Sephardic Corner History Series

Isaac Abravanel was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1437. His ancestors came from a renowned Jewish Spanish family from Seville, that was forced to emigrate to Portugal after the pogroms of 1391. His grandfather, Samuel Abravanel, had been treasurer to the Castilian kings Henry II and John I.

Isaac Abravanel was a prolific Jewish Scholar and rabbi. One of his major works, his commentary on the Prophets, compares the monarchies described...Read more...

Benjamin bar Jonah, known as Benjamin of Tudela, was born around 1130 in Tudela, a city of Navarre, in northern Spain. He possessed a vast culture, mastering several of the romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as Hebrew, Aramaic, Arab, Latin, and...Read more...

Samuel ha-Levi, the protagonist of this story, is believed to have been born in Toledo around 1320
to the family ha Leví Abulafía.

In 1351 Samuel ha Levi Abulafia began to serve in the court of King Peter (“the cruel” for some historians and “the just” for others!), where he eventually exercised a tremendous influence. During this time he reorganized the King’s finances, given that the tax collectors had kept a good...Read more...

Solomon ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol was born in Málaga (Andalusia) around 1021, and died in Valencia in 1058. His health was a problem from childhood (ulcerations that frequently caused repugnance in others), and his agitated life and constant relocation eventually caused his death at an early age. Ibn Gabirol´s parents brought him to Zaragoza, in northern Spain, as a child and they both died soon after. The Jewish Quarter was very organized and...Read more...

For previous articles printed in the Atlanta Jewish times, click here.