Isaac ben Chayyim Cansino (Cancino) (died 1672) was a poet and prominent member of the Jewish community of

Oran, Algeria Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. He was probably a brother of Jacob Cansino II. Cansino was a liturgical poet of high attainments, and

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

in the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

on the

Day of Atonement Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...

, an office regarded as a post of honor. Cansino's greatest work is the first part of the so-called ''Machzor Oran'', which contains many poems written by him. Among his

occasional poems Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...

is one in praise of the collection of poems ''Aguddat Ezob'' by Abraham ben Jacob Cansino; a

dirge A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies ...

on the death of Aaron Cansino in 1633; and one of sympathy to Samuel Cansino on the occasion of the loss of his fortune by the cheating of gamblers. Wolf speaks of Isaac Cansino, a brother of Abraham Cansino, who embraced Christianity after the expulsion of the Jews from Oran in 1668. This Isaac Cansino, however, can hardly be identical with the one above mentioned.

Meyer Kayserling Meyer Kayserling (also '' Meir'' or ''Moritz'', 17 June 1829 – 21 April 1905) was a German rabbi and historian. Life Kayserling was born in Hanover, and was the brother of writer and educator Simon Kayserling. He was educated at Halbersta ...

also mentions an Isaac Cansino, publisher at Amsterdam in 1685, whose relationship with the Cansinos of Oran is unknown.

See also