A handwritten manuscript by the revered Torah commentator and mekubal, the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, sold for a staggering $700,000 plus commission in an online auction hosted by Kedem Auction House on Tuesday.

The manuscript reflects the extraordinary legacy of Rav Chaim ben Attar, known universally as the Ohr HaChaim. Born in 1696 in Salé, Morocco, Rav Chaim remains a luminary in the Jewish world, renowned for his pirush on the Torah, Or HaChaim al HaTorah, which continues to inspire generations.

The Ohr HaChaim’s early years were marked by intellectual brilliance and resilience. At nine years old, his family fled to Meknes, Morocco, escaping the oppression of an antisemitic vizier. His first marriage to a relative named Fatzunyah allowed him to dedicate himself fully to Torah study, supported by her family. After her passing, he remarried Esther Bibas, with whom he had daughters. It was during these years that the Ohr HaChaim wrote his famed commentary while learning with his family every Friday night.

The Ohr HaChaim’s life was not without hardship. Following the death of his father-in-law in 1724, his financial circumstances deteriorated. Yet, his unwavering commitment to limud and harbotzas Torah shone through, leading him to establish a yeshiva in Salé. When famine struck Morocco, he embarked on a journey to Eretz Yisroel, pausing in Livorno, Italy, where a wealthy Jewish community supported him and his efforts to publish Or HaChaim.

Arriving in Eretz Yisroel in 1742 with his family and 30 students, the Ohr HaChaim founded Yeshivat Knesset Yisrael in Yerushalayim. His life was tragically cut short on a Shabbos in 1743, less than a year after settling in Yerushalayim.

It is said that that week in Europe, the Baal Shem Tov was sitting at shalosh seudos, and before anyone in the area could have found out about the Ohr HaChaim’s petirah, he exclaimed, “The light from the West (Eretz Yisroel) has been extinguished!”

The Ohr HaChaim was buried on Har Hazeisim.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)