Aaron Berekhiah of Modena
Italian kabbalist Aaron Berekhiah of Modena was a cousin of Leone Modena. He is most famous for his compendium on the customs around death and funerals, Ma‘avar Yabbok (Crossing the Jabbok), but also published a collection of prayers and supplications for the pious society Me’ire Shaḥar (“Those Who Awaken the Dawn”) and other collections of prayers and passages for study. He was involved in a controversy with his brother-in-law, Joseph Yedidya Carmi, over whether it was permissible to change the standard order of prayers or to compose new liturgical poems. In 1636, he was arrested for owning forbidden books. His kabbalistic writings remain in manuscript.
Content by Aaron Berekhiah of Modena
Primary Source
Liturgy for the Ashmoret ha-boker (Morning Watch) Confraternity
Primary Source
Crossing the Jabbok
Related Guide
Early Modern Rabbis and Intellectuals on the Move
Carrying books and knowledge, itinerant rabbis and scholars traveled between communities, facilitating cultural exchange.
Related Guide
Early Modern Italy: Where East and West Meet
Ashkenazim, Sephardim, and Marranos encountered each other in Italian cities, developing community structures that later influenced Jewish communal organization throughout the western world.
Related Guide
Early Modern Religious Practices
Early modern Jews both preserved tradition and innovated. Documents and legal texts reveal rich details about synagogue life, marriage, family relations, and death rituals.