R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulai (known by his Hebrew acronym HIDA, 1724–1806), halakhist, kabbalist, emissary, and bibliographer. The Hida was born in Jerusalem; he was descended on his father's side from a prominent family of rabbis and kabbalists from Spain while his mother was a daughter of Joseph Bialer who had gone to Erez Israel with Judah Hasid in 1770. He studied under some of the outstanding Jewish scholars of his age including R. Jonah Navon, R. Isaac ha-Kohen Rapoport, and R. Chaim ibn Attar. The Hida attained early eminence in Jewish studies and was regarded as the leading scholar of his generation. Possessed of great intellectual powers and many-faceted talents, he combined a religious and mystical ardor with an insatiable intellectual curiosity. Added to these were critical ability, a facile pen, and a boundless capacity for work. R. Azulai attained early eminence in Jewish studies and was regarded by the Jewry of the Ottoman Empire and of Italy as the leading scholar of his generation. He was highly esteemed, too, by the Jews of Germany, especially after the publication of his works. He spent most of his active years traveling abroad as an emissary of the communities of Erez Israel for the collection of funds for the upkeep of the academies and scholars. He ended his mission in 1778 in Leghorn, where he spent the rest of his life. Many stories were related of the wonders and miracles he performed. Pilgrimages were made to his tomb at Leghorn until, some 150 years after his death, in 1960, his remains were reinterred in Jerusalem.

Israel b. Abraham Bak (1797–1874) was born in Berdichev, Ukraine, into a family of printers. Later he owned a Jewish press in Berdichev, printing about 30 books between 1815 and 1821 when the press closed down. In 1831, after various unsuccessful efforts to reopen the works, he emigrated to Palestine and settled in Safed. There he renewed the tradition of printing Hebrew works, which had come to an end in the last third of the 17th century. During the peasant revolt against Muhammad Ali in 1834 his printing press was destroyed and he was wounded. Later he reopened his press, and also began to work the land on Mount Yarmak (Meron), overlooking Safed. His was the first Jewish farm in Erez Israel in modern times. After the Safed earthquake in 1837 and the Druze revolt in 1838, during which his farm and printing press were destroyed, he moved to Jerusalem. In 1841 he established the first - and for 22 years, the only - Jewish printing press in Jerusalem. One hundred and thirty books were printed on it, making it an important cultural factor in Jerusalem. Bak also published and edited the second Hebrew newspaper in Erez Israel, Havazzelet (1863). After a short time its publication stopped and was renewed only in 1870 by his son-in-law I. D. Frumkin and others. Israel Bak was a leader of the hasidic community; as a result of his efforts and those of his son Nisan, a central synagogue for the Hasidim, called Tiferet Israel (after R. Israel of Ruzhin), came into being. In Jerusalem it was also known as "Nisan Bak's synagogue." It was destroyed in 1948 during the War of Independence.

כולל: מורה באצבע, צפורן שמיר, קשר גודל, כף אחת, יוסף בסדר, סנסן ליאיר, שומר ישראל ו"הוספנו גם את השמיני ... לדוד אמת ... ועוד נתוסף פה דברי מוסר הנוהגי' לאמר בק"ק בית אל יב"ץ קודם תקיעת שופר ביום א' וב'". "הקדמת המדפיס", ר' ישראל ב"ק, שבאה בדפוס הראשון, ירושלים תר"א, נשמטה. ל"דוד אמת" שער מיוחד. דף [קיג, א]: ספר לדוד אמת ... דיני ס"ת ... בסוף ... קונט' אחרון כל מידי דשיי"ר המובא בספר שם הגדולים ח"ב ... ירושלים בשנת אוהב יהוה שערי ציון לפ"ק [כט] [תר"ו, 1846]. >"[כט]"< הוא כנראה מספר הספרים שנדפסו על-ידי ר' ישראל ב"ק. עיין: שושנה הלוי, הדפוס הראשון בירושלים, ירושלים תש"א, עמ' 45. דף קנז-קסח: תורת השלמים. לדוד אמת יצא גם לחוד.