Yashar of Candia

A Wandering Rabbi: The Life and Works of Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rofeh Delmedigo

Artist Portrait of Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rofeh Delmedigo, Sefer Eilam (Amsterdam, 1628)

Yashar of Candia

Born in 1591 on the (then Venetian) island of Candia (Crete) to a prominent rabbinic family which originated from Ashkenaz, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rofeh Delmedigo (henceforth Yashar, יש״ר = יוסף שלמה רופא) received a broad education in both Torah and secular subjects. Before turning fifteen, Yashar mastered Mishnah, Gemara, and Poskim (halachic literature) and was fluent in several languages including Greek and Latin. As a young teenager Yashar possessed a burning drive to broaden his horizons and absorb the wisdoms of the world. Such a determination meant that Yashar would need to leave the small island of Crete and travel to Italy.

From Crete to Italy

To satisfy his thirst for knowledge, at the age of fifteen Yashar moved to Italy where he enrolled in the prestigious university of Padua. There Yashar studied a variety of subjects including medicine, philosophy, logic, mathematics, and astronomy. While in Padua Yashar encountered and studied with the renowned Italian astronomer Galileo. During this period, Yashar also visited nearby Venice where he developed a relationship with the enlightened scholar Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Modena.

Yashar’s Travels

In 1613, after spending seven years at the university of Padua and earning a degree in medicine, Yashar returned to Candia. But his stay was brief, soon thereafter he embarked on a lifelong expedition that took him across the European continent. During his journeys, Yashar became deeply engaged in several studies including Kabbalah. During the first phase of his travels Yashar spent time in Cairo, Constantinople, Poland, and Lithuania.

In 1620 Yashar left Poland and moved to Germany. He initially settled in Hamburg where he was appointed darshan of the Portuguese community. There, at the request of community members, Yashar wrote Metzaref L’chachmah to prove the authenticity and antiquity of Kabbalah and the Zohar. In this work he challenged the view of his great-grandfather, Rabbi Eliyahu ben Moshe Aba Delmedigo, who in his Bechinas ha-Dos, challenged the authority and antiquity of the holy Zohar.

Yashar’s Writings

Yashar apparently wrote prolifically, however the majority of his several dozen works (on both Torah and secular subjects) were never published. His published works are Ta’alumos Chachmah published in Basel between 1629-1631 and Sefer Eilam published in Amsterdam in 1629 by Menashe ben Israel. Ta’alumos Chachmah, which was published by Yashar’s student Shmuel Ashkenazi includes several important works, most notably Yashar’s Metzaref L’chachmah, a rebuttal of his great-grandfather’s Bechinas ha-Das.

Sefer Eilam contains several sections including a mathematical treatise titled Sod ha-Yesod and an astronomical essay titled Gevuros Hashem, both of which are pictured below.

Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Prague

In 1628-1629 Yashar spent several months in Amsterdam where he met Menashe ben Israel who published his Sefer Eilam. Shortly thereafter Yashar returned to Germany and settled in Frankfurt am Main where he functioned as the community doctor. In 1648 he moved to Prague and died there in 1655.

The Chida (Shem HaGedolim, ma’areches sefarim, #93) describes Yashar’s vast and profound wisdom:

והרב הנזכר היה חכם בכל החכמות ומופלג בכל חכמה מספר, תשבורת, פילוספיא, תכונה, הגיון, רפואה, וחכם בתורה בפלפול הש״ס ופוסקים ודרשן מופלא ודעתו רחבה, וחיבר ספרים הרבה בכל החכמות ולא דנפסו רק ספר אלים וספר מצרף לחכמה, נובלות חכמה, שבר יוסף, כח ה׳, וכל אלו חוץ מספר אלים הכל הוא בקובץ אחד

Sefer Eilam, Gevuros Hashem (Amsterdam, 1628)

Sefer Eilam, Sod ha-Yesod (Amsterdam, 1628)

Images courtesy of the Klau Library, Cincinnati, HUC-JIR