated beginning in April 2005, He was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.