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I heard in a shiur that Shabbos sent a letter to Ibn Ezra. Can anyone find the text of the letter or if it exists, and/or summarize it and find out who the source for this legend is?

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  • >This letter was published for the first time at the end of the Arizal’s Shulchan Aruch That sounds dubious. When was the "Arizal's Shulchan Aruch" first published?
    – user92
    Jan 24, 2011 at 15:47
  • Bibliographical sources say that it was first printed in Kerem Chemed 4 (which I have seen - it is dated 1838 or so). I find it hard to believe that something given the title "Shulchan Aruch ha-Arizal" was printed before then, and now I see that it wasn't. 1838 is chronologically prior to 1881.
    – user92
    Jan 24, 2011 at 15:54
  • Welcome, and I am sure you will learn and be a great contributor. You definately made me do my homework.
    – Gershon Gold
    Jan 24, 2011 at 16:54

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Here is a book which discusses it at length. It seems to have indeed been written by Ibn Ezra. If I had to identify the commentator whom Ibn Ezra is criticizing without identifying, I would say that it is the Rashbam. See here, where Rashbam says precisely this:

ויהי ערב ויהי בקר - אין כתיב כאן ויהי לילה ויהי יום, אלא ויהי ערב, שהעריב יום ראשון ושיקע האור, ויהי בוקר, בוקרו של לילה, שעלה עמוד השחר, הרי הושלם יום א' מן השישה ימים שאמר הקב"ה בעשרת הדברות, ואח"כ התחיל יום שני, ויאמר אלהים יהי רקיע. ולא בא הכתוב לומר שהערב והבקר יום אחד הם, כי לא הוצרכנו לפרש אלא היאך היו ששה ימים, שהבקיר יום ונגמרה הלילה, הרי נגמר יום אחד והתחיל יום שני.

Erev is defined as the boundary time after a period of light, and boker is the boundary time after a period of darkness. Thus, it became evening and it became morning, and at that point, the second day began. Needless to say, Rashbam did NOT violate the Shabbos and kept Shabbos just like everyone else.

kol tuv, josh

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Please see these links from the 1691 edition of the Shulchan Aruch HaArizal for the complete text.

http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=45674&st=&pgnum=109

http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=45674&st=&pgnum=110

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  • Excuse me, but what is the Arizal's Shulchan Aruch?
    – Chanoch
    Jan 24, 2011 at 14:28
  • i would add that while the hevratpinto link claims it was written by one of Ibn Ezra's students, who had gone off the derech, I don't think that it actually states that. just that one of his students brought the peirush into Ibn Ezra's home.
    – josh waxman
    Jan 24, 2011 at 19:25

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