Nissim ben Isaiah Harari-Raful (d. 1870) was one of the giants of the Aleppo rabbinate. He was a noted talmudist but also was distinguished in the field of Kabbala, particularly in respect to the kavvanot (Heb. prayer “intentions”) instituted by Shalom Sharʿabi and his acolytes in the Bet El community of the Old City of Jerusalem. Harari’s study partner in Aleppo was Elijah Mishʿan. When the two of them visited Jerusalem, they made a strong impression on the reigning kabbalist of the time, Moses Ibn Sasson, who contended that their exposition of Kabbala was beyond his underst…