Aharon HaLevi
Aharon ben Joseph haLevi (Template:Lang-he; c. 1235 – c. 1303), known by his Hebrew acronym Ra'AH (רא"ה), was a medieval rabbi, Talmudic scholar and Halakhist.
Aharon haLevi was born in Girona, Catalonia (present-day Spain) in 1235 to his father Joseph haLevi, son of Benveniste haLevi, son of Rabbi Joseph haLevi, who was the son of Rabbi Zerachiah haLevi of Girona Baal Hamaor. Ra'AH's mother Clara was a granddaughter of Aaron of Lunel, who was the son of Meshullam ben Jacob of Lunel.
Aharon haLevi studied under his father Joseph haLevi and brother Pinchas ben Joseph haLevi, as well as Nachmanides, and was a colleague of Shlomo ben Aderet (1235–1310). He published critical notes on the Rashba's Torat HaBayit, which he entitled Bedeq HaBayit. He also wrote a commentary on the Talmud, select parts of which have been published.
Gedaliah ibn Yaḥyah credited haLevi as the author of the anonymous Sefer haHinukh ("Book of Education"), but this claim has been rejected by many scholars due to discrepancies between opinions expressed in Bedeq HaBayit and the Hinukh.[1][2] Instead, scholars conclude that the true author of the Sefer haHinukh was a different "Aaron haLevi of Barcelona", who was a student of Shlomo ben Aderet rather than his colleague.[3][4] More recently, Israel Ta-Shma of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has argued that Aaron's brother, Pinchas ben Joseph haLevi, wrote the Hinukh for his son, Joshua.[5]
Yom Tov Asevilli was one of Aharon HaLevi's students.[citation needed]
Works:
- Bedeq haBayit (Sefaria)
- Commentaries to Berahot (Sefaria), Sukkah, Beitzah, Taanit, Hullin, Ketubbot, and Avodah Zarah have been printed. The Novellae of Ra'AH to Qiddushin are not his. Fragments of his Novellae to Pesahim survive in manuscript (link), and others are quoted by Joseph ben Saul Kimhi in Mezuqqaq Shiv'atayim f. 47v-48r.
Sources
- ^ Chida, Shem HaGedolim.
- ^ Rosin (1871), Ein Compendium der Jüdischen Gesetzeskunde, pp. 131–134
- ^ Rabbi Chaim Dov Chavel, appendix to Mossad HaRav Kook edition of Sefer HaChinuch.
- ^ The 613 mitzvot: a contemporary guide to the commandments of Judaism R. L. Eisenberg - 2005 "Sefer ha-Chinuch (Book of Education), which is attributed to the 13th- century Aaron Ha-Levi of Barcelona,"
- ^ Israel Ta-Shma (1980), "Mehabbero ha-'amitti shel Sefer ha-hinnukh," Kiryat Sefer 55: 787-90
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Aaron ben Joseph ha-Levi". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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