Samuel Corcos

The Corcos family originated from the town of Corcos in the province of Valladolid, Castile. After the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, branches of the family became established in Fez and Italy. Very little is known about Samuel ben Abraham Corcos, who was rabbi of Senigallia, a port town on Italy’s Adriatic coast. In 1644, Corcos formally objected to the practice of his synagogue’s choir, led by Mordecai della Rocca, of embellishing prayers with additional repetitions, including that of God’s name, which had recently become popular in Pesaro.