Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen was a Provençal rabbi, one of a family of scholars living at Narbonne

Narbonne

Narbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 (not Lunel

Lunel

Lunel is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France. Lunel is located east of Montpellier and southwest of Nîmes .-History:The ancient Roman site of Ambrussum is located nearby. The troubadour Folquet de Lunel was from Lunel....

, as David Conforte

David Conforte

David Conforte was a Hebrew literary historian born in Salonica, author of the literary chronicle known by the title Ḳore ha-Dorot.-Biography:...

 and others say), and who suffered the expulsion of the Jews in 1306.

He emigrated to Majorca, and there, some time before 1327, composed a ritual work of great merit bearing the title Orḥot Ḥayyim (The Paths of Life). The first part deals chiefly with the laws concerning the daily prayers, the Sabbath

Shabbat

Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, and the festivals, and was published in Florence in 1752. The work is a compilation of Talmudic laws and discussions rather than an original system, and was conceived on a plan similar to Jacob ben Asher

Jacob ben Asher

Jacob ben Asher, also known as Ba'al ha-Turimas well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash , was likely born in Cologne, Germany c.1269 and likely died in Toledo, Spain c.1343....

's great code, the Arba'ah Ṭurim, which appeared soon afterward and superseded it as a ritual guide on account of its more practical character. The Orḥot Ḥayyim, however, contains some ethical and doctrinal chapters which are not found in Jacob ben Asher's code. Aaron ha-Kohen was especially fond of mystic lore and of rabbinical discussion. A less strict legalist than his more famous contemporary, his Orḥot Ḥayyim is of greater value to the student of literature than to one who seeks practical decisions.

An abridgment of the work, under the name of Kol Bo

Kol Bo

Kol Bo is a collection of Jewish ritual and civil laws, the meaning of the title being "all is in it"; who its author was has not yet been ascertained...

, a thesaurus, compiled most probably by Shemariah ben Simhah, a German scholar (according to others by Joseph ben Tobiah of Provence), came into common use, replacing the original work.

Sources

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: Henri Gross, "Aaron ha-Kohen und sein Ritualwerk Orḥot Ḥayyim," in Monatsschrift, 1869, pp. 433–450, 531-541; idem, Gallia Judaica, pp. 290, 420; Heimann Joseph Michael

Heimann Joseph Michael

Heimann Joseph Michael was a Hebrew bibliographer born at Hamburg. He showed great acuteness of mind in early childhood, had a phenomenal memory, and was an indefatigable student. He studied Talmudics and received also private instruction in all the branches of a regular school education...

, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 300; Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, pp. 51, 239.