Rabbi Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas (1610 – 1698) was one of the most influential rabbis and kabbalists of his era. He was an important antagonist of the Shabbatean movement. He lived many places in his life. He was born in Oran, and in 1634 began his career as one of the most important rabbis of his era. His first posts were in Tlemcen, Marrakesh, Fes, and Salé. After being imprisoned by a North African king, he escaped to Amsterdam. After a brief return to Morocco, he was called to become the rabbi of London in 1664. The plague sent him fleeing, however, to Hamburg in 1665. He stayed there until 1673 when he became the Rosh Yeshiva of Keter Torah in Amsterdam. In 1675 he became the Rosh Yeshiva in Leghorn (Livorno), but he returned to Amsterdam in 1684 as the Rosh Yeshiva of Ets Haim. After the death of Rabbi Isaac Aboab da Fonseca in 1693 he became the head of Amsterdam’s Portuguese community at the Esnoga, a position he held until his own death in 1698.
