The 15th of Tammuz marks the Yahrtzeit of famed Torah commentator Rabbi Chayim ben Attar (1696-1743), author of the Ohr HaChayim and the passing of Reb Aryeh Leib, Author of Shaagas Aryeh (1785).
Rabbi Chayim ben Attar (the Ohr HaChayim) was Born in Morocco, he lived and taught in Algiers, Italy, Acco, and Jerusalem, where he settled a year before passing. It was penned about him: "Ohr Hachaim's heart pulsated with Talmud; he uprooted mountains like a resistless torrent; his holiness was that of an angel of the Lord,... having severed all connection with the affairs of this world."
Ohr Hachaim's works include Chafetz Hashem, Amsterdam, 1732—dissertations on the four Talmudic, Or Ha-Ḥachaim (The Light of Life), Venice, 1742—a commentary on the Pentateuch after the four methods known collectively as Pardes; it was reprinted several times. His renown is based chiefly on this work, Peri Toar (Beautiful Fruit), a novella on the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, dealing primarily a commentary Peri Chadash, Rishon le-Zion, consisting of novellas to several Talmudic treatises, on certain portions of the Shulchan Arukh, on the five Megillos, on the Prophets and Proverbs.
Reb Aryeh Leib was an outstanding scholar known for his diligence in study and penetrating analysis. He served as rabbi of Metz and authored Shaagas Aryeh, a collection of analytical discourses on the laws of Orach Chaim. This classic work enjoys much fame and is indispensable for any serious student who desires to plumb the depths of Jewish law. In addition to Shaagas Aryeh, Reb Aryeh Leib authored Turei Even and Gevuras Ari, in-depth commentaries on several Talmudic tractates.
Many considered the Shaagas Aryeh "the definitive talmid hakham (great leader) of the generation." They maintain a legend that the Besht sought out the Shaagas Aryeh and "served him by putting his shoes on for him."