Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne
Encyclopedia
Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (c. 1110 – 1179) was a Provençal rabbi, also known as Raavad II, and author of the halachic
work Ha-Eshkol (The Cluster).
Abraham ben Isaac was probably born at Montpellier
. His teacher was Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi
, and during the latter's lifetime Abraham was appointed president (Av Beth Din
) of the rabbinical board of Narbonne
– composed of nine members – and was made principal of the rabbinical academy. In the latter capacity he taught two of the greatest Talmudists of Provence
– namely, Abraham ben David
III, who afterward became his son-in-law, and Zerahiah ha-Levi. Abraham ben Isaac died at Narbonne in 1179.
scholars, Raavad II was a diligent author, composing numerous commentaries upon the Talmud
, all of which, however, have been lost with the exception of that upon the treatise Baba Batra, of which a manuscript has been preserved in Munich
. Numerous quotations from these commentaries are to be found in the writings of Zerahiah Gerondi, Nahmanides
, Nissim Gerondi, and others. Many of his explanations of Talmudical passages are also repeated in his responsa
which give his method of treatment. In Abraham's comments on the Talmud he seems to have taken Rashi
as his model; for they are marked by the same precision and clearness of exposition. An idea of this writer's Talmudical knowledge may be gathered from his book Ha-Eshkol (three parts of which were published by M. Auerbach, Halberstadt, 1867-68).
This work, the fourth part of which exists in manuscript in the library of the Alliance Israélite of Paris
, was modeled after the well-known work of Alfasi, and was the first important attempt at a legal code made by the French Jews. It can not, however, be said to equal Alfasi's work either in originality or in depth, but it contained some noteworthy improvements upon its model, such as the arrangement of its contents according to subject-matter, which greatly facilitated its practical use. Raavad II also drew upon the Jerusalem Talmud
and the gaon
ic literature much more fully than Alfasi, and treated at much greater length many subjects which were only briefly considered by the latter. His depth and acumen, however, are shown to much better advantage in his responsa, quoted in the collection Temim De'im (part iv of Tummat Yesharim, by Benjamin Motal, Venice, 1622), and in the Sefer ha-Terumot of Samuel Sardi. Other responsa sent to Joseph ben Ḥen (Graziano) of Barcelona
and Meshullam ben Jacob
of Lunel
are found in a manuscript belonging to Baron de Günzburg in Saint Petersburg
. As an acknowledged rabbinical authority and president of the rabbinical board, he was frequently called upon to give his decision on difficult questions: and his answers show that he was not only a lucid exegete, but also a logical thinker.
Though he lacked originality Abraham's influence upon Talmudical study in Provence ought not to be underrated. Languedoc
formed politically a connecting link between Spain
and northern France
; in like manner Jewish scholars played the rôle of intermediaries between the Jews of these countries. Abraham ben Isaac represented this function; he was the intermediary between the dialectics employed by the tosafists
of France and the systematic science of the Spanish rabbis. The French-Italian codifiers – Aaron ha-Kohen of Lunel, Zedekiah ben Abraham, and many others – took Abraham b. Isaac's Ha-Eshkol for their model; and it was not until the appearance of the Ṭur, written by Jacob ben Asher
, a German Jew resident in Spain, that Ha-Eshkol lost its importance and sank into comparative oblivion. The school founded by Abraham ben Isaac, as exemplified in RABaD III and Zerahiah ha-Levi, was nevertheless the creator of a system of Talmudic criticism; and the method it employed was in fact no other than the tosafist dialectic modified and simplified by Spanish-Jewish logic.
, Les Rabbins Français, pp. 510, 518, 520, 543; Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 133; Leopold Zunz
, in Geiger's Zeitschrift f. J. Theol. ii.307-309.
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
work Ha-Eshkol (The Cluster).
Abraham ben Isaac was probably born at Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
. His teacher was Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi
Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi
Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi was a prominent Provençal rabbi and Talmudist.He was a nephew and pupil of Isaac ben Merwan ha-Levi...
, and during the latter's lifetime Abraham was appointed president (Av Beth Din
Beth din
A beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
) of the rabbinical board of 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...
– composed of nine members – and was made principal of the rabbinical academy. In the latter capacity he taught two of the greatest Talmudists of Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
– namely, Abraham ben David
Abraham ben David
Rabbeinu Abraham ben David was a Provençal rabbi, a great commentator on the Talmud, Sefer Halachot of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key and important links in the chain of Jewish mystics...
III, who afterward became his son-in-law, and Zerahiah ha-Levi. Abraham ben Isaac died at Narbonne in 1179.
Ha-Eshkol
Like most of the ProvençalProvence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
scholars, Raavad II was a diligent author, composing numerous commentaries upon the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, all of which, however, have been lost with the exception of that upon the treatise Baba Batra, of which a manuscript has been preserved in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Numerous quotations from these commentaries are to be found in the writings of Zerahiah Gerondi, Nahmanides
Nahmanides
Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Naḥman Girondi, Bonastruc ça Porta and by his acronym Ramban, , was a leading medieval Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator.-Name:"Nahmanides" is a Greek-influenced formation meaning "son of Naḥman"...
, Nissim Gerondi, and others. Many of his explanations of Talmudical passages are also repeated in his responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
which give his method of treatment. In Abraham's comments on the Talmud he seems to have taken Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
as his model; for they are marked by the same precision and clearness of exposition. An idea of this writer's Talmudical knowledge may be gathered from his book Ha-Eshkol (three parts of which were published by M. Auerbach, Halberstadt, 1867-68).
This work, the fourth part of which exists in manuscript in the library of the Alliance Israélite of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, was modeled after the well-known work of Alfasi, and was the first important attempt at a legal code made by the French Jews. It can not, however, be said to equal Alfasi's work either in originality or in depth, but it contained some noteworthy improvements upon its model, such as the arrangement of its contents according to subject-matter, which greatly facilitated its practical use. Raavad II also drew upon the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
and the gaon
Gaon (Hebrew)
Gaon originally referred in Ancient Hebrew to arrogance and haughty pride . Later became known as pride in general: whether good or bad . Today it may refer to:...
ic literature much more fully than Alfasi, and treated at much greater length many subjects which were only briefly considered by the latter. His depth and acumen, however, are shown to much better advantage in his responsa, quoted in the collection Temim De'im (part iv of Tummat Yesharim, by Benjamin Motal, Venice, 1622), and in the Sefer ha-Terumot of Samuel Sardi. Other responsa sent to Joseph ben Ḥen (Graziano) of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and Meshullam ben Jacob
Meshullam ben Jacob
Rabbeinu Meshullam son of Jacob also known as Rabbeinu Meshullam hagodol was a Franco-Jewish Talmudist of the twelfth century CE...
of 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....
are found in a manuscript belonging to Baron de Günzburg in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. As an acknowledged rabbinical authority and president of the rabbinical board, he was frequently called upon to give his decision on difficult questions: and his answers show that he was not only a lucid exegete, but also a logical thinker.
Though he lacked originality Abraham's influence upon Talmudical study in Provence ought not to be underrated. Languedoc
Languedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
formed politically a connecting link between Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and northern 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...
; in like manner Jewish scholars played the rôle of intermediaries between the Jews of these countries. Abraham ben Isaac represented this function; he was the intermediary between the dialectics employed by the tosafists
Tosafists
Tosafists were medieval rabbis from France and Germany who are among those known in Talmudical scholarship as Rishonim who created critical and explanatory glosses on the Talmud. These were collectively called Tosafot , because they were additions on the commentary of Rashi...
of France and the systematic science of the Spanish rabbis. The French-Italian codifiers – Aaron ha-Kohen of Lunel, Zedekiah ben Abraham, and many others – took Abraham b. Isaac's Ha-Eshkol for their model; and it was not until the appearance of the Ṭur, written by 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....
, a German Jew resident in Spain, that Ha-Eshkol lost its importance and sank into comparative oblivion. The school founded by Abraham ben Isaac, as exemplified in RABaD III and Zerahiah ha-Levi, was nevertheless the creator of a system of Talmudic criticism; and the method it employed was in fact no other than the tosafist dialectic modified and simplified by Spanish-Jewish logic.
Sources
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: Henri Gross, in Monatsschrift, 1868, xvii.241-255, 281-294; idem, Gallia Judaica, pp. 414-415; Ernest RenanErnest Renan
Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
, Les Rabbins Français, pp. 510, 518, 520, 543; Michael, Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 133; Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz was a German Reform rabbi and writer, the founder of what has been termed "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies" , the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual...
, in Geiger's Zeitschrift f. J. Theol. ii.307-309.