Rabbi Isaac ben Asher HaLevi or Riba (ריב"א) is the earliest known

Tosafist The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

, son-in-law of Eliakim ben Meshullam and pupil of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

. He flourished in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

during the 11th century. He is cited under the name of "Tosafot Riba," in the ''Temim De'im,'' in the printed ''

tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

'' (''Sotah'' 17b), and in the ''Tosafot Yeshanin'' (''Yoma'' 15a). They are frequently quoted without the name of their author. Isaac ben Asher also wrote a commentary on the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, which is no longer extant. It is cited in the ''Minchat Yehudah,'' and

Jacob Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam ( he, רבינו תם), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading ''halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a gra ...

made use of it in his '' Sefer ha-Yashar'' (p. 282). He was also the teacher of

Isaac ben Mordecai of Regensburg Rabbi Isaac ben Mordecai of Regensburg (Hebrew: יצחק בן מרדכי מרגנסבורג) also known by his acronym Ribam (Rabbi Isaac Ben Mordecai) was a 12th century German Tosafist. Biography Born in Prague, Bohemia, in his early years, R ...

and

Ephraim ben Isaac of Regensburg Ephraim ben Isaac ben Abraham of Regensburg (Hebrew: אפרים בן יצחק מרגנסבורג; 1175) also sometimes called Ben Yakir, was a 12th-century German tosafist and liturgical poet who was known for his keen intellect, his numerous piy ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac Ben Asher Ha-Levi German Tosafists People from Speyer Bible commentators Levites 11th-century German rabbis