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| A section of the Padua eruv document of 1720 discovered by Dr David Sclar. |
Introduction
This article is based extensively on the research by Dr David Sclar[1] who discovered a fascinating document in Padua’s Jewish community archives[2] describing an eruv (a ‘closed off area’ allowing Jews to carry on Shabbat) which R. Isaiah Bassan (a teacher of R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto) had established in Padua (northern Italy) in 1720.
- A WINDOW INTO THE RABBINIC WORLD AROUND THE TURN OF THE 18th CENTURY
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| The Tikkun Chatzot ritual to be recited during the Three Weeks as instituted by the preeminent Italian Kabbalist, R. Moshe Zacuto (1620-1697), the teacher of R. Avraham Rovigo. |
INTRODUCTION:
Rabbi Avraham Rovigo (c.1650-1714) was a Talmudist,
Kabbalist, patron of Torah scholarship and promotor of Jewish settlement
in Palestine. He associated with a wide range of Torah personalities who were
active around the turn of the eighteenth century. Like so many other rabbis of
that period, he also kept the fact that he was a believer in Shabbatai Tzvi
(1626-1676) a secret.
This article, based extensively on the research of
Professor Matt Goldish[1] deals with the fascinating discovery of a document of R.
Avraham Rovigo. It was found by historian and bibliographer Professor Isaiah
Sonne (1887-1960) and published in 1961. Goldish dedicated this research to the
memory of Isaiah Sonne.
