ANTIBI

ANTIBI , family of rabbis in Aleppo, Egypt, and Ereẓ Israel. The name is derived from Ain Tab, in southern Turkey. Its members include: isaac ben shabbetai (d. 1804), of Aleppo, author of Ohel Yiẓḥak, sermons; Beit Av, novellae on Maimonides' Yad ha-Ḥazakah and Joseph Caro's Beit Yosef; and various responsa. These works were published by his son Abraham b. Isaac *Antibi. jacob (d. 1846), born in Aleppo. He was rabbi of Damascus for 40 years and a halakhic authority. He corresponded with the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Raphael Joseph Ḥazzan, who endorsed his decisions. The great publicity given the *Damascus Affair (1840) and the world reaction to it were largely due to him. In February 1840, he was imprisoned and cruelly tortured, but following the intercession of Moses *Montefiore, Adolph *Crémieux, and Solomon *Munk, he was released that September. Upon Montefiore's request he wrote a detailed account of his imprisonment. After his release he moved to Jerusalem (1841) and was reckoned among that city's important scholars, residing there until his death. He is the author of Abbir Ya'akov, novellae, at the end of which is a description of the Damascus blood libel, appended to Ḥayyim Kafusi's Be-Or ha-Ḥayyim (1929). Some of his responsa are extant (Ben Zvi Institute, no. 403; Benayahu Collection), and several appear in the works of his contemporaries. He was also a poet. One of his poems, composed on his release from prison, deals with his salvation from the blood libel. Some of his pizmonim were recited in the synagogues of Damascus although they were never published. Ḥayyim judah shabbetai raphael (1808–1888), son of Jacob, also known as "Mashi'aḥ," was a wealthy philanthropist. He aided the rehabilitation of Safed after the 1837 earthquake, and also built a synagogue which bore his name. Later he was appointed rabbi and member of the bet din in Cairo. He died there in 1888. His son, elijah raḤamim (1852–1920), born in Safed, wrote Ara de-Rabbanan, sermons; Derash Eliyahu, funeral orations; Tuv Ta'am; and Imrei Shabbat, all of which are still in manuscript.

bibliography:

M.D. Gaon, Yehudei ha-Mizraḥ be-Ereẓ Yisrael, 2 (1937), 523–4; D.Z. Laniado, Li-Kedoshim asher ba-Areẓ, 1 (1952), 8f., 40, 72; Steinschneider, in: jqr, 40 (1898/99), 488.

[Haim J. Cohen]