ר׳ מנחם עזריה מפאנו

ר׳ מנחם עזריה מפאנו (1548–1620), known as הרמ״ע מפאנו, was the leading Italian exponent of Cordoverian Kabbalah and a major halakhic authority. Born into a wealthy Italian family, probably at Fano, he studied with ר׳ ישמעאל חנינא of Valmontone in Ferrara. ר׳ משה קורדובירו sent him פרדס רמונים, and after the author’s death he sought to acquire and preserve his manuscripts. He later learned Lurianic Kabbalah from ר׳ ישראל סרוג without abandoning the Ramak’s system. Active in Ferrara, Venice, Reggio and Mantua, he combined scholarship with patronage: he helped finance publication of קארו’s כסף משנה and Cordovero’s פרדס רמונים and aided victims of the 1570 Ferrara earthquake. His 130 responsa demonstrate broad authority in Italian communal and ritual law. His many kabbalistic treatises, later grouped as עשרה מאמרות, shaped the reception of Safed Kabbalah in Europe; אלפסי זוטא abridged and annotated the Rif. He eventually served the Mantua community and died there on 4 Av 5380 (1620). He should not be confused with ר׳ משה איסרליש, the Polish Rema.