Background
With his father and his brother he went in 1492 from Spain, his native land, to Salonica, where he became rabbi.
With his father and his brother he went in 1492 from Spain, his native land, to Salonica, where he became rabbi.
Rabbi Taitazak was regarded as one of the most mysterious Kabbalists of the sixteenth century and one of the leading rabbinical figures within Jerusalem and Damascus. He discusses magic squares which allude to the highest and most concealed concepts, and their use within amulets. Elijah de Vidas, in his Reshit Ḥokmah (Sha"ar ha-Ḳedushshah, ch vii), relates that, with the exception of Sabbath nights, Joseph for forty years never slept in a bed, but on a box, with his feet on the ground.
He was also considered one of the greatest Talmudists of his time, even Joseph Caro invoking his authority (Abḳat Rokel, 56).
Among Joseph"s disciples were Isaac Adarbi, Samuel di Medina, and Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz.