8 Adar II 5489
Harav Eliyahu Hakohein Ha’itamari was born in 5419 in Izmir, Turkey, to his father, Rav Avraham Shlomo Hakohein, of whom his son wrote in his introduction to his sefer Midrash Talpiyos, that he was "singular in his generation, Sinai v’oker harim, ir vekadish, a wakeful and holy one."
From an early age, Rav Eliyahu studied both Toras Hanigleh and Toras Hanistar, and conducted himself with kedushah and prishus, as taught by his father. All his life, he kept making greater strides in Torah and kedushah, and he became renowned for his extraordinary drashos and writings. Rav Chaim Abulafia, who served on the Rabbinate of Izmir some thirty years after Rav Eliyahu’s passing, wrote about him in his approbation to sefer Midrash Eliyahu: "Harav domeh lemalach, halo zeh Adoni Eliyahu...all his days of that tzaddik were [spent] sitting and learning, ‘tachas asher kinei l’Elokav,’ as a man of wars, he wakened others to be zealous, and he returned many from sin with his rebuke."
Rav Eliyahu authored more than thirty seforim, the most famous of which is Shevet Mussar, printed in dozens of editions. He also authored: Me’il Hatzedakah, on the mitzvah of tzedakah; Midrash Talpiyos – a compilation of essays in the order of the aleph beis; Midrash Ha’itamari – drashos; Aggadas Eliyahu – an explanation of the Aggados of the Yerushalmi; Semcuhim La’ad – drushim on the reason why parshiyos are placed where they are in the Torah, and others.
Rav Eliyahu merited to live to a ripe old age. He passed away in the city of his birth, Izmir, on 8 Adar II, 5489, and was laid to rest in the city.
