Russian rabbi; born in Amsterdam 1729; died there May 14, 1794. He settled in Hasenpoth, in the government of Courland, originally as a jeweler; later he officiated there as rabbi for many years. At this time he wrote "'Arugah Ḳeṭannah" (The Small Garden-Bed), a booklet in which the 248 mandatory precepts are formulated in rime (Altona, 1787, and reprinted several times). He also left in manuscript a commentary on the Pentateuch.
One of Cleif's sons was a physician in the service of the Russian government, with the title of councilor of state: he died in the government of Orel in 1846.