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Rishonim



 
 
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model
Harari Rishon Model

Haim Harari is a physicist who made one of the earliest efforts to develop a preon model to explain the phenomena appearing in the Standard Model of particle physics....
. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion

Rishon LeZion , is the List of cities in Israel in Israel, located along the central Israeli Coastal Plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007....
.


Rishonim (; sing. ?????, Rishon, "the former ones,") were the leading Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s and Poskim
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
. Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the Shulkhan Arukh are known as " Acharonim
Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
 — the latter ones".



The distinction between Rishonim and Geonim is meaningful historically; in Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 (Jewish Law) the distinction is less important.






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"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model
Harari Rishon Model

Haim Harari is a physicist who made one of the earliest efforts to develop a preon model to explain the phenomena appearing in the Standard Model of particle physics....
. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion

Rishon LeZion , is the List of cities in Israel in Israel, located along the central Israeli Coastal Plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area with a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007....
.


Rishonim (; sing. ?????, Rishon, "the former ones,") were the leading Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s and Poskim
Posek

Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
 who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
. Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the Shulkhan Arukh are known as " Acharonim
Acharonim

Acharonim is a term used in Halakha and history, to signify the leading rabbis and Posek living from roughly the 16th century to the present....
 — the latter ones".



The distinction between Rishonim and Geonim is meaningful historically; in Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 (Jewish Law) the distinction is less important. According to a widely held view in Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish denominations of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict constructionist and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim....
, Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of rabbis of previous eras unless they find support of other rabbis in previous eras. On the other hand, this view is not formally a part of halakhah itself, and according to some rabbis is a violation of the halakhic system. In the The Principles of Jewish Law Orthodox rabbi Menachem Elon
Menachem Elon

Menachem Elon , an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Israel and its Deputy President .Elon's family immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1935 from Germany due to the rise of Nazism....
 writes that such a view:

inherently violates the precept of Hilkheta Ke-Vatra'ei, that is, the law is according to the later scholars. This rule dates from the Geonic period. It laid down that until the time of Rabbis Abbaye and Rava (4th century) the Halakha was to be decided according to the views of the earlier scholars, but from that time onward, the halakhic opinions of post-talmudic scholars would prevail over the contrary opinions of a previous generation. See Piskei Ha'Rosh, Bava Metzia 3:10, 4:21, Shabbat 23:1


Some Rishonim

  • Abba Mari
    Abba Mari

    Abba Mari ben Moses ben Joseph, was a Proven?al rabbi, born at Lunel, near Montpellier, towards the end of the 13th century. He is also known as Yarhi from his birthplace , and he further took the name Astruc, Don Astruc or En Astruc of Lunel....
    , (Minhat Kenaot), 13th century Provençal rabbi.
  • Don Isaac Abravanel, (Abarbanel), 15th century philosopher and Torah commentator
  • Jacob Berab
    Jacob Berab

    Jacob Berab, also Jacob Berav, Yaakov Berav, Yaakov Bei Rav, Talmudist and rabbi; born at Maqueda near Toledo, Spain, Spain, in 1474; died at Safed April 3, 1546....
    , 15th-16th century proponent of Semicha
    Semicha

    Semicha , also semichut , or semicha lerabbanut is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism....
     (Ordination)
  • Israel Bruna
    Israel Bruna

    Israel Bruna was a Germany rabbi and Posek . He is also known as Mahari Bruna, the Hebrew language acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Israel Bruna"....
    , (Mahari Bruna), 15th century German Rabbi and Posek
    Posek

    Posek is the term in Halakha for "decider"?a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive....
  • Levi Ibn Chaviv
    Levi Ibn Chaviv

    Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib was rabbi of Jerusalem; born at Zamora , Spain, about 1480; died at Jerusalem about 1545.Under Manuel I of Portugal of Portugal, and when about seventeen, he was compelled to submit to baptism, but at the first opportunity fled to Salonica, where he could follow the dictates of his conscience in safety....
    , 15th-16th century, Spanish born, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
  • Abraham ibn Daud
    Abraham ibn Daud

    Abraham ibn Daud was a History of the Jews in Spain astronomy, historian, and philosopher; born at Toledo, Spain about 1110; died, according to common report, a martyr about 1180....
    , (Sefer HaKabbalah), 12th century Spanish philosopher
  • Abraham ibn Ezra
    Abraham ibn Ezra

    Rabbi Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, Islamic Spain, and died c. 1164 .. .He was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages....
    , (Even Ezra), 12th century Spanish-North African Biblical commentator
  • David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra
    David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra

    Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Zimra , also called Radbaz after the initials of his name, Rabbi David iBn Zimra, was an early Acharonim of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who was a leading posek, rosh yeshiva, chief rabbi, and author of more than 3,000 Responsa#In Judaism as well as several scholarly wo...
    , (Radbaz), 15-16th century commentator and halakist, chief rabbi of Egypt
  • David Abudraham
    David Abudraham

    David ben Josef ben David Abudraham or Abudarham was a Rishonim who lived at Seville, Spain, and who was known for his commentary on the Synagogue liturgy....
    , said to be a student of the Baal Ha-Turim (but this is doubtful)
  • Samuel ben Jacob Jam'a
    Samuel ben Jacob Jam'a

    Samuel ben Jacob Jam'a was rabbi of the North-African community of Kabez which flourished in the 12th century. He was on intimate terms with Abraham ibn Ezra, who dedicated to him his ?ai ben Me?i? and mentioned eulogiously three of his sons ? Judah, Moses, and Jacob....
    , 12th century North African rabbi and scholar
  • Asher ben Jehiel
    Asher ben Jehiel

    Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, ?our Rabbi Asher? or by the Hebrew language acronym for this title, the ROSH ....
    , (Rosh), 13th century German-Spanish Talmudist
  • David Kimhi
    David Kimhi

    David Kimhi , also known by the Hebrew language acronym as the RaDaK , was a medieval rabbi, Jewish commentaries on the Bible, philosopher, and grammarian....
    , (RaDaK) 12th century French biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian
  • Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin
    Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin

    Jacob b. Moses Moelin was a Talmudist and posek best known for his codification of the customs of the Ashkenazi. He is also known as Maharil - the hebrew language acronym for "Our Teacher, the Rabbi, Yaakov Levi" - as well as Mahari Segal or Mahari Moelin....
    , (Maharil), 14th century codifier of German minhag
    Minhag

    Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach , refers to the traditional order and form of the Jewish services....
  • Obadiah ben Abraham
    Obadiah ben Abraham

    Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro was a Jewish rabbi and a commentator on the Mishnah, commonly known as "The Bartenura" or Obadiah of Bertinoro....
     of Bertinoro, (Bartenura), 15th century commentator on the Mishnah
    Mishnah

    The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
  • Bahya ibn Paquda
    Bahya ibn Paquda

    Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived at Saragossa, Spain, in the first half of the eleventh century. He is often referred to as Rabbeinu Bachya....
    , (Hovot ha-Levavot), 11th century Spanish philosopher and moralist
  • Hasdai Crescas
    Hasdai Crescas

    Hasdai ben Abraham Crescas was a Jewish philosopher and a renowned halakhist . Along with Rambam, Ralbag, and Joseph Albo, he is known as one of the major practitioners of the rationalism approach to Jewish philosophy, and his positions on issues of natural law and free will in Or Hashem can be seen as precursors to those of Spinoza....
    , (Or Hashem), 14th century Talmudist and philosopher
  • Dunash ben Labrat
    Dunash ben Labrat

    Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain and a student of Rabbi Saadia Gaon....
    , 10th century grammarian and poet
  • Rabbenu Gershom, 11th century German Talmudist and legalist
  • Gersonides
    Gersonides

    Levi ben Gershon , better known as Gersonides or the Ralbag , was a famous rabbi, philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, astronomer/astrologer....
    , Levi ben Gershom, (Ralbag), 14th century French Talmudist and philosopher
  • Eliezer ben Nathan
    Eliezer ben Nathan

    Eliezer ben Nathan of Mayence , Ra'aven , was a halakist and liturgical poet. As an early Rishonim, he was a contemporary of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam, and one of the earliest of the Tosafists....
    , 12th century poet and pietist
  • Hillel ben Eliakim
    Hillel ben Eliakim

    Hillel ben Eliakim, known in Hebrew language to Talmud scholars as Rabbeinu Hillel, , was a Jewish, Greece rabbi and Talmud scholar. He lived during the 11th century and 12th century....
    , (Rabbeinu Hillel), 12th century Talmudist and disciple of Rashi
  • Ibn Tibbon
    Ibn Tibbon

    Ibn Tibbon , is a family of Jewish rabbis and translators that lived principally in Provence in the twelfth century and thirteenth century....
    , a family of 12th and 13th century Spanish and French scholars, translators, and leaders
  • Isaac Alfasi
    Isaac Alfasi

    Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi - also Isaac HaCohen, Alfasi or the Rif - was a Talmudist and posek . He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in Halakha#Codes of Jewish law....
    , (the Rif), 12th century North African and Spanish Talmudist and Halakhist; author of "Sefer Ha-halachoth".
  • Jacob ben Asher
    Jacob ben Asher

    Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, in Hebrew language Ya'akov ben Asher, was born in Cologne, Germany in about 1269 and died in Toledo, Spain in about 1343....
    , (Baal ha-Turim ; Arbaah Turim), 14th century German-Spanish Halakhist
  • Joseph Albo
    Joseph Albo

    Joseph Albo was a Jew philosophy and rabbi who lived in Spain during the fifteenth century, known chiefly as the author of Sefer ha-Ikkarim , the classic work on the Jewish principles of faith....
    , (Sefer Ikkarim), 15th century Spain
  • Joseph ibn Migash
    Joseph ibn Migash

    Joseph ben Meir ibn Migash or Migas was a Rabbi, Posek, and Rosh Yeshiva in Lucena. He is also known as Ri Migash , the Hebrew language acronym for "Rabbi Joseph Migash"....
     12th century Spanish Talmudist and rosh yeshiva
    Rosh yeshiva

    Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
    ; teacher of Maimon, father of Maimonides
  • Meir Abulafia
    Meir Abulafia

    Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia , also known as the Ramah , was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain. Meir Halevi Abulafia is pronounced mey-er ha-lay-vee a-bool-a-fia'....
    , (Yad Ramah), 13th century Spanish Talmudist
  • Maimonides
    Maimonides

    Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
    , Moshe Ben Maimon, (Rambam), 13th century Spanish-North African Talmudist, philosopher, and law codifier
  • Mordecai ben Hillel
    Mordecai ben Hillel

    Mordechai ben Hillel, also known as The Mordechai, , was a 13th century Germany rabbi and posek. His chief legal commentary on the Talmud, referred to as the Mordechai, is one of the sources of the Shulchan Aruch....
    , (The Mordechai), 13th century German Halakhist
  • Nahmanides
    Nahmanides

    Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Nachman , was a Catalonia rabbi, philosophy, physician, Kabbalah, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
    , Moshe ben Nahman, (Ramban), 13th century Spanish and Holy Land mystic and Talmudist
  • Nissim Ben Jacob
    Nissim Ben Jacob

    Nissim Ben Jacob was a rabbi and Talmudist best known today for his Talmudic commentary "HaMafteach", by which title he is also known....
     (Rav Nissim Gaon), 10th century Tunisian Talmudist
  • Nissim of Gerona
    Nissim of Gerona

    Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven of Girona, Catalonia was an influential talmudist and authority on Halakha . He was one of the last of the great Spanish medieval talmudic scholars....
    , (RaN), 14th century Halakhist and Talmudist
  • Rashi
    Rashi

    Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, , better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a rabbi from France, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
    , (Solomon ben Yitzchak), 11th century Talmudist, the primary commentator of Talmud
  • Elazar Rokeach
    Elazar Rokeach

    Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus of Worms, Germany was a leading Talmudist and kabbalist, and the last major member of the Chassidei Ashkenaz , a group of Jewish German pietists....
    , (Sefer HaRokeach), 12th century German rabbinic scholar
  • Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon
    Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon

    Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, more commonly known as Samuel ibn Tibbon , was a Jewish philosopher and doctor. He was born about 1150 in Lunel , and died about 1230 in Marseilles....
    , 12th-13th century French Maimonidean philosopher and translator
  • Tosafists
    Tosafists

    Tosafists were medieval rabbis known in Talmudical scholarship as Rishonim who created critical and explanatory glosses on the Talmud. These were collectively called Tosafot ....
    , (Tosafot), 11th, 12th and 13th century Talmudic scholars in France and Germany
  • Yehuda Halevi
    Yehuda Halevi

    Judah Halevi, in full Judah ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Yehuda Halevi, or Yehuda ben Samuel Halevi was a Sephardic philosopher and poet....
    , (Kuzari), 12th century Spanish philosopher and poet devoted to Zion
  • Menachem Meiri
    Menachem Meiri

    Rabbi Menachem Meiri was a famous Proven?al rabbi, Talmudist and Maimonides....
    , (Meiri), 13th century Talmudist
  • Yom Tov Asevilli
    Yom Tov Asevilli

    Yom Tov Asevilli or Yom Tov ben Avraham Asevilli , , who is commonly known to scholars of Judaism as the Ritva , was a medieval rabbi and Halakha famous for his commentary on the Talmud....
    , (Ritva), 13th century Talmudist
  • Yitzhak Saggi Nehor
    Isaac the Blind

    Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????, also known as Isaac the Blind, has the Aramaic epithet "Saggi Nehor" meaning "of Much Light" in the sense of having excellent eyesight, an ironic euphemism for being blind....
    , (Isaac the Blind), 12th-13th century Provencal
    Provence

    Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
     Kabbalist
  • Solomon ben Aderet, (Rashba), 13th century Talmudist
  • Aharon HaLevi
    Aharon HaLevi

    Aaron ha-Levi of Barcelona , known as the 'RaAH' , was a medieval rabbi, Talmudical scholar and Halakha.The Ra'ah was born in Gerona, Spain in 1235 to his father Rabbeinu Joseph ha-Levi, son of Rabbi Benbineshti ha-Levi, son of Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi, who was the son of Rabbeinu Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona the Ba...
    , (Ra'ah), 13th century Talmudist
  • Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona
    Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona

    Zerachiah ben Isaac Ha-Levi Gerondi , called the ReZaH, RaZBI or Baal Ha-Maor was born about 1125 in the town of Gerona, Spain ? hence the name Gerondi ? and died after 1186 in Lunel....
    , (Baal Ha-Maor) 12th century Talmudist
  • Meshullam ben Jacob
    Meshullam ben Jacob

    Rabbeinu Meshullam son of Jacob also known as Rabbeinu Meshullam hagodol was a History of the Jews in France Talmudist of the twelfth century CE....
    , (Rabbeinu Meshullam Hagodol), 12th century Talmudist

See also

  • Rabbinic literature
    Rabbinic literature

    Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Judaism history. But the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew language term Sifrut Hazal ....
  • Eras of history important in Jewish law
    Halakha

    Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
  • List of rabbis
    List of rabbis

    This is a list of prominent rabbis. Rabbis are Judaism's spiritual and religious leaders.See also: List of Jews....
  • History of Responsa: Rishonim
    History of Responsa

    History of responsa in Judaism spans a period of 1,700 years. Responsa#In Judaism constitute a special class of rabbinic literature, differing in form, but not necessarily in content, from Rabbinic commentaries devoted to the exegesis of the Tanakh, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and halakha ....


External links and references

  • , Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
    Aryeh Kaplan

    Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan was a noted United States Orthodox Judaism rabbi and author with a background in both physics and Judaism. He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and Kabbalah to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and Jewish philosophy aimed at non-religious and Baal teshuva Jews....
  • , faqs.org
  • (MP3
    MP3

    MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a digital audio Encoder format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard encoding for the transfer and playback of music on digital audio players....
    s), Rabbi R Y Eisenman
  • , chabad.org
  • Biography of Rashi, one of the first Rishonim.
  • Mini-Biographies from chaburas.org