Rabbi Avraham Chaim Na'eh was born in Iyar 5650 (1890) to his father Rabbi Menachem Mendel and his mother Musia, leaders of the Chabad community in Hebron. His father was the 13th generation in a lineage of rabbis, and his maternal grandfather was a 'choizer' (one who would memorize and repeat the Rebbe's discourses) and emissary for the Tzemach Tzedek. The Grach [an acronym for the Gaon Rabbi Avraham Chaim] studied primarily under his father and his uncle, R' Shlomo Leib Eliezerov, and was close to the 'Sdei Chemed', the rabbi of Hebron. At age 15, he married Rebbetzin Devorah, and after a year moved to Jerusalem to study. At 18, he first came to Lubavitch with his reputation preceding him: R' Itche der Masmid held a farbrengen in his honor, and the Rebbe Rashab asked him to stay as a Rosh Yeshivah. The Grach asked for his father's permission, but his father said he couldn't allow it and so the Grach returned to Jerusalem.
In 5671 (1911), he went on a two-year mission to Bukhara, where he was very active. With the outbreak of the first World War, he was exiled to Egypt along with many foreign nationals expelled by the Ottoman government. There too, he worked to strengthen Judaism, printed a book of Jewish law in Arabic, and was revered by the local Jews. When he returned to Jerusalem, he lived in the Bukharan neighborhood and devoted himself to strengthening Jewish observance. He delved into and clarified the rulings of the Alter Rebbe in his Shulchan Aruch and Siddur, and wrote the "Luach Kolel Chabad" with laws and customs according to Chabad rulings. He became especially known for establishing the tradition regarding Torah measurements, in contrast to the Chazon Ish's approach, which tended to maximize the measurements.
His life was short and full of hardships: his first wife died young, and his son was murdered in the 5699 (1939) Arab riots against the Jews of the Land of Israel. Despite the wanderings and troubles, it is said that he was a joyful man; one could hear him approaching from a distance, singing and humming to himself. He passed away on the
