Meir ha-Levi Abulafia

Rabbi Meir ben Todros ha-Levi Abulafia (* around 1165, † 1244 in Toledo ), also known as RaMaH in Hebrew רמ"ה, was a Talmudic scholar , recognized authority on halachic issues and Kabbalist in the Christian part of Spain.

Life

Meir ha-Levi Abulafia, son of Todros ben Abulafia , was the offspring of a wealthy and respected family of scholars. He received his education in Burgos , later he and his father moved to Toledo , where they founded a yeshiva . In her mid-thirties, Abulafia was one of the three judges of the Beth Din of Toledo. The appreciation he enjoyed is also expressed in the fact that the honorary title of his father Nasi , when he died in 1225, was also passed on to his son.

Works

Abulafia began the so-called Maimonides dispute with a letter to the scholars in Lunel ( Provence ) . In it he criticized the Rambam's rationalistic view of the world to come and the resurrection of the dead, as well as its allegorizing interpretation of the Tanach , as expressed in his main writings, The Leader of the Undecided and the Mishne Torah . To his horror, however, his views were not well received by his colleagues in Lunel and instead were sharply criticized. When Ramban wanted to fight the dispute again about 30 years later , Abulafia refused the controversy. The correspondence with the French scholars appeared under the title Sefer ha-Iggerot .

His main work on the Talmud is entitled Perate Peratin (Detail of the Details) or Jad rama (The raised hand - at the same time a play on his acronym ). The work, which is extensive according to its title, has only been partially preserved. It is written in Aramaic , and word explanations are occasionally made using the Arabic language . It had a strong influence on Ascher ben Jechiel and his son Jakob ben Ascher and so many of Abulafia's views found their way into the Arba'a Turim , the most important halachic forerunner of Shulchan Aruch .

The book Massoret Sejjag la-Tora deals with the Massora . In it he puts together numerous rules for writing a Torah scroll. Building on this, he himself wrote a scroll that was considered an authoritative text for the Spanish Jews and was copied even by scholars from Central Europe and North Africa.

In the field of Kabbalah Abulafia wrote three works: a commentary on Sefer Yezira with the title Liphne u-lephanim , a consideration of the book Bereshit ( Ginat Betan ) and Shoshan Sodot al ha-Kabbalah .

Although active primarily as a theological and legal scholar, Abulafia also wrote poems in which he expressed in part his theologically conservative views. But regardless of the previous dispute, a lament against Maimonides has also been preserved. In his poetry he largely used the style of the past “Golden Age” , but there are already innovations that are commonly attributed to the “School of Gerona”.

expenditure

• Heinrich Brody: Schirim u-Mikhtavim me-Rabbi Me'ir ha-Levi Abulafia. In: Communications from the Hebrew Poetry Research Institute. Volume 2, 1936, pp. 1-90. [Hebrew]

literature

• Angel Sáenz-Badillos: Hebrew Poetry in Christian Spain. Poets and their intentions. In: Judaica. Volume 57, 2001, ISSN  0022-572X , pp. 2-19, 82-93, [here: pp. 4-7].
• Angel Sáenz-Badillos, Judit Targarona Borrás: Diccionario de autores judios. (Sefarad. Siglos X-XV). El Almendro, Córdoba 1988, ISBN 84-86077-69-9 , ( Estudios de Cultura Hebrea 10), pp. 58-60.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Cf. Sáenz-Badillos: Hebrew poetry in Christian Spain. Poets and their intentions. Pp. 4-7.