Gediliah, Abraham ben Samuel

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GEDILIAH, ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL

GEDILIAH, ABRAHAM BEN SAMUEL (d. 1672), rabbi and author. Born in Jerusalem, Abraham journeyed to Italy in 1648 and resided in Leghorn and Verona. On his return journey in 1660, he stayed for a time in Egypt. In Italy he was friendly with Samuel *Aboab and Moses b. Mordecai *Zacuto. While in Leghorn, he worked as a proofreader in the printing works of Jedidiah Gabbai. In 1657–60 he published the *Yalkut Shimoni with his own commentary, Berit Avraham. In 1665 he sent a letter from Gaza to the rabbis of Italy, expressing his belief in the messianic claims of *Shabbetai Ẓevi and in the prophecy of *Nathan of Gaza. This letter, the first of its kind to be sent by a scholar of Ereẓ Israel, made a deep impression. Abraham died in Jerusalem. Some of his homilies are included in the Mizbaḥ Eliyahu of *Elijah ha-Kohen of Smyrna (Smyrna, 1867). Many members of the Gediliah family were rabbis in Hebron, and some in Tiberias and Safed. His grandson, Abraham Gediliah of Hebron, was an emissary of Ereẓ Israel.

bibliography:

Frumkin-Rivlin, 2 (1928), 33f.; Yaari, Sheluḥei, 158, 272, 845; idem in: ks, 25 (1948/49), 113f.; Tishbi, ibid., 230f.; Scholem, Shabbetai Ẓevi, 198, 289f., 478.

[Avraham Yaari]