Mordechai HaKohen of Safed (1523 - 1598) was a scholar and kabbalist who flourished in the second half of the sixteenth century in Safed

Safed

Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...

. He was a pupil of the famous kabbalist Israel di Curiel

Israel ben Meir di Curiel

Israel ben Meir di Curiel was a influential 16th-century rabbi at Safed, Ottoman Palestine. He was a disciple of Joseph Fasi in Adrianople and also stayed for a time in Constantinople. In Safed he studied under Isaac Luria and Jacob Berab, by whom he was subsequently ordained. He served together...

, and a contemporary of Joseph di Trani. Mordechai wrote an allegoric-kabalistic commentary on the Pentateuch, entitled Sifte Kohen. He had to leave Safed due to financial hardships and took up position of rabbi of Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

in 1570.