Yihye Bashiri

Yihye Bashiri
Born1661
NationalityYemenite
OccupationRabbi

Professional Scrivener

Sofer

Yihye Bashiri (Hebrew: יחיא בשירי), also spelt Yahya al-Bashiri (b. ? – d. 1661[1]), known by his pen-name Avner bar Ner ha-Sharoni,[2] and by the acronym Maharib (moreinu harav yihye bashiri), was a Yemenite Rabbi, professional scrivener and sofer of the Masoretic Text whose works of Hebrew manuscripts now account for many now stored in public libraries across the globe, including the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (Rab.1276; Rab. 36; Rab. 4550), Cambridge University Library (Add.1726, p. 1-a; Add. 3407), the Russian State Library (MS. Günzburg 869) and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (MS. 764), et al. Rabbi Yiḥyah Salaḥ coined him the epithet, "the great scribe of the Law."[3] A man of uncommon piety, he is also known for an act of intervention on behalf of his community in Yemen, which brought miraculous deliverance to the Jews of Sana'a when they stood in danger of annihilation by the king, on account of libel and slander brought against them.

  1. ^ Dr. Moshe Gavra corrects the date of Bashiri's death as being in 1664 (see: Moshe Gavra, Studies in the Prayer Books of Yemen [Heb. מחקרים בסידורי תימן], vol. 1, Benei Barak 2010, p. 68)
  2. ^ See Yosef Qafih, Agadata Depasḥa, Jerusalem 1959, p. 8 (Hebrew).
  3. ^ Judaeo-Yemenite Studies, Proceedings of the Second International Congress, (Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Princeton University, NJ 1999, p. 41 note 1 (in Hebrew section).