(1707-46)
Italian kabbalist. Hebrew poet and writer. He was born in Padua. He engaged in mystical practices and gathered around himself a group of disciples. He believed he was in communion with a maggid who dictated secret doctrines to him. His messianic claims provoked the hostility of the rabbis. Forced to leave Italy, he settled in Amsterdam and subse-quently went to Palestine. He wrote kabbalistic studies, ethical works, theological investigations, poetry and verse drama. He is regarded as the father of modern Hebrew literature.
Dictionary of Jewish Biography. Dan Cohn-Sherbok.