Isaac Lampronti

Isaac Hezekiah Lampronti was a rabbi and physician. He studied medicine at the University of Padua while also acquiring a rabbinic education. From 1709, he taught at the Talmud Torah of Ferrara, employing his students as assistants in what would be his magnum opus: a halakhic encyclopedia entitled Paḥad Yitsḥak (The Fear of Isaac). Lampronti also published three issues of what may have been the first (short-lived) Hebrew periodical, Re’shit bikure ketsir Talmud Torah shel kehilah kedoshah Ferrara (First Fruits of the Harvest of the Talmud Torah of the Congregation of Ferrara), a collection of writings by his Talmud Torah students on halakhic questions. In 1738, he was elected rabbi of the Spanish congregation and in 1749 became head of the yeshiva. During this time, he also continued practicing medicine.