R. Hayyim b. Israel Benveniste (1603–1673), Sephardi rabbinic scholar and codifier. R. Benveniste studied in his native Constantinople mainly under R. Joseph b. Moses of Trani, and also under R. Joseph Samegah. In 1624, he was appointed to decide cases dealing with ritual law (Issur ve-Hetter). R. Benveniste was rabbi in Tirya, near Smyrna, from 1643 to 1655 when he settled in Smyrna. When Chief Rabbi Joseph Escapa of Smyrna reached an advanced age, R. Benveniste was appointed in 1661 to act for him in matters of ritual and matrimonial law, and succeeded him after his death the following year. Among his many disciples were R. Solomon ibn Ezra, R. Isaac Algazi, R. Hayyim Algazi, and R. Abraham b. Aaron de Boton. His principal work Keneset ha-Gedolah, was accepted by both Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbis as an authoritative work of great practical value. In his work, which comprises eight large volumes, Benveniste cites and methodically explains all the conclusions and legal novellae to be found in the responsa and other halakhic works of the outstanding authorities after the time of R. Joseph Caro, as well as some of the decisions of earlier scholars whom Caro had failed to cite.

דף קיט-קמה: "חמר חיור עתיק ... והוא אשר נמצא מלוקט מחידושי הראשונים ז"ל על מס' סנהדרין [דפים ב-נג]".. בעמ' האחרון: דברי המגיה, שמואל ב"ר משה הכהן.