Rav Menachem Azaria of Fano

Early years

Rav Menachem Azaria of Fano zt"l, known as the Rama MiFano and the author of Asara Maamaros, was born in 5308 (1548) in Fano, Italy. His father, Rav Yitzchok Berachia, was a wealthy, wise man and a chassid. Rav Yitzchok had four sons: Rav Avrohom, Rav Yehudah, Rav Elchanan and Rav Menachem Azaria.

In 5326, at the age of forty-four, Rav Yitzchok Berachia died tragically in an avalanche, when his house caved in. His son Menachem was seventeen at the time. Rav Yitzchok Shabsi Roko of Orevno composed a kinah (lament) that described the piety and character of Rav Yitzchok Berachia and the deep sorrow of his sons.

Rav Yitzchok ben Mordechai of Polnoy, a talmid of the Rama MiFano, testified that his rebbe's family was of great yichus, with a lineage reaching back to the famed leaders and princes of Bnei Fano. The Rama inherited his father's wealth, and his cousin, Rav Azaria, author of Meor Einayim, testified that he used it generously as a baal tzedakah.

Torah and leadership

From an early age he longed to learn Kabbalah. After completing his Gemara studies, he learned Kabbalah from his uncle, Rav Ezra Fano. His main rebbe was Rav Yishmael Chanina ben Mordechai of Valmontone, a town about 45 kilometers southeast of Rome. Rav Yishmael Chanina was renowned as a holy tzaddik and as one of the greatest rabbanim of Ferrara. During the Inquisition he debated the apostate Alessandro of Bologna, and he later fled to Ferrara. The Rama quotes him in his teshuvos (32 and 123) and calls him mori verabbi, my master and teacher. It is also said that a maggid (a heavenly teacher) taught him Torah.

At the age of twenty-six he was asked by Rav Yosef Karo to supervise the printing in Venice of his sefer Kesef Mishnah on the Rambam. Rav Moshe Cordovero, the Ramak, sent him his sefer Pardes Rimonim, and the Rama composed a shortened version of it called Pelach HaRimon.

He began his career in Venice, where he did many public works. He redacted and established the Italian nusach of tefillah (see his teshuvos, siman 25) and established that Selichos be said before daybreak. He also began giving daily public lectures in Venice, teaching Kabbalah from Pardes Rimonim, as he explains in the introduction to Pelach HaRimon.

When Rav Yisroel Sarug (also spelled Saruk) arrived in 5357, the Rama learned the Kabbalah of the Arizal from him. From then on he followed the tradition he had received from Rav Yisroel, a talmid of the Arizal. In his Maamar Eim Kol Chai he writes that this is the Kabbalah of the Arizal as taught by his master, Rav Yisroel, one of the Arizal's greatest talmidim, who merited to pass on deep understanding of many areas of Torah.

He married the daughter of Rav Yitzchok Foa of Mantua. His most famous talmidim included Rav Aharon Berachia of Modena, author of Maavar Yabok, and Rav Eliezer Nachman Foa of Reggio, author of Medrash BeChodesh on the Pesach Haggadah and head of the Reggio society Chevras HaAluvim. Others were Rav Yitzchok ben Mordechai of Polnoy, Rav Moshe Kazis, Rav Yitzchok Levi and Rav Yechiel of Milli.

Teachings and seforim

The Rama's seforim include Asara Maamaros, Pelach HaRimon, Alfasi Zuta, Meah Kesitah and Kanfei Yonah. In Gilgulei Neshamos he traces the incarnations of personalities from Tanach and the Gemara. With his knowledge of Kabbalah, he also linked verses of Tehillim with the name Havaya and with one of the Shivim Ushtayim Shemos (the 72 Names).

Later years and passing

Rav Menachem Azaria passed away on 4 Av 5380 (1620) in Mantua, Italy.

Legacy

The Rama became known as one of the major disseminators of the tradition of Kabbalah in Italy and in the whole West, as the Yashar of Kandia describes.

Rav Yitzchok Hutner, author of Pachad Yitzchok, wrote an introduction to the Machon Yerushalayim edition of the Rama's Alfasi Zuta, in which he defends the study of the Arizal's Kabbalah as it comes through Rav Yisroel Sarug. The Arizal had warned against learning from his students other than Rav Chaim Vital, yet gedolim such as the Vilna Gaon, Rav Chaim Volozhiner and Rav Elyashiv, author of the Leshem, cite the Kabbalah of the Arizal through Rav Sarug on the strength of the Rama MiFano. Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin explains in Sefer HaZichronos that these gedolim were not ignoring the Arizal's warning, chas veshalom, because it did not apply to Rav Sarug, who had left Eretz Yisroel for Italy even before Rav Chaim Vital arrived.

When Rav Chaim Vital gathered the teachings of the other talmidim and edited them into the primary source, he had no access to Rav Sarug's writings, since Rav Sarug was no longer in Eretz Yisroel. For this reason the Rama MiFano holds a unique place in the chain of transmission. He is the representative source for those teachings of the Arizal through Rav Yisroel Sarug that are not found elsewhere.