Joseph Kimchi

Joseph Kimchi , also: Josef Qimchi (born 1105 in Spain; died 1170 in Narbonne ), also known under the name Maître Petit or the acronym Rikam , was a Jewish grammarian, exegete and translator of the 12th century.

After the Almohads occupied Spain, Kimchi fled to Provence and settled in the city of Narbonne. Its main importance is that he participated in the introduction of the learning methods of Spanish Judaism in Christian Europe, even if his two sons Moses and David Kimchi would later surpass him in importance. He was personally acquainted with Abraham ibn Esra and is quoted by him in his writings. For his readers in Provence, who could not read the works of his predecessors written in Arabic , he wrote works in Hebrew , such as Sefer ha-Sikaron ("Book of Memory"), in which the concept of five long and five short Hebrew vowels is introduced. This book, along with his sons' grammatical works, was later used by Elijah Levita .

In his exegetical works, kimchi focused on the pschat , i. H. the literal meaning of an expression, as opposed to the homiletic eloquence that prevailed among its contemporaries in Provence. He also wrote Sefer ha-Berit (“Book of the Covenant”), which was printed in Constantinople in 1710 , one of the first anti-Christian polemics in Europe. The book is designed as a dialogue between a “believer” (ma'amin) and a “ heretic ” (min) and attacks Christological interpretations of the Bible, including original sin , the incarnation of God and the moral standards of Jews and Christians The question of usury will come up. This polemical book had a particular influence on Kimchi's son David and on Nachmanides .

literature

• Encyclopedia Judaica . Vol. 10, pp. 1006-1007.
• A. Sáenz-Badillos; J. Targarona Borrás: Diccionario de autores judios (Sefarad. Siglos X-XV). Estudios de Cultura Hebrea 10. Córdoba 1988, pp. 193-194.