Ma'avar Yabok
1578 CE–1639 CE · AH · Modena
R. Aaron Berechiah of Modena (d. 1639) authored Ma'avar Yabok — the foundational text for Jewish death-and-mourning ritual practice across all Sephardic, Italian, and a wide swath of Ashkenazi-kabbalistic communities. The work treats the cycle from the visit to the dying through burial, shivah, the eleven months, and the first-year practices, weaving together halacha, Lurianic Kabbalah, and specific prayer texts.
A leading disciple of R. Menachem Azariah of Fano (the Rama mi-Fano), Berechiah was an active member of the Hevrah Kadisha of Modena; the tikkunim (prayer-services) he composed for the moments of death, burial, and yahrzeit became standard in the Italian-Sephardic world and were adopted by Hasidic and many Sephardic mourning rites. He also wrote Ashmoret HaBoker (a Lurianic dawn-vigil tikkun) and Bigdei Aharon.
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ModenaמודנהNorthern Italy — Este duchy
What they did here
Lived and worked in Modena; studied under R. Hillel of Modena and R. Menachem Azariah of Fano. Active member of the Modena Hevrah Kadisha. Composed Ma'avar Yabok and Ashmoret HaBoker here. Died in Modena 1639.
About Modena
Modena under the Este dynasty hosted a thriving Jewish community; R. Aaron Berechiah of Modena (d. 1639) authored Ma'avar Yabok here, the foundational text for Sephardic-Italian mourning ritual.
Works
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