Rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 Josef ben Isaac ibn Ezra was an oriental

The Orient

The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...

 rabbi of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, descended from Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra was a prominent Jewish family from Spain spanning many centuries.The name ibn Ezra may refer to:* Abraham ibn Ezra , a Rabbi who lived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries...

 family of 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...

. Brought up in Salonica, he studied under the direction of Rabbi Samuel de Medina

Samuel de Medina

Rabbi Samuel ben Moses de Medina , was a Talmudist and author; born 1505; died October 12, 1589, at Salonica. He was principal of the Talmudic college of that city, which produced a great number of prominent scholars during the 16th and 17th centuries...

, and became head of 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....

ic school there; among his pupils were Aaron Hazzan

Aaron Hazzan

Abraham Aaron Bacharach was a writer on religious subjects, and cantor of Posen, hence known also as Aaron Ḥazzan. He flourished during the seventeenth century. He was the author of Urim we-Tummim , an exhortation to morality and piety, with an appendix containing prayers .- Bibliography :* Moritz...

, Meir Melammed, and Shabbethai Jonah. Late in life Ibn Ezra was compelled to seek refuge in Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, where he was called to the rabbinate of Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, and where he eventually died.

Writings

Ibn Ezra was a learned Talmudist, and his works were highly esteemed. He wrote: Rosh Yosef, a commentary on the Turim

Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code, composed by Yaakov ben Asher...

, of which the part treating of communal taxes and contributions was published at Salonica (1601), under the title Massa' Melek; Azamot Yosef, commentary on Kiddushin (ib. 1601; Berlin, 1699; Fürth, 1767). In the preface to the latter the author states that the object of the commentary is to give, in addition to the ordinary exposition of the text (peshat

Peshat

Peshat is one of four classical methods of Jewish biblical exegesis used by Rabbis and Jewish bible scholars in reading the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh. Peshat is part of a group of exegetical methods known together as Pardes...

), a clear, insight into the methodology

Methodology

Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...

 of the Talmud. He states further that the 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...

 of Joseph ibn Leb (1576), which reached him after he had finished his commentary, compelled him to make some changes therein. Appended to the work are the Halachic

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...

 decisions of the treatise in question with explanations of some difficult passages in various other treatises. Ibn Ezra also wrote: a commentary on Bava Metzia

Bava Metzia

Bava Metzia is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin , the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed a single tractate called Nezikin , each Bava being a Part or subdivision...

, mentioned in the Azamot Yosef; rules for the interpretation of the Talmud; responsa, some of which are found in the Azamot Yosef, the responsa of Salomon ha-Kohen, Samuel de medinas Beno Shemuel, and the Shai la-Mora of Shabbethai Jonah.