Ein Yaakov is a 16th-century compilation of all the Aggadic material in the Talmud together with commentaries. Its introduction contains an account of the history of Talmudic censorship and the term Gemara. It was compiled by Jacob ibn Habib and by his son Rabbi Levi ibn Habib.
Jacob ben Joseph Reischer (Bechofen) (1661–1733) was an Austrian rabbi and halakhist.
Abulafia or Abolafia is a Sephardi Jewish surname whose etymological origin is in the Arabic language. The family name, like many other Hispanic-origin Sephardic Jewish surnames, originated in Spain among Spanish Jews (Sephardim), during the time when it was ruled as Al-Andalus by Arabic-speaking Moors.
Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah was a Portuguese kabalist and physician. He received a medical training in his native country as a Marrano, but fled about 1619 to Safed and devoted himself to the Talmud and the casuists ("poseḳim") until 1625; then he went to Damascus, where for eighteen years he studied kabbalah from the Zohar and the writings of Isaac Luria and Hayyim Vital. He finally settled at Jerusalem and opened a yeshivah for the study of the Zohar and other kabbalistic works, David Conforte being for some time one of his pupils.
Josiah ben Joseph Pinto was a Syrian rabbi and preacher born in Damascus. His father, Joseph Pinto, was one of the rich and charitable men of that city. Josiah was a pupil of various rabbis in Talmud and Kabala, and later, after his father's death, he studied Talmud under Jacob Abulafia, who ordained him as rabbi. Pinto's permanent residence was in Damascus, where later he officiated as rabbi until his death in Feb. or March 1648. He went twice to Aleppo, and in 1625 he moved to Safed with the intention of settling there, but the death of his young son, Joseph, which occurred a year later, induced him to return to Damascus.
Alfandari was a family of eastern rabbis prominent in the 17th and 18th centuries, found in Smyrna, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. The name may be derived from a Spanish locality, perhaps from Alfambra. The following is a list of the chief members of the family:
Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas, was a Rabbi, Kabbalist, and anti-Sabbatean. He was the father of Isaac ben Jacob Sasportas.
Rabbi Eliyahu ben Solomon Abraham ha-Kohen ha-Itamari (1640-1729) was a Dayan, almoner and preacher. He was born in Smyrna, where he was educated by R. Benjamin Melamed, a leading Rabbi of Izmir (Smyrna) and became a homiletic preacher. R. Eliyahu's opposition to Shabbetai Zevi and his associates earned him much grief at home. He apparently cared for orphans as his writings display an extremely detailed knowledge of the physical and psychological suffering of the poor. A prolific writer he is best remembered for his ethical work Shevet Mussar, which has seen numerous editions and been translated into many languages. The first edition of Shevet Mussar was issued in Constantinople in 1712.
Haim Palachi was a Jewish-Turkish chief rabbi of Smyrna (İzmir) and author in Ladino and Hebrew. His titles included Hakham Bashi and Gaon. He was the father of grand rabbis Abraham Palacci and Isaac Palacci and rabbi Joseph Palacci. He was a member of the Pallache family.
A meshulach, also known as a shaliach or SHaDaR, was an emissary sent to the Diaspora to raise funds (ḥalukka) for the Jewish communities of the Land of Israel. In recent times, the term has come to mean any charity collector for a Jewish organization.
The 1660 destruction of Tiberias occurred during the Druze power struggle in the Galilee, in the same year as the destruction of Safed. The destruction of Tiberias by the Druze resulted in abandonment of the city by its Jewish community, until it was rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar in early eighteenth century. Altshuler however attributes the destruction of Tiberias in 1660 to an earthquake. The destruction could have also been a combination of both events.
Isaac ben Abraham, also called Rabbi Isaac ha-Baḥur and by its Hebrew acronym RIBA (ריב"א) or RIẒBA (ריצב"א), was a tosafist of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.
Masʽud Hai Rakkaḥ, also spelled Raccah, was a Sephardi Hakham and shadar who led the 18th-century Jewish community of Tripoli, Libya, for 20 years. He was considered one of Libya's leading rabbis and is credited with laying the foundation for that community's development into one of "sages, scribes, and kabbalists". He is the author of Maʽaseh Rokeaḥ, a four-volume commentary on Maimonides'sMishneh Torah.
Jacob ben Chayyim Comprat Vidal Farissol was a French Jewish scholar of the early 15th century. Born in Avignon, he was a liturgical poet and the grandson of Vitalis Farissol, who had been a chief bailiff of Avignon in 1400. Farissol was a pupil of Solomon ben Menahem, or "Frat Maimon," under whose supervision he composed, at the age of seventeen, a commentary to Judah ha-Levi's "Cuzari" entitled "Bet Ya'aḳob," which was published in 1422. Farissol is also likely identical with the liturgical poet mentioned by Zunz under the name of "Comprad Farissol," who flourished at Avignon in 1453. The name "Farissol" was a very common one among the Jews of Provence.
Sofia had Jewish inhabitants before the ninth century; and in 811 the community was joined by coreligionists among the 30,000 prisoners whom the Bulgarian czar Krum brought with him on his return from an expedition against Thessaly, while a number of Jewish emigrants from the Byzantine empire voluntarily settled in Sofia in 967.
Hayyim Isaac Algazi was the Chief Rabbi of Smyrna in late 18th century.
