Menahem ben Issac Noveira (1717–1777), also known as Menaḥem b. Noṿairah[1] or Menahem Navarra, was an Italian physician and poet who was the rabbi of Verona from 1757 until his death in 1777.[2]
Biography
Menahem was born in 1717 in Verona, Italy. He was the third son of Issac Navarra, a scholar, and his wife Grazia. His grandmother, Hezekiah Mordecai Bassani, who was the rabbi of Verona at the time, wanted Menahem to take up her family's traditions, she taught him the bible. In 1734, he married Ester Basevi, the daughter of a notable family. They had eight children: five sons and three daughters. Prior to that, Menahem composed the epitaph for his late father's tombstone. In 1757, Menahem became the rabbi of Verona, retaining that role until he died suddenly during a church sermon in 1777.[3]
