34
votes
Accepted
Deviations of Ralbag from normative Jewish theology
Ralbag held of a number of views which might be considered problematic, or against normative theology. The first three listed below, are more deviant than the subsequent two. The former would be ...
- 49.1k
16
votes
Did Rambam have Rashi's works?
Did Rashi's works even reach the lands in which the Rambam lived?
To summarize Prof. Shamma Friedman's piece, scholars in the early 20th century assumed from Rambam's silence, that he did not have ...
- 35.4k
13
votes
Accepted
Praise of Mishneh Torah amongst the Rishonim
The Meiri (13th cent.) describes the unique features of the Mishneh Torah in his introduction to Beit HaBehira:
That it is omits the Talmudic dialectics, and presents just ruling.
That it is written ...
- 35.4k
13
votes
Accepted
Which sins are beyond punishment?
I found a case attributed to the Semag (one of the last ba'alei Tosfos) where a sin is so heinous that not only is forgiveness not an option, but we don't administer capital punishment since putting ...
- 12k
13
votes
Accepted
Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?
According to a quote from Rav Chaim Kanievsky, there are only 3 places in Shas where Rambam is mentioned in Tosfos (brought down in the stories at the end of the 29th chapter of the Artscroll English ...
- 6,753
12
votes
Accepted
Is there a relationship between the Sma"g and the Sma"k?
The Sma"k (written by Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil) is an abridged version of the Sma"g (written by Moses ben Jacob of Coucy) including additional agaddic and ethical material.
See also here ...
- 47.9k
12
votes
Accepted
Problem with Likkutei Maharil
Prof. Yedidya Alter Dinri records in his Hakhmei Ashkenaz B'Shilhi Y'mei HaBeynayim (pp. 278-9) as cited by R. Yisrael Peles in Yeshurun (20 p. 890) that many Aharonim held that Likkutei Maharil (aka ...
- 35.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Who wrote/compiled Rashi on the Rif
The consensus of the majority of traditional and modern authorities is that the "Rashi on the Rif" is not written by Rashi, but rather by a different scholar around the 13th and 14th centuries.
The ...
- 1,571
11
votes
Accepted
Where can the Tosafot of Rabbi Samson of Sens be found?
Tosafot Shants are printed in the margins of Eduyot in the standard Vilna edition of the Talmud (counterintuitively, it isn't usually printed in editions of the Mishna). You can read it online here. ...
- 24k
10
votes
Accepted
Who was רבינו יואל מבונ"א?
Your suspicions are correct and confirmed by Aptowitzer (Intro. to 'Ravia', pg. 39), Urbach (Ba'alei HaTosafos, Jer. 1969, pg. 179) and Ginzberg (JE, Eliezer b. Joel). His full name was Yoel b. ...
- 11.9k
9
votes
Deviations of Ralbag from normative Jewish theology
The Rivash in his Tshuvos #45 mentioned that some of the Ralbag's beliefs that he felt were influenced by nontraditional wisdom. Rivash does mention that Ralbag wrote otherwise nice works.
Rivash ...
- 33.4k
9
votes
Instances in Shas where Tosfos quotes the Rambam?
Tosefos to Berachos 44a, s.v. על העץ, cites the ספר המיימוני.
ובס' המיימוני מצריך להזכיר בה מעין המאורע בשבת ובי"ט
- 58.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Was the Ritva's teacher the Ba'al Hamaor's grandson?
One of the Ritva's teachers was Rav Aharon Ha-Levi, often known by the acronym רא"ה. He was indeed a direct descendant of the Ba'al Ha-Maor.
- 97.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Identity of "the Greek rabbi" in the Raavad's gloss (Tum'at Met 17:3)
It is the Rivmats, Rabbi Yitzchak Ben Malki Tzedek, from Siponto in Italy. A little more about him in the Wikipedia entry about him.
The following source helped me find him (top of page 126).
- 3,835
7
votes
List of which Rishonim wrote on each Masechta?
R. Menachem M. Kasher compiled such a bibliographic list in his Sare HaElef (Section 4), some of which is available here for free (though not the section you’re looking for).
- 11.9k
7
votes
Accepted
In what order were the works of the Rashba written?
The Sdei Chemed (vol. 9, Klalei HaPoskim 10:2) delineates the order of authority and reverse chronology as follows:
Shu"t HaRashba
Torat HaBayit / Avodat HaKodesh / Piskei Challah / Shaar HaMayim
...
- 2,087
7
votes
Accepted
Source for Cremation Specifically Not Jewish
I’d suggest the quote, albeit not exact, is from Tosafot (Chulin 125b s.v. Yachol):
בהא דאמרינן בביצה (י.)... דהתם במת שלם דאין דרך לשורפו ולנתחו פחות מכזית
- 11.9k
7
votes
How can I answer a Rishon's question
"Rabbi Yehoshua ben Zeruz, son of the father-in-law of Rabbi Meir, testified before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi about Rabbi Meir that he ate the leaf of a vegetable in Beit She’an without tithing or ...
- 10.7k
6
votes
"Secular" studies in the Rhineland academies of the 11th-13th centuries
It seems Ashkenazi Jews of the time - including the Tosafists - lacked formal secular knowledge.
Rabbi Prof. Ephraim Kanarfogel wrote in his essay "The Tosafist Oeuvre and Torah u-Madda":
&...
- 24.8k
6
votes
Did Rambam have Rashi's works?
The Mishnah in Pesachim 4:10 states that Hezekiah hid the Book of Remedies. Rambam in his commentary quotes an explanation of this.
ששמעתי וגם פירשו לי ששלמה חבר ספר רפואות שאם חלה אדם באיזו מחלה ...
- 49.1k
6
votes
Accepted
Benefit of learning the rishonim for non posek-wannabes?
The Rishonim help direct you to understand the Gemara.
1) They provide facts to understand the Gemara.
2) They provide Sevara, logical reasoning that helps you understand the conceptual underpinning ...
- 6,708
6
votes
Accepted
Maharam Discussing the Rosh
The Mechon Yerushalayim edition of Maharam's responsa includes an index of people mentioned. For R. Asher ben Yechiel, it includes the following:
- 14.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Looking for a Shiltei ha-Gibborim citation
In the standard edition of Mordechai (in the back of many volumes of Shas) there are paragraph marks in bold, which are continuous throughout each seder, as in this example:
So paragraph 475 (תעה) is ...
- 7,781
6
votes
Looking for a sefer with a collection of interesting/fundamental Rishonim on the Parsha
What you're looking for is Yesodei HaTorah, which is a compilation by Rav Ahron Lopiansky of the words of the Rishonim which he feels are fundamental to our faith, organized by the parsha.
You can see ...
- 19.6k
6
votes
Parshanut Theory/Intro Books
If you read Hebrew, check out this book. https://korenpub.com/products/parshanei-hamikra
It's an amazing resource.
- 577
5
votes
When the רא״ש refers to "הגאון", who is he referring to?
From the Sefer Mei Ber Mayim Chaim chapter 4: pg 85 it seems that it is referring to Rav Hai Gaon.
- 41k
5
votes
Do any Geonim or Rishonim adopt/incorporate teachings from Philo?
Indeed, Philo and his works were studied only by the Church and classicists until Azariah del Rossi. His works weren't translated to Arabic as other philosophical works were, perhaps because they were ...
- 261
5
votes
Why are we not fluent in Greek philosophy anymore?
Aside from all the other answers, it's worth mentioning that no one studies Greek philosophy today. The thinkers that were so respected by (some of) the Rishonim are mostly irrelevant even to ...
- 3,090
5
votes
Tefillah Commentaries - Rishonim
'Tefilah LeMoshe' is a collection of commentaries by Rishonim on the siddur's text. Some of the commentaries are:
Judah b. Yakar
Solomon of Worms
Eliezer b. Nathan
School of Ashkenazi Hasidim
- 11.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Who is called by Tosfot "Harav Porat"
R. Porat (or: don Bendit, הר"י פורת) was named Yosef b. Moshe [of Troyes]. "Porat" or "Bechor Shor" were recognized sobriquets for those named Yosef (taken from Birchot Yaakov, Gen. 49:22 & ...
- 11.9k
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