Simcha of Rome
Encyclopedia
Simcha of Rome was a Jewish scholar and rabbi
who lived in Rome
in the last quarter of the thirteenth century AD. He was given an open letter by the community and sent out to find Maimonides
' Commentary on the Mishnah and bring it back with him. He traveled through Provence
and Catalonia
without meeting with any success. At Barcelona
he applied for assistance to Solomon ben Adret, who gave him a further letter of recommendation. After a prolonged search he found in Huesca
the commentary on the first three orders, and shortly afterward the Arabic original of the commentary on the first five orders. The latter was thereupon translated into Hebrew by several scholars between 1296 and 1298, and Simcha returned with it to Rome, after having encountered various dangers on his journey. He appears to have written some books also, although,with the exception of certain fragments in Shibbole ha-Lekhet, nothing written by him has been preserved.
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...
who lived in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in the last quarter of the thirteenth century AD. He was given an open letter by the community and sent out to find Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
' Commentary on the Mishnah and bring it back with him. He traveled through Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
and Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
without meeting with any success. At Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
he applied for assistance to Solomon ben Adret, who gave him a further letter of recommendation. After a prolonged search he found in Huesca
Huesca
Huesca is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the comarca of Hoya de Huesca....
the commentary on the first three orders, and shortly afterward the Arabic original of the commentary on the first five orders. The latter was thereupon translated into Hebrew by several scholars between 1296 and 1298, and Simcha returned with it to Rome, after having encountered various dangers on his journey. He appears to have written some books also, although,with the exception of certain fragments in Shibbole ha-Lekhet, nothing written by him has been preserved.
Sources
- Jacobs, Joseph and Schulim Ochser. "Simhah of Rome". Jewish EncyclopediaJewish EncyclopediaThe Jewish Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia originally published in New York between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. It contained over 15,000 articles in 12 volumes on the history and then-current state of Judaism and the Jews as of 1901...
. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906; citing: - Vogelstein and Rieger, Gesch. der Juden in Rom, pp. 154, 265.