Moshe Hillel

Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Hillel (born August 29, 1945) is the head of the Kabbalistic Yeshiva Ahavat Shalom in Jerusalem.

He has been described as a prolific author and publisher of sefarim.

The majority of his works are about Kabbalah.

His students include Rabbis Daniel Frisch and Shimshon Dovid Pincus.

He was born in Mumbai, India to Moshe Hillel (grandson of Rabbi Avraham Hillel who served as a rabbi in Iraq).

He lived in England, studied at the Gateshead Yeshiva, and later immigrated to Israel and studied at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, where he became a Talmid Muvhak of Rav Shach.

He married Ziona, daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Ohana, who was the chief rabbi of Kiryat Shmona.

After marrying he studied at the Dayan and Rabbinical Training Institute established by Rishon Lezion, Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, and at the Harry Fishel Institute.

Among other things, he learned the basics of Kabbalah from Rabbi Mordechai Attia (the grandfather).

Among the organizations he created are:

He had 19 children.

Prior to marrying, he was an artist, hence the title of Kol Hazman's biography: From Artist/Painter to Genius Kabbalist."

Many of the titles that use the word Yam (ים or י"ם) refer to Hillel's initials, Yud Mem (for Yaakov Moshe). Similarly, HaYam adds the letter Hay (ה), for Hillel.

His books are:

He also edited works, based on existing manuscripts, on various Halachic topics:

Hillel oversees publication of works published by his yeshiva, including Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler's novellae on the Talmud, with an introduction written by Hillel.

In an article about Hillel's 3 volume set "Kitvuni LeDorot" Yosef Avivi alleged that large parts of the book were plagiarized from Avivi's book Binyan Ariel, not to be confused with Hillel's book of the same name.

As a Sephardic sage, he has been visiting Yeshiva Darchei Torah (Far Rockaway) since 2004.