Rabbi Yishma'el haCohen (1723-1811)

Rabbi Yishma'el haCohen was born in the city of Modena, Italy, in 1723. He was considered the most important rabbi (poseq) of his generation in Italy.  He was also a very beloved rabbi by all his congregants. Despite his great intellect, he used to speak to his congregants in a simple language and at their level of understanding.

Rabbi Yishma'el served as the rabbi of Modena for more than 30 years, but practically speaking he was the main rabbinic referent  of Italy during his lifetime. He wrote thousands of Teshubot (Rabbinic Responsa) answering to Halakhic questions sent by Italian Jews from all the corners of the country.   He was highly praised by all his contemporary colleagues, among them the famous rabbi Hayim Yosef David Azulai, the Hida.

The times of rabbi Yishma'el, were the times of the first reformers in Europe.  Many "enlightened" Jews were proposing radical changes in Judaism, to reform the Tora to modern times and remove from Judaism its national dimension. Rabbi Yishma'el stood at the vanguard on the battle against reform, safeguarding traditional Judaism against the new waves of assimilation.

He wrote many religious poems (pizmonim, baqashot), some of them were sung every shabbat in his Synagogue. 

He also wrote:

Sefat emet: a collection of his speeches on the Parasha of the week.

Shebah Pesah. A book that explains the Hagada of Pesah and the laws of the holiday.

His most famous book is zera' emet.  This is a collection of hundreds of Responsa on many different Halakhic subjects. It is also very important because it is one of the first books to address questions that arose in modern times which required a respected  Halakhic authority to set new legal precedents. 

The name of the book, zera' emet ("True descendants") requires some explanation. Rabbi Yishma'el did not have children. And although, as he mentioned in his book, he loved and care for every one of his students as if they were his own children, he considered this book his true legacy for posterity.  In the introduction of zera' emet he quotes the beautiful analogy our Rabbis wrote to express the "immortality" acquired by a Torah Scholar who writes a relevant book. They said that when the readers read the words of a Torah scholar who passed away, "his lips move in his grave", (siftotav dobebot baqaber), in other words, the act of reading revives the words of the Torah scholar, bringing  his legacy and memory back to life.

Rabbi Yishma'el passed away in Modena, 1811

 

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Menashe Setton (ca. 1810-1876)

Rabbi Menashe Setton ( סתהון , also Sittehon or Sutton)  was born in Aram Soba (Aleppo) Syria.  He was a great Tora scholar, well versed in secular knowledge like astronomy, philosophy, mathematics and engineering. Although he was an ordained rabbi,  Rabbi Setton supported himself through business initiatives.  Following the tradition of Sephardic rabbis he was also an expert in Hebrew grammar (diqduq). 

Rabbi Setton's most famous book is "kenesiya leshem shamayim", a "gathering for the sake of heaven".  In this short book rabbi Setton argues fiercely against a prevalent superstitious ceremony called "Endulzado" (Spanish for "sweetening").

In the beginning of his book Rabbi Setton describes this practice: Whenever there was a sick member of the family, a women about to give birth, or someone whose loved ones were dying, etc.  they would empty a house, remove all type of Tora books and Mezuzot and display in the floor all kinds of baked sweets, candies, honey, etc. The patient and the expert exorcist would stay and sleep for three consecutive nights in that house. All this time, it was forbidden for the patient to pronounce any word of Tora or Tefila. The exorcist, usually a female, would summon "demons" (shedim) to visit the house. The demons would come into the house freely, because the house was empty of anything "holy" which would drive them away. Once the exorcist felt that the demos were inside the house, she would offer the demons those sweets to appease them and ask them to cure the patient or release the patient from their curse. 

Rabbi Setton first explains that this is a flagrant act of idol-worshiping, known in Hebrew as 'aboda zara, the most serious offense in the entire Tora.  He also explained that these people learned this ceremony from the books of the ancient "sabians", an ancient pagan sect who worshiped angels and demons. 

After describing this practice, rabbi Setton referred to the silence of the rabbis of the city. He said that the reason the rabbis did not denounce this practice was probably because they were not aware of what was going on behind those closed doors. Many of them thought that perhaps, people were just praying in an intense way, etc.  Once the rabbis became aware of what was going on in those houses, ALL the rabbis "gathered together for the sake of heaven" (from here the name of the book) to ban and eradicated this pagan practice.

Rabbi Sutton was widely supported in his efforts by numerous other rabbis from his city (thirty six rabbis from Aleppo signed their approval of his book) as well as from rabbinic leaders in Jerusalem, Tiberias, Hebron, and Safed, from both the Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities.

Rabbi Menashe Setton died in Alexandria, Egypt in 1876

To download this enlightening book KENESIYA LESHEM SHAMAYIM click here

לע"נ אייל יפרח, נפתלי פרנקל וגיל-עד שאער הי"ד

Rabbi Moshe Capsali 1420-1495

Rabbi Capsali was born in the Island of Crete (today Greece) in 1420.  Not much is known about his early life, except that he went to study Tora in Germany, became a rabbi and then in 1450 he settled in Constantinople (modern day, Istanbul). 

Rabbi Capsali became very prominent thanks to his closeness with the Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Second, also known as "The Conqueror". Mehmed II brought the end of the Byzantine empire and conquered Constantinople in 1453. He was one of the most powerful men on the planet in those days. The Sultan appointed Rabbi Capsali as the Chief Rabbi or Hakham Bashi of the Ottoman empire.    

As the Chief rabbi of the Empire, rabbi Capsali was in charge of appointing other rabbis and supervising the collection of taxes coming from the Jews. He also acted as a civil judge. It is said that the Sultan's respect for the rabbi was because, disguised as a civilian, Mehmed II was present one day while Capsali was rendering his decisions and he assured himself that the rabbi was incorruptible and impartial in his judgments.

The Sultan appreciated so much Rabbi Capsali that he assigned him a seat beside the Mufti, the Muslim highest authority, and above the seat of the Christian patriarch.

One of the most important contribution of Rabbi Capsali to Am Israel is that thanks to his favor with the Sultan, the Sultan opened the gates of his empire to tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who were escaping form the horrors of the Inquisition in Spain and from persecutions they suffered in many Christian countries. The Sultan allowed and even encouraged the Jewish refugees to build homes, synagogues and houses of study (Bate Midrash), and to practice their religion freely.

In 1492, towards the last years of Rabbi Capsali's life, the great tragedy of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain took place. His advanced age notwithstanding, Rabbi Capsali dedicated himself in soul and body to help the victims of the expulsion. Many Sephardic Jews were captured by pirates when escaping from Spain and were sold as slaves. Rabbi Capsali personally traveled to various Jewish communities in his country to collect funds for Pidyon Shebuim, to redeem these Jews.  It was thanks to rabbi Capsali that the most prominent Sephardic communities in those times flourished in Constantinople and other cities of the Ottoman empire.

Rabbi Capsali died in 1495 at the age of 75 he was succeeded as Hakham Bashi by  Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi.

Rabbi Hayim Habib (1882-1945)

Rabbi Hayim Habib was born in the city of Salonica (aka Saloniki, or Thessaloniki), Greece, in 1882. His father was a Dayan (Rabbinical judge), rabbi Refael Habib.  The Salonican Jewish community was one of the most prolific Sephardic communities in the world. In 1900 there were approximately 80,000 Jews in Salonica, out of a total population of 173,000 souls. The Jews could be found in every profession: merchants,  lawyers, physicians, teachers, etc. The Jewish stevedores of Salonica were famous. On Shabbats the town and the port was closed since the Jews did not work. There were 49 Synagogues in Salonica and a 500-year-old Sephardic cemetery with half-million graves. 

Rabbi Hayim Habib studied in the Talmud Tora (elementary and High School) under rabbi Moshe Ottolenghi (1840-1901) and later in the rabbinical School of Salonica, "Bet Yosef" where he was granted his rabbinical ordination.  He also studied accounting and European languages. 

When he was in his early 40's Rabbi Habib was offered to serve as the chief rabbi of Salonica.  He was so humble that at the beginning he refused to take the position, but upon the insistence of the Rabbis, he accepted the difficult job.   The duties of rabbi Habib were many. Besides being responsible of the kashrut of the city and overseeing all the technical issues of Jewish family Law, Bet Din, etc. he was also in charge of overseeing education . He supervised the rabbinical school, the appointment of hazanim, mohalim and rabbanim for all the Synagogues of the city. 

He was also involved in the schools, assisting the teachers, examining the students and making improvements in the school curriculum, which included also the study of modern Hebrew.  Rabbi Habib and all Salonica Jews, were very involved in the Zionist movement. 

Rabbi Habib was very loved by its community and many considered him a saint (איש קדוש) because he was always helping those in need. The poor, the sick, the elder, they all could count with the unconditional support of rabbi Habib. 

During the early 1900' many Salonica Jews left Greece and emigrated to the US , France and Israel. Still, the pre-World War II Jewish population of Salonica counted 56,000 souls. 

In 1941 the Nazis יש"ו came to Salonica.  They destroyed the Synagogues, the Jewish schools, the libraries, and desecrated the Jewish cemetery.   98 percent of Salonica's Jews, 54,000 Sephardic Jews, were killed in Auschwitz-Birkenau, or died during the long, exhausting Death March from January to May 1945.  Among them Rabbi Hayim Habib, his wife and his two daughters הי"ד.

Rabbi Habib had also another daughter and a son who emigrated to Israel before the Nazis came into the city. The descendants of rabbi Habib live today in Tel Aviv.

RABBI HAYIM HABIB z"l

                            

Rabbi Shaul haLevi Mortera (1596-1660)

Rabbi Shaul haLevi Mortera was born in Venice, Italy, in 1596. He was a descendent of Portuguese Jews. In 1616 Rabbi Mortera escorted the body of the famous Jewish doctor Eliyahu Montalto, the personal physician of Maria di Medici, from Paris to Amsterdam. There, the new Sephardic community appointed him as their new Rabbi. 

In Amsterdam, Rabbi Mortera continued his studies under rabbi Ytshaq Uziel, a rabbi from Morocco. He founded the school Keter Torah, in the highest class of which he taught Talmud and Jewish Philosophy. After a few years he was appointed as the Head of the rabbinical court of the  community of Amsterdam. 

Later, he founded and taught in the famous Yeshiba Ets haHayim. Among his students were Rabbi Moshe Zacuto, Rabbi Abraham haCohen Pimientel (author of the book "Minhat Cohen") and Baruch Spinoza.   Rabbi Mortera was one of the three dayanim which pronounced the excommunication (herem) against Spinoza on July 27, 1656. 

Rabbi Mortera's most famous book is Gib'at Shaul (here) written in Hebrew, Amsterdam, 1645. A collection of fifty sermons, selected from over 500 sermons, on the weekly sections of the Tora. 

Rabbi Mortera was an expert in compared religions, and at that time, when many Jews who lived under the Inquisition for generations were coming back to embrace Judaism, it was critical to teach these "New Jews" (most of them educated in convents) the principles of Judaism, and particularly the differences between Judaism and Christianity.    He wrote many books for these Jews, in Portuguese  and Spanish. Among them: Tratado de la Verdad de la Ley de Moshe, written originally in Portuguese. In this work he defends Judaism against the attacks of Christianity and explains the Jewish view on the Mashiach, immortality of the soul, God's revelation,  etc. clarifying the Jewish understanding of the Biblical verses the Church used to sustain their beliefs.   

                       

                             Portrait of Rabbi Shaul Mortera

                                    

SOME OF THE BOOKS RABBI MORTERA  

WROTE for the "NEW JEWS"

Preguntas Que Hizo Un Clerigo de Ruan de Francia. 

A defense from the attacks of a Catholic priest against the talmud.  

Providencia de Dios con Israel
Why God chose the Jewish people? How this choice is manifest? 

  

Memorable relacion para confucion de aquellos que niegan la providencia divina

The Jewish belief in God's constant providence and supervision (hashagcha)   

Obstaculos y opociciones contra la religion Christiana

A critical view on the principles of Christianity   

Tratados varios relativos a la religión judía
Basic principles of Judaism for "new Jews".    

La eternidad de la ley de Mosseh

The eternal Law of Moshe, the Tora, cannot be replaced by a new testament. 

For more information see this

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Isaac Cardoso (1608-1687)

Rabbi Isaac Cardoso was a Jewish physician, philosopher and polemic writer. He was born as Fernando Cardoso into a marrano family in Beira, Portugal in 1604. His family, as many other Jewish families in Portugal, kept Jewish observance secretly for many generations. 

Fernando studied medicine, philosophy, and natural sciences at the prestigious university of Salamanca, Spain.  He excelled in his medical practice and in 1632 he became the chief physician of Madrid.   In Madrid he published an article on Mt. Vesuvius, analyzing the causes of earthquakes. He also composed a funeral poem (elegy)  for the famous Spanish poet Lope de Vega and a treatise on the uses of cold water, dedicated to King Philip IV of Spain.  Fernando Cardoso left Spain and settled in Venice where he embraced publicly Judaism.  In Venice he changed his name  to "Isaac."  After a short stay in Venice he settled in Verona, where he remained until his death, highly honored by Jews and Christians.

Aside from the works already mentioned, Cardoso published a comprehensive treatise on cosmogony, physics, medicine, philosophy, theology, and natural sciences, printed at Venice in 1673 under the title Philosophia Libera in Septem Libros Distributa.

He wrote his most famous Jewish book in Spanish,  "Las Excelencias y Calumnias de los Hebreos", printed in 1679 at Amsterdam.  In the first ten chapters of this long book he describes the "excelencias" (distinguishing features) of the Jews, their selection by God, their separation from all other peoples by special laws, their compassion for the sufferings of others, their philanthropy, chastity, faith, etc.; and in next ten chapters he refutes the "calumnias" (calumnies) brought against them; that they worship false gods, they have a tail,  smell badly, are hard and unfeeling toward other peoples, have corrupted Scripture, blaspheme holy images and the host, kill Christian children to use the blood for ritual purposes, etc.

This book was submitted in 1679 to Rabbi Shemuel Abohab in Venice. Rabbi Abohab praised the book and thanked rabbi Cardoso for his splendid work. 

Those who can understand classic Spanish can read now "Las Excelencias y Calumnias de los Hebreos", directly from the original source, thanks to Hebrewbooks.  See  THIS.  

A brief text from the introduction

"El pueblo de Ysrael, al mismo passo amado de Dios que perseguido de los hombres, ha dos mil anios desde el tiempo de Nebuhadnezar que anda esparzido en las naciones....de unas maltratado, de otras herido, y de todas desespreciado, sin que haya monarquia o reyno que no haya desembainado contra el la espada..."

My translation (Y.B.): 

The people of Israel, at the same time loved by God and persecuted by men, has been two thousand years, from the times of Nebuhadnezzar,  scattered among the nations.... abused by some, wounded by other, and despised by all, there is no monarchy or kingdom that has not drawn its sword against him

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Menahem de Lonzano (d.1611)

It is not known when and where Rabbi Menahem ben Judah  de Lonzano was born. Probably in Turkey or Italy. But we do know that at avery young age he settled in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem).   

Rabbi Lonzano had a very difficult life. He lost both his father and mother at a very young age, and throughout his entire life he was haunted by poverty and sickness . He was paralyzed in both feet and with the sight of one eye entirely lost.  He still was a great Talmudist, a poet and a distinguished grammarian.

Or Tora is perhaps his most famous work. This book is about the Masoretic Biblical text.  This deserves a brief explanation. The Sefer Tora, the Torah scroll, is written without vowels and without te'amim (punctuation marks). The Humashim, the printed books of Tora from which we study and follow the Torah reading, include the vowels, te'amim, etc. This is the Masoretic text. Many times there are small variations in the vowels and te'amim, almost irrelevant for beginners but very significant for the expert readers, teachers, rabbis and for those who publish Tora books. In this important work, "The Light of the Tora" rabbi Lonzano goes thru the text of the Pentateuch and clarifies the right Masoretic version. Rabbi Lonzano follows a rigorous method of comparing our texts with old Biblical texts, some of them -he says- were more than 600 years old,  to arrive to the most precise version of the Masoretic text.    

Another important book he wrote is the ma'arikh, a book that clarifies obscure words found in classic Rabbinic texts . The famous Rabbi Hida wrote about this book: "Rabbi Menahem de Lonzano elucidated many unclear words in the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Zohar in a rather scientific way... because he was an expert in the Greek, Arabic and Turkish language... I saw that while many rabbis interpreted those words according to their context, rabbi Lonzano clarified these words based on his solid knowledge [of philology] and the impressive collection of old books and manuscripts which preserved the most accurate version of these words."  

 

Rabbi De Lonzano died in 1611 and is buried in Har haZetim, Mt Olives Cemetery, Jerusalem.

Click here to download sefer OR TORA ( Amsterdam, 1659).

Click here to download sefer MA'ARIKH (Leipzig, Germany, 1853 ).  

Rabbi Yosef Hayon (15th Century, Portugal)

Not many details are known about the biographical data of rabbi Yosef Hayon (or Hayun). We know that he was born and died in Lisbon, Portugal. And that his main rabbinical activity must have been between 1440 and 1480.  We also know that he was considered "The last Rabbi of Lisbon", before the forced conversion of the Portuguese Jews in 1496.  Rabbi Hayon was one of the four students of rabbi Isaac Canpanton (1360-1463), the Gaon of Castile (Spain) and author of darkhe haTalmud, a book that instructs teachers and rabbis how to teach the Talmud.  

We also know that Rabbi Hayon lead a selected group of students to whom he taught  the More Nebukhim, Maimonides' Guide of Perplexed, a book that requires, beyond mastery of Biblical and rabbinical literature,  a vast knowledge of philosophy, language and science.   Among his students in that circle was the celebrate Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508) 

Rabbi Hayon wrote commentaries on most Biblical books. But most of those books are not extant today.  What we do have in its entirety is his commentary on Pirqe Abot, written in 1470 . 

Some of the personal characteristic of Rabbi Hayon might be learned from his commentaries about the ideal Tora Scholar. 

Rabbi Hayon says (p. 163, Venezia Edition): "If a Tora scholar wants to have many students, he has to be a role model. If the teacher's personal actions do not reflect his wisdom and his moral teachings, he will not have students". 

When a Tora scholar teaches or speaks (p. 104), "he has to use few words with rich meaning, and not many words with little meaning... long discourses are not easy to digest for the students" 

A rabbi (p.281) "cannot loss his temper, not just with his students but with every person, because anger and wisdom exclude each other (כי הכעס מעלים חכמה).    On the contrary , the rabbi has to be friendly with all those who come to learn from him. This attitude is what will allow students to getting closer to the rabbi".

Rabbi Hayon explains (p.174) that there is a balance to be kept in the relationship between a rabbi and his students. The rabbi, being an authority, has to behave with humbleness toward his students. But the students should not behave toward the rabbi according to the rabbi's humbleness; the students must act toward the rabbi with the respect owed to a high authority.  

Rabbi Yosef's great humbleness is reflected in one of his commentaries (p.187) where he says that a student should not learn just from one rabbi (תלמיד חכמים), "because even a great rabbi could be mistaken in some of his opinions, and other rabbis with less knowledge might have great ideas".  Let's remember that this encouragement is coming from the Senior Rabbi of Portugal. 

To download the book MILE DEABOT click here

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Ya'aqob Kholi (1689-1732)

Rabbi Ya'aqob Kholi (aka Culi, Koli, etc) was born in Yerushalayim in 1689. In those days the situation of the Jews in Israel turned to be disastrous, politically and financially, and at a young age, rabbi Ya'aqob established himself in Constantinople, Turkey.  There he met the famous rabbi Yehuda Rosanes. Rabbi Ya'aqob became one of this best students, and Rabbi Rosanes assigned him as Dayan of Constantinople.  In 1727 rabbi Rosanes died, leaving behind a vast literary work in handwriting. Rabbi Ya'aqob took upon himself to publish his teacher's books, knowing that the task will demand many years of his life.  In 1728 he published Rabbi Rosanes' Parashat Derakhim and in 1731 he published the most famous book of rabbi Rosanes: Mishne leMelekh, a commentary on Maimonides' Mishne Tora.  During these years he also began his own work, the famous book me'am lo'ez.  

Me'am lo'ez is an extraordinary book, a monumental anthology of Midrashim and Halakhic material, arranged according to the weekly Parasha. The special thing about this book is that it was one of the first books written for the masses, not for Tora-scholars.  One book of this sort was previously written, 'en-ya'aqob, by Rabbi Kholi's great-grandfather, rabbi Ya'aqob ibn Habib.  The book was written in Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish (Spanish written with Hebrew characters) the language introduced  by those Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, which became popular among most Sephardic communities.   

Aside form the rich Talmudic material, rabbi Ya'aqob introduced many autobiographic notes and anecdotes, which makes the reader feel transported to the ancient Sephardic communities in Turkey and other parts of the Middle East, where Jews were victims of permanent abuse and persecutions. In those difficult circumstances Me'am Lo'ez invites the Jewish families to see the Shabbat as an "Island of time", a 24 hours opportunity to disconnect from sadness and enjoy peace and happiness.  The author encourages Jews, most of them living in poor conditions, to practice Hesed (kindness) with those who are in a worse situation.  He found that the best antidote to cope with the feelings of hardship is not self-pity but opening one's homes and hearts to those who are poorer than him (hakhnasat orahim), to take care of the widows, the orphans and the sick.  Rabbi Kholi died at a very young age. When he was just 43 years old.  

ספר מעם לועז

Rabbi Kholi, the author of me'am lo'ez, wrote the book of Genesis and on two thirds of the book of Shemot.  He had a great zekhut: in the same way that he published the books of his ancestors and teachers, his own book me'am lo'ez was continued by several rabbis from Turkey and other communities, for generations to come. 

Rabbi Ytshaq Magriso completed the book of Exodus and wrote the commentary on the books of Leviticus and Numbers.

Deuteronomy was written by Rabbi Ytshaq Bekhor Agruiti. 

The Book of Yehoshua by Rabbi Rahamim Menahem Miterani. 

The book of Esther by Rabbi Raphael Hiya Pontremoli. 

Rabbi Shemuel Yerushalmi translated the Me'am Lo'ez to Hebrew. 

And Rabbi  Aryeh Kaplan from Ladino to English  (see this)

Rabbi Binyamin Musafia (1606-1675)

Rabbi Binyamin ben Emanuel Musafia was born in Spain in 1606. He belonged to a family of "conversos", Jews that were forced to convert and pretend to live as Christians, while studying Tora and observe Jewish law in secret.  In Spain he studied medicine and at a young age he went to Hamburg where he was able to practice openly his Jewish faith.  

While in Hamburg he was invited to serve as a physician in the Danish-Norway Monarchy. He was the personal doctor of King Christian the IVth. Here in 1640 he composed his first book in Latin:   "Sacro-Medics" a book that contains 650 different medical advices, cures and antidotes coming from the Hebrew Bible. He signed his name in Latin  "Dionysius Manuel"

In 1642 he went to Amsterdam. When his wife died, six years after their wedding, he composed in her honor a book called "zekher rab", in this book he took all the nouns and verbs of the Hebrew Bible in thematic order and composed for each term pomes of praise and prayer to haShem.  This extraordinary book was reprinted in Germany in 1868 by rabbi Naftali Hertz with footnotes mentioning the sources of each term.  To download this book click  here.   

At his old age Rabbi Musafia served as the rabbi of the Sephardic community of Amsterdam (Spanish -Portuguese). At this time he wrote a commentary on the Talmud of Jerusalem which was never published.  In those days 1664-1665 the false Messiah Shabbetai Zebi was acclaimed by most Jewish communities and Rabbis.  The community of Amsterdam was no exception, and apparently, rabbi Musafia was also a supporter of Shabettai Zebi until the false Messiah converted to islam in 1666.   As rabbi David Margaliot explains, unfortunately most rabbis of that time fell naively into this belief, more for psychological than from philosophical reasons.  

The main contribution of Rabbi Binyamin Musafia is a book called "Musaf he'arukh", a supplement to the famous book "he'arukh". The book "he'arukh" written in the 11th century by Rabbi Nathan ben Yehiel from Roma, is one of the most important books of Jewish linguistic. A comprehensive dictionary of difficult words found in the Talmud and Midrash.  The sefer he'arukh was extensively used by great rabbis, for example, Rashi (see TB Shabbat 13b) who quoted the 'arukh as an authoritative book . Rabbi Musafia wrote a multiple-volumes supplement to that book: "Mosif he'arukh".  Rabbi Musafia was an expert in classic literature and languages, and the Talmudic Literature contains approximately 3000 terms coming from Greek or Latin. His contribution was thus priceless. 

He died in Amsterdam in 1675. 

Rabbi David Messer Leon (1470-1526)

Rabbi David ben Yehuda Messer-Leon (דוד מיסיר-ליאון) was born in Venice, Italy, 1470.  He was educated at Naples in the school of his father Yehuda "Messer" Leon.  The name "Messer"  is short from "mio serro" (My Sir, i.e., Lord) . This honorary title was given to Rabbi Yehuda Leon by the German Emperor Frederik III during the Emperor's  visit to Italy.

In his father's school Rabbi David learned Tora and secular studies. Rabbi David received his Rabbinical ordination at the age of eighteen. He then studied in the university of Padua philosophy and medicine, and practiced as a physician.   During this time, Rabbi David wrote to Rabbi Ya'akob Provenzali, a leader rabbinical figure in Italy, asking his opinion on the pursuing of secular studies. Rabbi Provenzali responded ( This reply was published in  Dibre Hakhamim of R. Eliezer Ashkenazi, 1849, 63-74 ) that each of the seven liberal arts--arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, grammar, logic and rhetoric--was praised and appreciated by the Talmudic Rabbis. He encouraged Rabbi David to continue his secular education provided he remains mindful of the precedence and superiority of Tora study over all other intellectual pursuits.

In 1496 he moved to Salonica, Greece. In Salonica he wrote his most famous book (which was never published) 'en-haqore, "The eyes of the reader", a commentary on Maimonides' "Guide of Perplexed", defending this book against its critics who accused the book of being too influenced by Greek philosophy. Rabbi David contended that Maimonides actually upheld Judaism against Aristotelian philosophy, and showed that human reason without revelation is not sufficient to achieve the entire truth.

The reputation of Rabbi Messer's book spread. In 1498 he was called to serve as the rabbi of Avilona (today Velora, Albania) which was part of the Ottoman Empire. This community consisted at that time of three congregations each with its own Synagogue: Jews from Castilla, Jews from Catalonia and  Jews who left Portugal in 1496. Dissensions between the three communities were not uncommon. Rabbi Leon officiated successively in the three synagogues on every third Saturday.  He died in 1526.


His books
Rabbi David Messer Leon was a prolific writer, and produced works in various Jewish subjects as well as in many branches of secular science. Unfortunately only two of his books were published. We know about his other works from quotations from other authors.

Kebod Hakhamim His Response to a debate between the Sephardim, those who came from Castilla and Portugal, who questioned the authority of the Italian Rabbinical ordination. The Sephardim claimed that the official Rabbinical ordination was only applicable in Israel, therefore, outside Israel, it is not mandatory for a Jew to follow the authority of the local rabbis, particularly against their ancient practices.  The Jews of Castilla were, in general, more lenient than the local Jews in many Halakhic issues and very often this caused divisions of the various congregations of Avilona.  In his book, Rabbi David opposes the position of Castillian Jews and defended the authority of the local Rabbis.  See this book HERE

Tehilla le-David Published by the author's grandson Aaron in Constantinople, 1577. It consist of three parts: (1) The excellence of the Divine Law and Moshe rabbenu; (2) The nature of faith in God’s revelation, which is superior to speculative reasoning; (3) The principles of Jewish theology: the Divine attributes, Divine providence, free will, etc.;

He also wrote:

Magen David,  on Greek philosophy, particularly on the ideas of Plato. Rabbi David considered Plato the greatest classic philosopher. Plato lived at the time of the prophet  Jeremiah. Following an old Jewish tradition Rabbi David claimed that Jeremiah was Plato’s teacher.

Abir Ya'aqob, a treatise on medicine and other sciences

Shebah haNashim , an explanation of Chapter 31 of Mishle, in praise of women.

We know the names of other works by Rabbi David Messer Leon: Menorat ha-Zahab, Bet David, Kise David, Nefesh David and Nahal 'adanim.

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Ya'aqob Berab (1474-1546)

Rabbi Ya'aqob Berab was born in the town of Maqueda, near Toledo, Spain, in 1474.  His teacher was the celebrated rabbi Isaac Abohab, Gaon of Castilla. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 he fled to Fes, Morocco, where he was chosen the rabbi of the city being just eighteen years old.  From Morocco he went to Algeria, Jerusalem, Egypt, Damascus until he finally established himself in Safed (Tsefat), Israel.  In Tsefat Rabbi Berab conceived the idea of hiddush hasemikha, the renewal of the rabbinic ordination.  For more than a thousand years, since the times of the Mishna, the Rabbinic ordination which was transmitted from Rabbi to student since the times of Moshe and Yehoshua' was lost. As rabbi Yosef Caro, one of Rabbi Berab students and contemporaries wrote in the introduction to the Shulhan 'arukh, because of the large and long Jewish Diaspora, the Jews had too many Halakhic traditions and customs. And since the times of the Sanhedrin, Jews have not had a centralized authority accepted by all Jews which could formulate a uniform Law for all Jews. Now, once a relatively large Jewish community was established in Israel, the renewal to the rabbinic ordination was a real a possibility.  Following Maimonides (Pirush haMishnayot, Sanhedrin 1:1 שאם יסכימו כל החכמים שבארץ ישראל למנות דיינים ולסמוך אותם, הרי אלו סמוכים ויש להם רשות לדון דיני קנסות ולסמוך חכמים אחרים) "If all rabbis in Israel appoint and ordain one rabbi, that assigned rabbi can rule for all of them and, furthermore, he could ordain other rabbis".  In 1538, twenty-five rabbis assembled in Tsefat and ordained rabbi Ya'aqob Berab, giving him the right to ordain any other Rabbis who would then form a new Sanhedrin.  Rabbi Berab then ordained among others rabbi Yosef Caro, and rabbi Moshe Miterani   (1501-1580).  Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib (רלב"ח), the chief rabbi of Yerushalayim, was opposed to the renewal of the ordination and had many disputes with rabbi Berab. More opposition to the renewal of the Rabbinical ordination came from the Ottoman empire. The Turkish authorities perceived that the renewal of the ordination would open the possibility for a new Sanhedrin, virtually a Jewish independent Congress, which might ultimately lead to a sovereign Jewish State.  Fearing for his life, rabbi Berab fled to Egypt and in 1546 he ultimately returned to Tsefat where he died at the age of 72 years.

The "Renewal of the semikha"  project established by rabbi Ya'aqob Berab was discontinued after his death.  Still, a few more rabbis were ordained by Rabbi Ya'aqob Berab before he died.  Althought there are some debates about it, it seems that the following rabbis were also ordained by him:   Rabbi Israel Curiel (1501-1573) and Rabbi Abraham Shalom (d.1557) both served in the Bet Din, Rabbinical court,  of Maran Yosef Caro in Tzefat. Rabbi Moshe Cordobero (1522-1570) Rabbi Yosef Sagis ( d. 1573).  Rabbi Yosef Caro ordained Rabbi Moshe Alshekh (1508-1593, Safed). Rabbi Moshe Alshekh then ordained Rabbi Hayim Vital(1543-1620). We know  of a few other musmakhim. For example: The grandson of rabbi Ya'aqob Berab, Rabbi Ya'aqob Aboulafia, from Damascus; his student Rabbi Yoshiahu Pinto (1565-1648), also from Damascus, and his grandson, rabbi Hayim Abulafia (1660-1744). Althought these rabbis were musmakhim, they never exert, or claimed to have, a superior authority over other rabbis.

Rabbi Isaac Delouya (d.ca. 1572)

Rabbi Isaac Delouya (הרב יצחק דלויה) was born in Spain,  around the end of the fifteenth century. The origin of his last name is "de Loja" (or most probably "De la Loja") which means, from the Spanish city of Loja, in the province of Granada, south of Spain. 

Rabbi Delouya arrived to Marrakesh, Morocco, in 1496.  Rabbi Isaac Delouya and the other Jews from Spain were not welcome very kindly by the local Jewish population or "musta'arabim" (see this). The Spaniards or "megorashim" (=expelled, i.e., Jews expelled from Spain) dressed differently --European style, while the locals dressed in a Moorish style. They spoke a different language, Spanish, not Moorish or Berber; and had their own well established customs, including their own liturgical melodies, which they preserved with zeal. The local Jews were suspicious of the newcomers and perhaps, afraid of their influence.  Rabbi Isaac Delouya was forced to establish a new synagogue for his own constituency.   

After a few years the local Jews recognized the great erudition of Rabbi Delouya and assigned him as the "ab bet din", the Rabbinical Judge of the city.  Ultimately, the musta'arabim adopted the Spaniard custom (aka The Sephardic Minhag) in the area of liturgy, for instance.  In some areas both communities were reticent to give up their traditions.

These are some examples of traditions which were preserved by the "megorashim". 

* The "megorashim" had their wedding only on Wednesdays, following the indication of the Mishna 

*In the Ketuba the "megorashim" would explicitly state that for any potential dispute they would follow the "Traditions of the Castillanos (=from Castilla, Spain)" כמנהג קאשטלייאנוש.

* During Shabbat Hazon, the Shabbat previous to the ninth of Ab, while other Jews would traditionally restrict their happiness, the "megorashim" would celebrate the Shabbat without restrictions. They held a tradition that their ancestors were not living in Jerusalem at the times of the destruction of the second Bet-haMiqdash (I'm not sure if they meant by this that their ancestors lived by then in Spain, which is certainly possible. The Mishna, composed on the year 200 CE, mentions explicitly "Sepharad" (Spain) as a common place where Jews would travel for business).

According to the Delouya family tradition, Rabbi Isaac Delouya met with rabbi Yosef Karo and disagreed with the author of the Shulhan 'arukh on a few halakhot: 1. Rabbi Delouya was more lenient than Maran in the matter of basar halaq (see this) . 2. Unlike Maran, rabbi Delouya maintained that a qaddish should be recited after reading the Sefer Tora in Minha of shabbat. These two traditions are still kept by the Jews of Marrakesh. 

מזרה ישראל יקבצנו

The following movie was produced by the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) in 1964. It presents "The account of the last days of an ancient Jewish community", the Jewish community of Morocco.  The movie was made to encourage American Jews to help financing the Aliya of Moroccan Jews to Israel. Toward the end of the movie we are able to see snapshots of the lifestyle of Marrakesh Jews; their last days in the Atlas mountains; and the preparations for their journey to Erets Israel. 

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Ya'aqob Sasportas (1610-1698)

Rabbi Ya'aqob Sasportas was born in Oran, Algeria, in 1610. A prodigious child, at the age of eighteen he was elected as the Dayan  of the city Tlemcen, also in Algeria.  Later, he also served the communities of Fez and Sali in Morocco. In 1664 he was offered to be the rabbi of the newly established Portuguese community of London. According to the famous hebraist and poet David Franco Mendes, Rabbi Sasportas had accompanied Rabbi Menashe ben Israel to London in 1655 when the latter requested (and obtained) from Oliver Cromwell the permission for the Jews to reestablish themselves in England (In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. The expulsion edict remained in force until 1655). Rabbi Sasportas served as a rabbi in the Sephardic communities of Hamburg and Amsterdam, where he officiated also as the head of the Yeshiba Keter Tora and later on  of the famous Yeshiba 'Ets Hayim. 

Between 1665 and 1666 many (probably most) Jews believed that Shabbetai Zebi was the Messiah Jews were waiting for since the times of the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash. Althought it might be difficult for us today to believe, many Rabbis --Ashkenazim and especially Sephardim--naively supported Shabbetai Zebi's claims. The Sabbetaian movement, needless to say, caused tremendous damage, financial, political and physical to the Jews and it resulted in a great Hilul haShem.  Some religious leaders were a little more cautious. The champion of the fight against the self proclaimed false Messiah was Rabbi Ya'akoq Sasportas (and Rabbi Moshe Hagez). Rabbi Sasportas denounced with very harsh words the falseness of Shabbetai Zebi. Especially by means of letters addressed to the Jews in Europe, North Africa and Middle East. In those letters he unmasked the impostor Mashiah and his entourage and warned the people against joining, supporting or believing in his claims.    Rabbi Sasportas died in Amsterdam in 1698.

Portrait of rabbi Ya'aqob Sasportas, by  Isaac Luttichuys

                       

Some of  his books are

• Toledot Ya'aqob (Amsterdam, 1652), an index of Biblical passages found in the Talmud Yerushalmi. Similar to Aaron Pesaro's "Toledot Aharon," which indexes the pesuqim of the Babylonian Talmud.

• Ohel Ya'aoob (1737), a book of rabbinical responsa, edited and prefaced by his son Abraham Sasportas;

• Tsitsat nobel Tsebi (published 1737), a four volumes book denouncing the heretic ideas and practices of  Shabbetai Tsebi and his followers. 

We present  here the book : Kitsur Tsitsat Nobel Tsebi, a summary of the original book, composed by Rabbi Rafael Meldola (see this) published in Odessa, 1867. 

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Abraham Saba (1440-1508)

Rabbi Abraham Saba (אברהם סבע) was born in Castilla, Spain in1440.  Like thousands of other Jews, at the time of the expulsion from Spain in 1492, he fled to Oporto, Portugal, hoping to live there under the noble King Joao the second. In 1496 the new King Manuel I (changing the Hebrew vocalization of his name, the Sephardim called this king "menuval", --מנואל--as per the famous qina which Moroccan Jews recite on Tish'a be-Ab: "yom me-ori hashakh begerush Castilla...").  King Manuel decreed that all Jews are considered di-facto Christians, therefore, from that momentany "new Christians" found practicing any jewish rite would be judged by the Inquisition (=tortured) and burned alive in an "auto de fe" to expiate for his or her sins. The worst part of these new edicts was that to assure that the parents will not teach Judaism in secret to their children, all Jewish children, especially infants, were taken by force from their homes and brought to convents to be raised as faithful Catholics.  This tragedy was also recorded in yom me-ori ילדים האומרים בכל יום שמע ישראל אמרו לעץ הקיצה ולאבן עורי.  Rabbi Abraham Saba's two sons were also taken from him....

It is said that looking for his sons and in an attempt to identify and try to save Jewish children, he disguised as a Christian peasant and visited numerous convents. In every convent he would recite out loud the Shema Israel. When hearing the voice of Rabbi Abraham, attracted by the familiar sweet melody of the Shema the Jewish children in the convent would come toward him and cry disconsolately.  He never found his children.

From Oporto he fled to Lisbon. There, he was caught by the Inquisition's guards trying to hide his Tora books and Tefillin. He was sent to prison. After six months confinement he escape to Fez (Morocco) where he lived, in illness and suffering, for ten years. 

In memory of Ezra ben Nizha - Rabbi Ezra Labaton z"l.

Most of Rabbi Saba books were lost or burned in Portugal. In Fez, however, he recommitted to paper from memory the following works

• Eshkol ha-Kofer , a commentary on Megilat ruth and Megilat Esther.
• Tseror haHayim  a commentary on Shir haShirim.
• Tseror haMor , a commentary on the five books of the Tora. In it, one can also find many autobiographic insights. 
• Tseror haKesef  a book of rabbinic responsa and legal decisions 

Click here to download the book TSEROR HAMOR, from hebrewbooks.org

Click here to read and listen to he piyut "yom me-ori"

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi David ben Zimra (1479-1573)

Rabbi David ben Zimra, known as the Radbaz (רדב"ז) was born in Spain in 1479. At the age of 13, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, his family moved to Israel and settled in the city of Safed (צפת). There rabbi David learned with Rabbi Yosef Zaragosi, the Rabbinical leader of the Jewish community of Safed at the turn of the century. 

In 1517 he moved to Egypt where he was appointed as the Hakham Bashi, or Chief rabbi of Egypt, a position that he held for over forty years. The Radbaz was a man of independent means. He was a successful merchant,  dealing with wheat and leather. He amassed a considerable fortune, which allowed him to support his own Yeshiba.  Some of the students of that Yeshiba were great luminaries, like rabbi Betsalel Ashkenazi (שיטה מקובצת) , rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari haqadosh), rabbi ya'aqob Castro ( מהריק"ש) . 

Upon attaining the age of 90, the Radbaz resigned the chief rabbinate in Egypt.  He distributed his fortune among the poor, making special provision for Tora scholars, and moved to Erets israel. He settled in Safed and became an active member of the rabbinical court presided over by rabbi Yosef Karo. The Radbaz died in Safed in 1573. 

His most important book, she-elot utshubot Radbaz, is a collection of ver 3000 Rabbinical expositions and response. 

A few illustrations: 

In one of his most famous responses (4:219) he discusses the origin of the Jews of Ethiopia (פלאשים) which he considered legitimate Jews (see this interesting article in English).

  

He also wrote about the exact place and identification of the Temple mountain (הר הבית) and authorized the access to it. 

The Radbaz reintroduced in the Egyptian synagogues the tradition to repeat aloud the Amida (חזרת הש"ץ) in accordance with the older tradition.

He also replaced the old Jewish Civil Calendar used among Egyptian and Babylonian Jews since the time of the Second Bet haMiqdash (מניין שטרות, the Seleucid calendar, year 1=312 BCE. See here).  The Radbaz reintroduced the custom of counting the years from the Creation of the world, as was widely in use among Jews in most other countries and as it is used by all today.

Download Teshubot haRadbaz here. 

Some other works by Radbaz

דברי דוד  Dibre David ("Words of David") - containing decisions and hiddushim (original Torah thoughts) on Mishne Tora. 

יקר תפארת Yeqar Tif-eret ("Honor of Excellency") - refuting the criticisms  Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ra-abad) on Maimonides, which the Maggid Mishne overlooked. 

כללי הגמרא Kelale  ha-Gemara ("Rules of the Talmud) - a book on the methodology of the Babylonian Talmud.  

דיני רבה וזוטרא  Dine  Rabba ve-Zutra ("The Great and Small Decisions") - a commentary on the shulhan 'arukh. 

SEPHARDIC RABBIS: Rabbi Abraham Zacuto (1452-1515)

Rabbi Abraham Zacuto was born in Salamanca, Spain in 1452. He studied Tora with his father Shemuel Zacuto and with rabbi Isaac Abohab. He was a great Tora scholar, very well versed in Talmud, Jewish Law, Philosophy and Mysticism.  He also studied astronomy in the famous university of Salamanca and taught in the universities of Zaragoza and Cartagena. 

In 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Spain he fled to Portugal.  The Portuguese King Joao the 2nd appointed him as the Royal Astronomer and the Historian of the court.  In 1497, upon the arrival of the new King Manuel, the Jews of Portugal underwent a forced conversion, in other words, they were declared Christians by Royal decree, and if found practicing Judaism they would be killed by the Inquisition in the infamous Autos de Fe. He fled to Tunis and later on managed to arrive to Jerusalem, where he died in 1515 (Other versions have him living his final days in Damascus, Syria).   

Rabbi Abraham Zacuto engaged in astronomical research, an indispensable knowledge for navigating the seas. In 1478 he wrote his major astronomical work, Ha-Ḥibbur ha-Gadol. This book along with other books and treatises on astronomy (e.g., "On the solar and lunar eclipses") were translated to Spanish and Latin.  In 1496 the King Joao sought his advice before sending Vasco da Gama on his sea expedition to India, around the Southern coast of Africa. Rabbi Zacuto prepared the naval-astronomical calculations. He instructed the expedition to use his newly perfected astrolabe (an astrolabe capable to determine latitude while at sea)  and his maritime tables and charts, especially the Almanach Perpetuum (or Biur Luhoth) which revolutionized ocean navigation. 

  

Rabbi Zacuto wrote many Tora books as well. His most famous book in Hebrew is called sefer yohasin (ספר יוחסין) "The book of lineage", a superb book of Jewish history since Biblical times until his own days.   Click here to download one of the first editions of the book. 

For a very good English edition of Sefer Yohassin see this (Check the especial offer of the Kindle edition for 0.99$ ).  

FOR a free English translation online of rabbi Zacuto Sefer Yohasin see this

For a more comprehensive biography of RABBI ABRAHAM ZACUTO see www.zacuto.org, a website founded by Dr. Vladimir Rozenblit, a 20th generation direct descendant of Rabbi Zacuto. 

 

Rabbi Abraham Zacuto's signature

For his contributions in Astronomy, the crater Zagut on the Moon is named after Rabbi Abraham Zacuto.

There are many fascinating stories about Rabbi Abraham Zacuto's involvement with  Christopher Columbus. We know that Columbus knew and used Zacuto's tables in his expedition to the Indias (America). Rabbi Zacuto was also instrumental in raising a big loan for Columbus expeditions from Abraham Senior and he introduced the unknown Columbus to Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel who arranged for the navigator's audience with the King and the Queen.  Columbus set sail to America, bearing the Zacuto tables with him. Zacuto's tables saved Columbus life. During Columbus' last voyage to America, in February 1504,  his small fleet was marooned on Jamaica, where the natives did not want to supply him and his sailors with food.  The tables predicted that on February 29, 1504 it will be a lunar eclipse. Columbus assembled the Caciques (as the native chiefs were called) and threatened them that he will banish the moonlight completely if they would not give food. The eclipse frightened the natives and they asked Columbus to save the moon. Columbus acquiesced, the eclipse passed and since then the Caciques respected him and provided with all he needed.

  

The descents of the Zacuto family insist that a son of rabbi Abraham Zacuto sailed with Columbus and accompanied him in all his journeys. If so, this young man was the first Jew on the American soil