Rabbi Chaim Sinwani (October 1897 - March 1979; T. Tishrei, 1925) was Dayan and Kabbal, father of the Sharab district court and Sinwan in Yemen.
Rabbi Chaim Sinwani (October 1897 - March 1979; T. Tishrei, 1925) was Dayan and Kabbal, father of the Sharab district court and Sinwan in Yemen.
Born in Sinwan town (near the city of Taaz) on Yom Kippur. He studied with his father and later in the town of Jabel Zabar. He received rabbinical ordination at the age of 17 by Rabbi Shlomo Ben Yosef Tabib and studied with him in Kabbalah.
At the age of eighteen, he married a woman, and shortly afterward his Rabbis's offered him to serve as Dayan, but he refused acceptance. In 1910, after his rabbis' death, he was offered to serve as a rabbi of Sinwan and its environs, and he accepted the offer.
As rabbi of the Sharab district, he used to roam the towns and villages to teach and supervise the dayanim and slaughterers. Composed poems and books. After suffering from a rift, he could no longer roam among the communities in the district and so moved to Aden. The rabbis of the city, Rabbi Salem Yaakov Menachem and Rabbi Yahya Abraham appointed him a member of the tribunal there. During his stay there he underwent fracture surgery.
Rabbi Sinwani immigrated in 1949 (1949) and refused to serve as rabbi. He lived in Yehud, where he became famous as a miracle (Poel Yeshuot) worker and taught students at his home.
Avraham Levy writes that Rabbi Sinwani believed that the State of Israel was burdened with the grief of the Shekhinah and therefore refused to visit Jerusalem. And also banned participation in Israeli elections. Also in the leaflet published after his passing, his name appears to oppose participation in elections, including the local authorities. In contrast, Rabbi Yitzchak Dadon, who interviewed his son, daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and more, writes on their behalf that he was a Zionist, treated the state positively, and even celebrated Independence Day every year, including the saying of Hillel. They also said that he greatly respected Rabbi Kook and Rabbi Shlomo Goren.
After the Yom Kippur War, he asked for the names of the fallen, prayed for each of them, and wept, asking what we would receive for them.
In one of his poems, he praises the departure of the exile and the aliyah to Eretz Yisrael, and even anticipates that the day of redemption is approaching,
He died on May 31 in Adar 5739 and was buried in the Jewish cemetery. His grave reads: "Israel's defense attorney."
May the merit of the tzadik Rabbi Chaim Sinwani protect us all. Amen