Rabbi Abraham ben Eliezer Halevi the Elder (

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 ...

: רבי אברהם בן אליעזר הלוי הזקן; - after 1528) was a Sephardic

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 ...

and kabbalist known for his apocalyptic treatises on Kabbalah and his beliefs regarding

messianism Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...

. He was also an early member of the

old yishuv The Old Yishuv ( he, היישוב הישן, ''haYishuv haYashan'') were the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period, up to the onset of Zionist aliyah and the consolidation of the New Yishuv by the end of Wor ...

, immigrating to

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

in 1514.

Biography

Born in Toledo,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, to a distinguished family. In his early years, he studied under Rabbi Isaac Gakon. While in Spain, he wrote several kabbalistic treatises, the most famous of which is "Masoret ha-Hokhmah" a brief account of Spanish Kabbalism which he finished shortly before the

Expulsion of Jews from Spain The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion from Spain following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted in order to eliminate their influence on Spain's large '' converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Jud ...

in 1492. After said expulsion, Rabbi Abraham lived in Portugal for a short time, where he published "Meshare Qitrin". It was also during this time that he became affiliated with Abraham Zacuto and

Isaac Abrabanel Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel ( he, יצחק בן יהודה אברבנאל;‎ 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (), also spelled Abravanel, Avravanel, or Abrabanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentato ...

and was influenced by apocalyptic sentiment popularized after the

Spanish inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

. Like many of his contemporaries, he believed that the year 1524 would be the beginning of the

messianic era In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age is the future period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil. Many believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the cons ...

and that the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

himself would appear in 1530–31. This belief became an obsession for Rabbi Abraham would spend countless years searching for proof in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

and the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

as well as in kabbalistic literature. He left Portugal and briefly settled in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

where he wrote the treatise "Mashreh Kitrin''"'' an apocalyptic explanation of the

Book of Daniel The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...

. The work was printed in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in 1510 and was one of the earliest printed Hebrew books. In 1514 he immigrated to Jerusalem alongside Isaac ha-Kohen Sholal. In Jerusalem, he widely respected and became widely known through his literary and religious activities. In Jerusalem he wrote "Ma'amar Perek Ḥelek''"'' an explanation of talmudic statements in tractate

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...

relating to messianism. Rabbi Abraham viewed

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

in a good light, as he believed him to be a component of the Messianic era. Seeing Martin Luther as the destroyer of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...

. In 1521, Rabbi Abraham wrote "Iggeret Sod ha-Ge'ullah''"'' in which, he interpreted the Zohar, relating it back to his Messianic beliefs. Various other kabbalistic writings of Rabbi Abraham have been preserved: "Ma'amar ha-Yiḥud''" and "''Megillat Amrafel''"'' . In 1528 Rabbi Abraham wrote to the Beta Israel, making it one of the easiest correspondence with said community. Rabbi Abraham must have died between 1529 - 1535, as in 1535 David ben Solomon mentions Rabbi Abraham as being died for a long time.{{Cite journal, last=Robinson, first=Ira, date=1981, title=Messianic Prayer Vigils in Jerusalem in the Early Sixteenth Century, journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review, volume=72, issue=1, pages=32–42, doi=10.2307/1454163, jstor=1454163, issn=0021-6682

References

1460 births 1528 deaths Sephardi rabbis 15th-century Castilian rabbis Sephardi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 Spanish emigrants to the Ottoman Empire Old Yishuv Kabbalists 15th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century rabbis in Jerusalem