Azulai, Hayyim Joseph David, 1724-1806

Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (1724 – 1 March 1806) (Hebrew: חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי), commonly known as the Hida (also spelled Chida, the acronym of his name, חיד"א‎), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings. He is considered "one of the most prominent Sephardi rabbis of the 18th century". Azulai embarked on two extensive fundraising missions for the Jewish community in Hebron. His first journey, spanning 1753–1757, crossed Italy and German lands, reaching Western Europe and London. A second trip, between 1772–1778, saw him travel through Tunisia, Italy, France, and Holland. Following his travels, Azulai settled in the Italian port city of Livorno, a major center of Sephardic Jewish life. He remained there until his death in 1806. The Hida's intact and published travel diaries, similarly to those of Benjamin of Tudela, provide a comprehensive first hand account of Jewish life and historical events throughout the Europe and Near East of his day. Some have speculated that his family name, Azulai, is an acronym based on being a Kohen: אשה זנה וחללה לא יקחו‎ (Leviticus, 21:7), a biblical restriction on whom a Kohen may marry.