Menahem ben Benjamin Recanati (1250-1310) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 rabbi who flourished at the close of the thirteenth century and in the early part of the fourteenth. He was the only Italian of his time who devoted the chief part of his writings to the Kabbala

Kabbala

Kabbala may refer to:*Kabbalah, is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature*Sefer ha-Qabbalah by Abraham ibn Daud*Kabbala Denudata , a book from Christian Knorr von Rosenroth, a Christian Hebraist...

.

Description

Rabbi Menachem Recanati was born in Italy, ca. 1250, and he died ca. 1310. In addition to the halachic rulings collected in Piskei Recanati (his only halachic work), R. Menachem wrote a kabbalistic commentary on the Torah, a commentary on the siddur, and discussions of the commandments. Piskei Recanati was first published in Bologna, 1538, and was published several times thereafter. (From Bar Ilan CD)

Works

Recanati wrote:

• Perush 'Al ha-Torah (Venice, 1523), a work full of mystical deductions and meanings based upon a textual interpretation of the Bible
  Bible
  The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
  
  ; it describes many visions and celestial revelations claimed to have been experienced by the author, who was influenced by cabalistic ideas, and expresses the highest respect for all cabalistical authors, even the most recent apocryphal ones. The work was translated into Latin
  Latin
  Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
  
   by Pico di Mirandola, and was republished with a commentary by Mordecai Jaffe, at Lublin in 1595.
• Perush ha-Tefillot and Ṭa'ame ha-Miẓwot, published together (Constantinople, 1543–1544; Basel, 1581). Like the preceding work, these are strongly tinctured with German mysticism. Recanati frequently quotes Judah he-Hasid
  Judah he-Hasid
  People who used the name Judah HeHasid include:* Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg , the initiator of the Chassidei Ashkenaz movement...
  
   of Regensburg
  Regensburg
  Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
  
  , Eleazar of Worms, and their disciples, and alludes also to the Spanish cabalists, Nahmanides
  Nahmanides
  Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
  
   among them. He is rarely original, quoting almost always other authorities. Although Recanati had a high reputation for sanctity, he exercised less influence on his contemporaries than upon posterity. To assist him in his cabalistic researches, he studied logic and philosophy
  Philosophy
  Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
  
  ; and he endeavors to support the cabala by philosophical arguments.
• Posḳe Hilkot, Bologna, 1538.

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

• Moritz Güdemann
  Moritz Güdemann
  - Life :He was educated at Breslau , and took his rabbinical diploma at the Jewish Theological Seminary of that city. In the latter year he was called to the rabbinate of Magdeburg; in 1866 he went to Vienna as preacher, where he became rabbi in 1868, and chief rabbi in 1890.- Works :Güdemann...
  
  , Gesch. ii. 180 et seq.;
• Zunz
  Zunz
  Zunz, Zuntz is a Yiddish surname: , Belgian pharmacologist* Leopold Zunz , German Reform rabbi* Gerhard Jack Zunz , British civil engineer- Zuntz :* Nathan Zuntz , German physiologist...
  
  , Literaturgesch. p. 369;
• idem, in Geiger's Jüd. Zeit. iv. 139;
• Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya, Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah, p. 48b