Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605-1693) was born in Portugal to parents who were crypto-Jews. When he was seven the family moved to Amsterdam. He was a Torah prodigy, and at a young age he became the Hakham of Congregation Beth Israel. In addition to teaching, he wrote many famous kabbalist works. In 1642 be left to become the rabbis of Kahal Zur Israel in Recife. He wrote a famous poem in Hebrew about the Dutch colony’s struggle against the Portuguese. When the colony fell, he returned to Amsterdam.
Rabbi’s Gravestone in the Portuguese Cemetery near Amsterdam.
