REGGIO, ABRAHAM (VITA) BEN AZRIEL:

By: Isidore Singer, M. Seligsohn

Italian rabbi and cabalist; born at Ferrara in 1755; died at Göritz Jan. 8, 1842. Reggio studied under Samuel Lampronti, devoting himself especially to the study of Hebrew grammar. He gave lessons in Hebrew to the children of wealthy Jews in several villages, and in his spare moments occupied himself with bookbinding. Occasionally he went to Gradisca to attend the lectures of Abraham Morpurgo, whose son-in-law he became. Later Reggio was appointed teacher in the Talmud Torah of Göritz, where he studied Talmud under Moses Ḥefeẓ rabbi there. After the latter's death (1798) Reggio was ordained as his successor by Judah Malavida, rabbi of Ferrara; he occupied the rabbinate of Göritz until his death.

Reggio was a recognized authority on rabbinical matters, and many rabbis, among them Mordecai Benet, appealed to him for decisions. Reggio was the author of a work entitled "Eshel Abraham" (still in MS.), a collection of treatises in thirteen parts on various subjects. He wrote also a pamphlet entitled "Tiglaḥat ha-Ma'amar" (Leghorn, 1844), a refutation of the "Ma'amar ha-Tiglaḥat" of his son, Issac Reggio.

S. M. Sel.