Joseph Ravena

Joseph Ravena was a rabbi active in and around Turin, in northern Italy. Many of his numerous responsa and liturgical compositions for various occasions have survived in manuscript; with few exceptions, they are not known to have been printed. Among the issues of his day was that of “secret” marriages; Jewish law renders a couple married with simple passage of a gift from man to women, with intent to marry, before two witnesses, regardless of any communal regulations prohibiting such action. Together with Mordechai ben Eliezer Segal and Jacob ben Samson Baki, Ravena examined witnesses in one such case.