Abraham Rovigo (born ca. 1650 in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, died 1713 in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

) was a Jewish scholar,

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and kabbalist.

Biography

Rovigo studied in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

in the ''

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

'' of Moses Zacuto and devoted himself to study the

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

. He was one of the main supporters in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

of the moderate wing of the

Sabbatean The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) are a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676), an Ottoman Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza. Vast ...

movement, and gathered around him several important followers of

Sabbatai Zevi Sabbatai Zevi (, August 1, 1626 – ) was an Ottoman Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey). His family were Romaniote Jews from Patras. His two names, ''Shabbethay'' and ''Ṣebi'', mean Saturn and mountain gazelle, ...

, such as Behr Perlhefter, Mordechai Mokiach and Mordechai Ashkenazi. In 1700–1701 he spent one year in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

, in order to proofread and manage the publishing of the manuscripts of the Zoharic commentary of his pupil Mordecai Ashkenazi. One year later, he and a group of followers settled in the Holy Land. Rovigo came from a wealthy Modena family, and was dedicated throughout his entire life to studying, collecting, and publishing Kabbalistic manuscripts. He was a close friend of Benjamin ben Eliezer Ha-Kohen Vitale of Reggio with whom he had studied Kabbalah in Venice under Moses Zacuto. Scholem also mentions in several places the correspondence about Sabbatean affairs he maintained with Meir bar Hiyya Rofe between the years 1674 and 1678 as a very important source for the history of the Sabbatean movement.Scholem, Gershom, ''Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah: 1626–1676'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1973, p. 771. This correspondence was published by Isaiah Tishby in ''Sefunoth'', III-IV (1960), pp. 71-130.

References

Bibliography

* Gershom Scholem: Halomotav shel ha-Shabbetai R. Mordechai Ashkenazi. Jerusalem 1938. * Abraham Yaari: Iggerot Ereẓ Yisrael. Jerusalem 1943, pp. 223–242. * Yeshaya Tishby: Netivei Emunah u-Minut. Jerusalem 1964, cf. Index. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rovigo, Abraham 1650 births 1713 deaths Kabbalists 17th-century Italian rabbis Sabbateans 18th-century Italian rabbis Religious leaders from Modena Shelichei derabonan (rabbis)