Elijah of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

(

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אליהו מפררה, or אליהו מפרארה) was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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ist and traveler of the earlier part of the 15th century. He was engaged in 1437 as lecturer and teacher in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, where he arrived after a stormy voyage, during which he lost his son and grandson. He wrote several letters to his wife and children, whom he had left behind in

; only one of these epistles, dated 1438, has been preserved. This "Iggeret," written in rimed prose, has been published in the collection "Dibre Ḥakamim," Metz, 1853, and translated by Carmoly ("Itinéeraires," pp. 331–337) under the title "Ahabat Ẓiyyon." In this he gives a description of Jerusalem, recounts the legends current about the "children of Israel," the

Ten Tribes The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe ...

, and the Sambation River, and states his intention to visit other parts of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and to send a description of what he sees there. A fragment of another letter has survived, published by

Isaac Akrish Isaac ben Abraham Akrish (; – after 1578) was a Sephardi Jewish scholar, bibliophile, and editor. Biography Isaac ben Abraham Akrish was born in Salonika, the son of exiles from Spain who settled there in 1495 after briefly living in Naples. ...

in his "Ḳol Mebasser" (Constantinople, 1577). From remarks contained in the latter in reference to medical practise in Jerusalem it may be inferred that Elijah was also a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Elijah's depictions are also included in Judah David Eisenstein's collection "Otsar Masa'ot" (1927).

Bibliography

Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 929;
Luncz, Jerusalem, iii. 48;
Munk, Palestine, p. 643;
Carmoly, Itinéraires, pp. 329–337;
Grätz, Gesch. 2d ed., viii. 277.

External links

Elijah of Ferrara, 1434 Letter
Elkan Nathan Adler, ''Jewish Travellers'' 15th-century Italian writers 15th-century Italian rabbis Explorers of Asia Holy Land travellers Physicians from Ferrara Medieval Jewish travel writers Pilgrimage accounts 15th-century Sephardi Jews Talmudists Italian explorers 15th-century rabbis in Jerusalem Religious leaders from Ferrara Writers from Ferrara 15th-century travelers {{Italy-bio-stub