Rachel Aberlin
Rachel Aberlin or Rachel ha-Ashkenaziah (died after 1609), was a Jewish mystic. She is described in the Sefer ha-Ḥezyonot ("The Book of Visions") by Hayyim Vital. She was an influential figure of the early Sabbateanism and a spiritual leader of women.
She was married to Judah Aberlin (d. 1582), a leader of the Jewish community of Safed in Jerusalem and Damascus. After the death of her husband, she acted as the patron of religious Jewish leaders and was herself a leading religious figure, known for regularly experiencing mystical visions, from pillars of fire to Elijah the Prophet. She was reportedly "accustomed to seeing visions, demons, souls, and angels," and made prophesies of the future. Her date of death is not recorded but she made an intervention in a case of spirit possession involving a young woman in Damascus in 1609.
See also
References
- Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry & Cheryl Tallan, The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E., 2003