Rabbi Isaac (Yitshaq) Caro was born in the city of Toledo, Spain in 1458.  His father was Rabbi Yosef Caro haZaqen, a great Rabbi and Talmudist of his generation. Rabbi Isaac was a student of rabbi Isaac Canpanton.

 In 1492, the year of the expulsion of the Jews from spain,  Rabbi Isaac escaped to Portugal and established himself in Lisboa. In 1497, the Jews were given the choice to convert or leave. So, rabbi Isaac left with his family to Jerusalem. That trip was very tragic for him: he lost his wife and all but one of his children. He did not reach Yerushalayim but established himself in the city of Constantinople, Turkey (modern Istanbul). According to some versions, at a later period Rabbi Isaac embarked again to Israel. And he arrived to Damascus, Syria, where he was appointed as a dayan (Rabbinical judge). At the end of his life, he finally reached Erets Israel, probably Tsefat (Safed) where his nephew rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575), the famous author of the shulhan ‘arukh, lived.

 His most famous book was Toledot Yitshaq, a commentary on the Tora. Since he could not afford the expenses of printing a whole book, Rabbi Isaac would publish his work in small pamphlets, Parasha by Parasha.

 He is also the author of Hasde David, a book of Derashot (sermons) on philosophy and the Agada (=the non-halakhic aspect of rabbinic literature)

 Rabbi Yosef Caro mentions his uncle, Rabbi Isaac, many times in his books. For example, Bet Yosef, OH, 31, where he discuses the obligation to wear tefilin in Hol haMo’ed, the intermediate days of the holidays of Pesah and Sukkot. After he brings the different opinions he says that his uncle, rabbi Isaac wrote that the tradition in Sepharad was to not using Tefilin in Hol haMoed.

 Rabbi Yosef Caro  also mentions Rabbi Isaac in two more cases. One of them regarding the debate about yibbum vs. halitsa. If when a husband dies without children, his wife should marry his brother (Levirate marraige) or perform a special ritual called halitsa  by which the widow is freed from the biblical obligation of marrying her brother-in-law, and then be able to marrying whoever she wants.

Rabbi Yosef Caro also quotes his uncle in a discussion about renting the house of a non-Jew, in that case, one of the officials of the city, for a matter concerning ‘erubin, the boundaries of cities and neighborhoods  to the effects of the laws of hotsa-a in Shabbat.

 After quoting his uncle in these cases in eben ha’ezer 392, Rabbi Yosef caro writes: “These responsa are from my uncle, the great rabbi R. Isaac Caro z”l, and I copied them next to my own responsa”.

Many of Rabbi Isaac’s responsa and his sermons are still in manuscripts in libraries and museums in Oxford and New york.

 Recently, professor Shaul Regev from Bar Ilan University published a new book with some of Rabbi Isaac Caro unpublished sermons. See here

 To download the book Toledot Yitshaq, printed in Amsterdam 1708, click this.

Rabbi Emanuel Abohab was born in the city of Porto, Portugal, in 1555. He was the great-grandson of the famous rabbi Isaac Abohab, also known as the Gaon of Castile (d. 1493).

Rabbi Abohab lost his parents at an early age and he was raised by his grandfather, Abraham Abohab. In Portugal the Jews had to live like anusim (crypto-Jews) or Marranos, unable to practice Judaism. In 1585 he emigrated to Italy and since then he dedicated his life to encouraging anusim living as Catholics to escape from Portugal and Spain and embrace Judaism in Italy and, from 1596, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

He lived for  short time in various Italian cities, such as Pisa and Spoleto. His writing career began in an unusual way. In 1608 he wrote a treatise on the famous Latin phrase “Humanum est peccare, angelicum se emendare, diabolicum perseverare”, “To err is human, to amend [our mistakes] is angelic, and to persevere [in one’s sin] is perverse.” In this short treatise Rabbi Abohab exposed this sentence from the Jewish perspective of Teshuba. By doing this, he wished to to reach out to the crypto-Jews, who knew Latin better than Hebrew, and persuade them to amend their ways and come back to Judaism.

In 1615 he established himself in Venice,  a major center of Jewish life at the time, where he was invited to serve as the rabbi of the Jewish-Portuguese community of that city. That year he began his most important book, “Nomology or Legal Discourses”.

Towards the end of his life, Rabbi Abohab led a group of Yehudim to Erets Israel and he finally settled in Yerushalayim. There, he also continued his work to encourage anusim to come back to their origins. He died in 1628.

This book was originally written in Spanish and first published in Amsterdam in 1629, a year after the author’s death. The book “Nomology or Legal Discourses” deals primarily with the subject of Tora she be’al pe, commonly known as the “Oral Law”, which Rabbi Abohab with an excellent judgment calls “Mental Law”, i.e., the explanation, exposition and application of the Mitsvot, as our Sages taught.

This topic was very critical for the anusim since most of them were educated in convents, and although they knew very well the Biblical text, all they had learned was the Christian explanations of it, and they lacked the mental apparatus to process the Tora in the original Jewish way.

One example: In his book Rabbi Abohab dedicates two chapters (Section 2, Chapter 18 and 19) to denounce how contemporary Catholic translations deliberately deviated from the literal meaning of the Biblical text to suit their dogmas of faith. This sort of things contributed to the “mental” switch, from the Jewish to the gentile mode of understanding the Bible.

The book “Nomologia” (nomology means “the science of the laws of the mind”) is divided into two sections.

The first section contains 25 chapters and 30 chapters the second section.

Some illustrations

Section 1

1: 9: (original text) “En el qual se prueva como es impossible entenderse el perfecto modo de la observancia de los preceptos divinos sin la doctrina de los Sabios”(“In which it is shown that it is impossible to understand  the perfect way for the observance of the divine precepts without the doctrine of the Elders”)

From Chapter 15 to 21 the author shows that the Mental Law is necessary for the observance of mitsvot, and as an example he brings the Rabbis’ calculation of the complex Hebrew calendar, which combines the cycles of the sun and moon.

In chapters 22, 23 and 24 he exposes the 13 principles of Halakhic interpretation (hermeneutics) of Rabbi Yshma’el.

Section 2

This section explains that HaShem gave us the written Tora and the “Mental Law”; how is the level of prophecy reached; the superior level of Moshe Rabbenu’s prophecy and the history of the uninterrupted transmission of the “Mental Law” since Moses until his own days. One of the last rabbanim mentioned is Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575)

More, from the original Spanish text:

Chapter 14 (on the authority of the Sanhedrin). “En el que se trata el principio y institucion del Supremo magistrado de los setenta y un Senadores [Sanhedrín] y de la obediencia que le devia todo el pueblo de Israel”

Chapter 26 (on the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain) “En el que se cuenta el destierro de los iudios de los reynos de Castilla en el año de cinco mil y dozientos y cinquenta y dos, y el de Portugal que sucedió de alli a seis años,las causas que movieron a aquellos reyes a desterrarlos etc.”

To download the book “Nomologia” click  here

NOTE: When reading this book, the reader should know that in old Spanish (and English) the letter “S” at the beginning or in the middle of the word, is used to be written taller than today’s “s”, and it gives the feeling of being an “f”.

Rabbi Isaac Canpanton was born in Castilla, Spain (probably in Zamora) in 1360.  Rabbi Canpanton was known as “The Gaon of Castilla”. He witnessed the decline of Spanish Jewry, especially after the persecutions, mass-killings and forced conversions of the 1390’s, and the outrages of Vicente Ferrer y Ferrand Martinez.
Rabbi Canpanton directed the Yeshiba of Zamora for many years. He was succeeded by one of his disciples, rabbi Shemuel al-Valensi (=from Valencia) who headed this prestigious Yeshiba until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
Rabbi Canpanton probably wrote many books, but today we only know of one of his books,  Darkhe haTalmud (“A Methodology of the Talmud). Darkhe haTalmud is a short book which teaches the proper methodology to study and teach Talmud.  Incidentally, it also shows the way the Talmud was studied in Sepharad for centuries.  This book affected the way the Sephardic communities studied the Talmud after the expulsion from Spain in Salonica, North Africa and the Middle East. Rabbi Ya’aqob Berab, for example, who was one of the luminaries of Tsefat (Safed) in the 16 century, taught Talmud in his prestigious Yeshiba, following strictly the methodology of Darkhe haTalmud. Rabbi Yaaqob Berab was the rabbi who ordained Rabbi Yosef Caro, the author of the Shulhan ‘arukh, with the renewed semikha. In the Bet Yosef (YD Siman 275), Rabbi Yosef Caro mentions rabbi Canpanton with much honor and respect:  “הרב הגדול החסיד הר’ יצחק קאפאנטו”ן ז”ל היה נוהג לעשות כן”.

Rabbi Canpanton lived a long life, 103 years. He died in Peñafiel, Spain,  in 1463.

ספר דרכי התלמוד לרבי יצחק קנפאנטון

The book Darkhe haTalmud contains 15 short chapters. Most of them deal with methodological rules, to train the student to develop an active and critical study of the Talmud.  Rabbi Canpanton insists, for example, that the student has to read the text at least three times, paying very close attention to the language (diyuq) before he engages into any of the commentaries.  When the student reads the text he must ask himself several (=ten) questions: Who are the protagonists of the debate (the suguia)? What is the goal of this particular text? What novelty it comes to teach? etc. Only after that, he should proceed to read the commentaries. One of the most important didactic rules the book systematically presents is, in my own words, “anticipation”. Rabbi Canpanton teaches the student to read carefully the debates, the questions or the comparison between the texts and stop before reading further. Once the student understands the question, he must try to arrive on his own at the possible answers and solutions, anticipating the solutions the Gemara will possibly offer. This didactic rule is very effective because by trial and error the student learns to analyze his own thinking and eventually he will be able to integrate into his own mind the sophisticated Talmudic thinking.

Darkhe haTalmud also teaches some practical techniques to improve one’s memory and focusing abilities.

On chapter 12 Darkhe haTalmud examines the ways to study the commentators of the Talmud, for example, Nahmanides, Rishba. The author exhorts the reader to read the commentaries analytically, trying to discover what is the main novelty the author tries to teach.

On Chapter 14 the author clarifies some of the less known Talmudic terminologies.

The book is very short (less than 60 pages) , and written in a very easy Hebrew.
To download the book Darkhe haTalmud, click here.

Rabbi Ya’aqob ibn Habib was born in Zamora, Spain in 1460. He was one of the greatest rabbis and Talmudist of his time and the head of the Yeshiba in the city of Salamanca, Castilla (Central Spain). When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 he and his family
left to Portugal. But in 1496 the Jews were given the choice to convert to Catholicism or to abandon Portugal. Rabbi Ya’aqob left Portugal and settled in Salonica (today Thessaloniki, Greece) where he founded the new congregation of “Megoreshe Castilla”, the exiled from Castilla (Since those days Salonica became one of the most important and influential cities for Sephardic Jewry for centuries. Up until recent times the economic presence of the Jews was so important that the Salonica Port was closed on Shabbat. In 1943 more than 60,000 Jews –95% of the Jews of Salonica– were deported and killed in concentration camps. Today approximately 1,500 Jews live in Salonica).

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

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

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.