Letter to Levi Ibn Ḥabib and the Rabbis of Jerusalem

Jacob Berab

1538

 

We want to make ourselves strong for our people and the cities of our God, and to raise the banner of Torah which had been thrown to the ground and trodden down.

 

Behold, this people of God is a unique people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. It has been consecrated since the very earliest days. Nations paid visits to it; Judges and elders…

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Creator Bio

Jacob Berab

1474–1546

Jacob Berab was born in Spain. After the 1492 expulsion, he went to Morocco, serving briefly as a rabbi in Fez. He spent the rest of his life in Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo, Gaza, and, most significantly, Safed. There he was a teacher of, among others, Joseph Karo and Moses of Trani. Berab is known for his attempt to renew the ancient chain of semikhah (rabbinic ordination), following a process outlined by Moses Maimonides in the twelfth century. He was adamantly opposed and eventually defeated by Levi Ibn Ḥabib and scholars in Jerusalem.

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