Proofreader’s Preface: Seder tefilot ke-minhag kahal kadosh Sefarad (The Order of the Prayers of the Holy Congregation of Spain)

Isaac Aboab da Fonseca was a rabbi, kabbalist, and preacher, born in Castro Daire, Portugal, to a family of New Christians. He arrived in Amsterdam with his family at the age of seven and was subsequently brought to Judaism. Between 1642 and 1654 he lived in Recife, Brazil, where he served as the rabbi of the local community and was, in fact, the first rabbi on the American continent. After the Portuguese conquest of the Dutch colony in Brazil, he returned to Amsterdam, and from 1660 until his death he served as chief rabbi of the Sephardic community. During the Sabbatean messianic ferment he was one of the chief believers in Shabbetai Tzvi in the Dutch capital.