ELIJAH HA’ITHAMARI HAKOHEN OF SMYRNA

v.p.

Salonika & Izmir

v.d.

Midrash Ha’ithamari. Vinograd, Salonika 669. Salonika, 1824. * Minchath Eliyahu. Vinograd, Salonika 670. Salonika, 1824. * Ezor Eliyahu. Vinograd, Salonika 1846. Salonika, 1846. * Chuth shel Chessed. Smyrna, 1865. * Semuchim Le’ad. Vinograd, Salonika 683. Salonika, 1826. * Another copy. Together group of six volumes.

Ethics and theodicy were the main concerns of Elijah Ha’ithamari’s writings. He made extensive use of the ethical literature of the Middle Ages as well as mystical sources in which he was well versed. Later writers of homiletics and ethics made use of his works, including the author of the infamous Chemdath Yamim. A considerable portion of Elijah Ha’ithamari’s sermons deal with Messianic subjects. Gershon Scholem suggests he had Shabbatean tendencies and probably adhered to its theology as expounded by Abraham Cardoso. It is possible that Elijah became detached from the movement late in life, although he did not delete the Shabbatean portions from his earlier works. See G. Scholem in: Sepher haYovel Alexander Marx (1950) pp.451-70.