Israel ben Meir di Curiel (1501 - 1573) was a influential 16th-century rabbi at Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

, Ottoman Palestine. He was a disciple of Joseph Fasi in Adrianople and also stayed for a time in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

. In Safed he studied under Isaac Luria

Isaac Luria

Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...

 and Jacob Berab

Jacob Berab

Jacob Berab, also spelled Yakov Berav or Bei Rav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist, born at Moqueda near Toledo, Castilian Spain, in 1474; died at Safed, Ottoman Palestine April 3, 1546.-Chosen rabbi at eighteen:Berab was a pupil of Isaac Aboab...

, by whom he was subsequently ordained. He served together with Joseph Karo and Moses Trani

Moses ben Joseph di Trani (the Elder)

Moses ben Joseph di Trani known by his acronym Mabit was a 16th-century rabbi in Safed....

 on the Safed beth din

Beth din

A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...

(law court). Di Curiel's students included Mordechai HaKohen of Safed

Mordechai HaKohen of Safed

Mordechai HaKohen of Safed was a scholar and kabbalist who flourished in the second half of the sixteenth century in Safed. He was a pupil of the famous kabbalist Israel di Curiel, and a contemporary of Joseph di Trani. Mordechai wrote an allegoric-kabalistic commentary on the Pentateuch, entitled...

 and Bezalel Ashkenazi

Bezalel Ashkenazi

Bezalel ben Abraham Ashkenazi was a rabbi and talmudist who lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 16th century. He is best known as the author of Shittah Mekubetzet, a commentary on the Talmud. He is very straightforward in his writings and occasionally offers textual amendments to the Talmud...

. An outstanding preacher in his time, his homilies were collected and published, in addition to his Or Ẓaddikim (Salonica 1799). The renowned poet Israel Najara was his grandson.