Meir Abulafia
Rabbi Meir ben ha -Levi Abulafia Todros (* 1165, † 1244 in Toledo), also known as Ramah Hebrew רמ"ה was a Talmud scholar, recognized authority in halachic questions and Kabbalist in the Christian part of Spain.
Life
Meir ha -Levi Abulafia, son of Todros ben Abulafia, was the scion of a rich and distinguished family of scholars. He received his education in Burgos, later he and his father moved to Toledo, where they founded a yeshiva. Already mid-30s Abulafia was one of three judges of the Beth Din of Toledo. The esteem in which he enjoyed, also expressed in the fact that the honor of his father's title Nasi, than that 1225 died, was transferred to the son.
Works
Abulafia began with a letter to the scholars in Lunel (Provence ) the so-called Maimonidesstreit. In it he criticized the rationalist views of the Rambam to the next world, and the resurrection of the dead, and the allegorical interpretation of the Tanakh, as reflected in his major writings, the Guide of the Perplexed and the Mishneh Torah expresses. To his horror, he found with his views but not well received by colleagues in Lunel and instead was sharply criticized. As some 30 years later Ramban wanted to unsubscribe the dispute again, Abulafia denied the controversy. The correspondence with the French scholar published under the title Sefer ha - Iggerot.
His major work on the Talmud entitled perate Peratin ( detail of the details ) and Jad rama (The Hand raised - also a pun on its acronym ). The title to reflect his extensive work has received only partial. Written it is in Aramaic, word explanations are occasional use of the Arabic language. It had a strong influence on Asher ben Jehiel, and his son Jacob ben Asher, and so were many of Abulafia's views in the input Arba'a Turim, the most important halachic precursor work of the Shulchan Aruch.
With the massorah the book Massoret Sejjag la- Torah is concerned. In it, he puts together a number of rules for writing a Torah scroll. He himself wrote that basis a role that was considered authoritative text for the Spanish Jews and was even written by scholars from Central Europe and North Africa.
In the field of Kabbalah, Abulafia wrote three works: a commentary on Sefer Yetzirah entitled Liphne u - lephanim, a consideration of the Book of Bereshit ( Ginat Betan ) and Shoshan Sodot al ha - Kabbalah.
Although primarily as theological and legal scholar active, Abulafia also wrote poems in which he his theologically conservative views brought partly expressed. But will get is - regardless of the previous dispute - a lament on Maimonides. He used his poetry widely in the style of the last " Golden Age ", however there are already new features that are commonly the "School of Gerona " attributed.
Expenditure
- Heinrich Brody: Schirim u - me- Rabbi Meir Mikhtavim ha -Levi Abulafia. In: Reports of the Research Institute for Hebrew poetry. Volume 2, 1936, pp. 1-90. [ Hebrew ]