Chaim Benveniste was a prominent rabbinic authority

Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Jewish law and history, to signify the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present....

 in 17th century Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. He was a student of Rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 Joseph Trani

Joseph Trani

Joseph Trani or Joseph di Trani was a Talmudist of the latter part of the 16th century who lived in Greece. By contemporary scholars he was called Mahrimat , and regarded as one of the foremost Talmudists of his time...

 and a brother of Joshua Benveniste

Joshua ben Israel Benveniste

Joshua ben Israel Benveniste was the brother of Chaim Benveniste, and a disciple of Joseph Trani. He was a physician and rabbi at Constantinople in 1660....

. Born in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, he was appointed Rabbi of Tita (a town near İzmir

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

) in 1644. In 1658, he was appointed one of the rabbis of İzmir http://www.yarzheit.com/FRY/06FRY_Ellul.htm. He authored several scholarly works, most notably the widely cited Shiyurei Kenesset HaGedolah and Kenesset HaGedolah, halakhic

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 commentaries to the Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code, composed by Yaakov ben Asher...

 and Shulchan Aruch

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...

. These two commentaries are characterized by extensive analysis of halakhic sources from the mid-16th century to the mid-17th century. The Chida

Chaim Joseph David Azulai

Chaim Joseph David Azulai ben Isaac Zerachia , commonly known as the Chida , was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings.- Biography :Azulai was born in Jerusalem, where he received his education...

recommended that these commentaries be consulted prior to rendering any halakhic decision http://www.artfact.com/catalog/viewLot.cfm?lotCode=0XKAJPEW.