Gershom Ben Judah
Gershom ben Judah of Mainz , better known under the name of Rabbeinu Gershom (~ 960 , Metz - 1028 , Mainz ) is one of the greatest rabbis, Talmudic , legalistic and makers of the world Jewish , as attested by his nickname ("light of the exile "). It is often considered the father of Judaism Ashkenazi.
Summary |
Biography
Nothing is known of his parents, and little of his life. He is married to Bonne, daughter of David and their son, forced to convert at a local persecution, died in an apostate.
What is known by cons is that it is an important milestone in the history of Judaism Ashkenazi, at a time when the Ashkenazim represent only 3% of world Jewry. Some even claim that that Ashkenazi Jews would never have existed without him. Ashkenaz refers originally Germany. This is because the teaching of Rabbeinu Gershom came in and shone in the northern Christian Europe that the term has become widespread in Judaism and North Eastern Europe.
The Jewish communities in Europe before its time show a fierce attachment to the ancestral faith and the missionary Christians do not lack in experience, but they are not related to the cultural center of Judaism, which is in Babylon. When it begins to decline, the cultural center of Judaism is moving to Spain. This is probably Charlemagne prays the family Kalonymus of Lucca to accompany countries in Meuse , which explains the presence of great masters, including bin Meshoullam Kalonymos and Judah ben Meir HaCohen , said Rabbi Leon, Leoni or Leontin at Mainz , which is under their leadership the most important center of Judaism in the West.
Disciple of Judah ben Meir Hacohen, Rabbeinu Gershom probably showed early talent for the study, and quickly became the greatest figure of Mainz, the undisputed master of his great yeshiva , one of the only college academies of the time (all others were often the home of a master whose disciples were more or less likely to collect education). This yeshiva is also distinguished from others by the extreme openness of mind and speech that prevailed there: although the last word must always Rabbeinu Gershom, all legislation was being discussed or questioned by anyone, the greatest master, such as Jacob ben Yakar Rabbanim and Isaac ben Judah, the most insignificant student. Students come from all over Europe to collect the education they spread throughout Germany, northern France and eastern Europe. Less than a century after his death, Solomon of Troyes said that "all members of the Diaspora Ashkenazi are his students. "
Two major accomplishments will be worth the nickname Rabbeinu Gershom Meor haGola under which it will be known by posterity, that the Halakha and the commentary of the Talmud.
He died in 1028 in Mainz, not in 1040 contrary to the legend. So 12 years passed before the torch which illuminates the exile is passed to a child prodigy Champagne, son of Solomon holy Rabbi Yitzhak French, who will become known as Rashi , one of the most eminent commentators on the Torah and the Talmud.
Securing the Halakha
His prestige is such that the material tended to attribute all the decisions that the author was unknown. In the fourteenth century, Rabbeinu Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh) writes that the edicts of Rabbeinu Gershom fix the Halacha so permanent if they could well come directly from the Sinai!
However, only a taqana (or takkanah) it is undoubtedly due to: the prohibition to remind the penitent his fault, which includes the prohibition to remind a convert that he was once Gentile , a Jew and converted under duress he was once converted (if, however, returned to Judaism).
Three other famous decrees allocated to it, and it was most likely the initiator, but they were enacted on behalf of communities of Speyer , Worms and Mainz :
- excommunication (Kherem) in case of polygamy. The ban had two limitations: it originally applied only in areas where it had been enacted, and it was theoretically possible to derogate from the agreement of 100 rabbis from 3 "countries" (in fact, the 3 regions mentioned above). The rule was eventually applied to all communities Ashkenazi The Kountras Magentsa
Rabbeinu Gershom would, according to tradition, copied treaties of Mishna and Talmud , in order to establish a correct text (concern he shared with Christian scholars of the Middle Ages, they attempt to establish a text indisputably the Vulgate ). However, to establish consistency, comparing different versions was insufficient, it was able to explain it. Rabbeinu Gershom initiative is the first comment following the Talmud, called Kountras Magentsa (Commentary Mainz), which was completed by his disciples and successors, to become the "Rabbeinu Gershom Peroush" in modern editions of the Talmud from the Vilna edition. It explains the terms, rather than engaging in an interpretation of the text.
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
- (He) Avraham Grossman , Early Sages of Germany, Magnes Press, Hebrew University , Jerusalem. ( ISBN 965-223-380-3 )
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