Gedaliah ibn Jachja
Gedalja ibn Jachja ( Gedaliah Ibn Yahya ben Joseph ; * 1526 in Imola , † 1587 in Alessandria ) was a Talmudist and Jewish chronicler in Italy .
Life
Gedalja ibn Jachja was born in Imola in 1526 into an originally elegant Portuguese- Jewish family. He completed his Talmudic studies in various Italian cities, for example in Ferrara with Jacob Finzi and in Bologna with Obadja ben Jacob Sforno . In 1549 he settled in Rovigo . When Pope Pius V expelled the Jews from his rule in 1569, Ibn Jachia wandered through various cities in Italy and settled in Alessandria around 1575, where he worked as a rabbi until his death .
Shalelet ha-Kabbalah
Ibn Jachja wrote over twenty books, but only three of them have survived , including the Shalschelet ha-Kabbala ("Chain of Tradition"). The Sefer Yaḥya , as this book is also called, was first published in Venice in 1587 and subsequently received numerous other editions. It is divided into three parts: The first part contains a chronicle of the Jewish people from Adam up to the 16th century. Ibn Jachia based his retelling on the Tanach , the Midrash , on Josippon and Abraham ibn Daud and interwoven various hagiographic stories. The second part contains a collection of “scientific” texts in loose order. In these tracts he covered topics such as magic, heaven and hell, spirit beings, medicine, papermaking, and more. The third part is again designed as a chronicle. In this part he tries to relate Jewish history to the history of other nations. The persecution of Jews in Spain and Portugal is discussed in great detail on the last pages of the book.
literature
- Abraham David: Gedalia Ibn Yahia, author de Shalshelet ha-Qabbalah . In: Revue des Études Juives (154) 1995. pp. 101-132.
- Joseph Dan: Ibn Yahya (Ibn Yihyah), Gedaliah ben Joseph. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Volume 20, Detroit / New York a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865948-0 , pp. 433-434 (English).
Web links
- Joseph Jacobs, Schulim Ochser: Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya ben Joseph. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.
Individual evidence
- ↑ In older works 1515 is given as the year of birth. Abraham David and Joseph Dan name 1526 as their year of birth.
- ↑ See Abrahm David: The Spanish Expulsion and the Portuguese Persecution through the Eyes of the Historian R. Gedalya Ibn Yahya . In: Sefarad 56/1 (1996). Pp. 45-59.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gedaliah ibn Jachja |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ibn Jachja, Gedalja ben Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish chronicler in Italy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1526 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Imola |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1587 |
| Place of death | Alessandria |