Gedaliah Cordovero

A son of the renowned kabbalist Moses Cordovero, Gedaliah Cordovero was born and raised in Safed. He was educated by kabbalists, including his father, who died in 1570. While still a young man, Gedaliah went to Italy to oversee—together with Menaḥem Azariah of Fano—the printing of Or ne‘erav (Pleasant Light) and Perush seder ‘avodat yom ha-kippurim (Commentary on the Order of the Service of Yom Kippur), both written by his father. While living in Venice, Gedaliah was involved in printing kabbalistic works and gave sermons in which he encouraged his audiences to adopt the rites of the Safed kabbalists, urging them to rise early in the morning to grieve the destruction of the Temple and pray for redemption. Around 1592 he moved to Jerusalem and was appointed chief rabbi of Jerusalem (Sheikh al-Yahuād) by the Ottoman authorities. Gedaliah was a kabbalist, halakhic authority, emissary, and preacher; he was named head of the Jerusalem rabbinic court in 1614.