Abraham ben Nathan

Abraham ben Nathan Ha-Yarhi ( Hebrew : אברהם בן נתן הירחי ) was a Provençal rabbi and scholar born in the second half of the 12th century, probably at Lunel , Languedoc , where he also received his education. It is for this reason that he is sometimes also called "Ha-Yarḥi" ("of Lunel") since the Hebrew "yareaḥ" is the equivalent of the French "lune", or moon in English. In Lunel, Abraham may have studied under RABaD III ( Abraham ben David of Posquières ), but his regular rabbinical studies, were pursued at Dampierre , in northern France , at the academy of R. Abraham subsequently left his birthplace, and, after much traveling, finally settled in Toledo in 1204, where his learning quickly gained for him the favor of the rich and learned Joseph ibn Shushan and that of his sons, Solomon and Isaac. To these patrons he dedicated his work Ha-Manhig ( The Guide ), or as the author called it, Manhig 'Olam, which he began in 1204 and completed some years later. In its present form the book consists of two distinct portions, the first of which comprises a collection of responsa, compiled from his numerous written and oral decisions, some of the former of which still bear the usual epistolary conclusion: "Shalom! The second part contains extracts from the halakic works of Alfasi , Isaac ibn Giat , and Isaac ben Abba Mari , a relative of Abraham's. The Manhig did not exert any important influence on halakic literature and is only occasionally mentioned by rabbis of the Middle Ages . However, it must be considered as of some importance in the history of Jewish literature , for it contains numerous literal quotations from the two Talmuds and most of the halakic and haggadic Midrashim , as well as from certain collections of the Haggadot which have been wholly lost; so that the Manhig contributes considerably to the textual criticism of all of those works. It gives interesting and instructive details concerning special synagogical usages, personally observed by the author in northern France , southwestern Germany , Burgundy , Champagne , Provence , England , and Spain , and for which there is no other source of information. He relates also that this custom was strongly objected to by many, because the Jewish poor were losers thereby, and Rashi is said especially to have denounced it. Abraham is said also to have written a work entitled Maḥaziḳ ha-Bedeḳ, upon the ritual for slaughtering animals for food, mention of which, however, is made by but one writer in 1467. Zacuto , in Yuḥasin (ed. Berlin, 19b), ascribes, without giving his authority, a certain book entitled Maḥaziḳ ha-Bedeḳ to Abraham ben Nathan. During his long stay in Spain, Abraham learned Arabic sufficiently to translate into Hebrew a responsum by Saadia , which is to be found in the Ha-Manhig (ed. His responsa were also published in Wertheimer's Ginze Yerushalayim, 1896.

Abraham ben Nathan ( ) was a Provençal rabbi and scholar of the 12th-13th centuries.

12th/13th-century Provençal rabbi and scholar Abraham ben Nathan ( ) was a Provençal rabbi and scholar of the 12th-13th centuries.

12th/13th-century Provençal rabbi and scholar Abraham ben Nathan ( Hebrew : אברהם בן נתן ) was a Provençal rabbi and scholar of the 12th–13th centuries.