Joseph ibn Habiba ( he, יוסף חביבא), also known as Joseph Havivah and Nimmukei Yosef, after the title of his book, was a Spanish
Talmudist
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...
who flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries. He lived in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
Nimmukei Yosef
Like his predecessor, R.
Nissim ben Reuben (RaN), Ibn Ḥabib wrote a commentary on the ''halachot'' of
Isaac Alfasi
Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) ( ar, إسحاق الفاسي, he, ר' יצחק אלפסי) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of ...
, entitled ''Nimmuḳei Yosef,'' published with the text and the commentary of R. Nissim (Constantinople, 1509). Against the opinion of
David Conforte David Conforte (c. 1618 – c. 1685) () was a Hebrew literary historian born in Salonica, author of the literary chronicle known by the title ''Ḳore ha-Dorot.''
Biography
Conforte came of a family of scholars. His early instructors were rabbis ...
that Ibn Ḥabib wrote commentaries only upon those tractates which R. Nissim had omitted,
Azulai[''Shem ha-Gedolim''] proved that Ibn Ḥabib's ''Nimmuḳei Yosef'' covered the entire ''
halachot
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' of Isaac Alfasi, but a part of it had remained unpublished, and that the commentary to the ''halachot'' of
Moed Katan and
Makkot
Makot (in Hebrew: מכות) (in English: "Lashes") is a tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the fifth volume of the order of Nezikin. Makkot deals primarily with laws of the Jewish courts ( beis din) and the punishments which they may admini ...
, attributed to R. Nissim, belongs to Ibn Ḥabib. The latter quotes
Asher ben Jehiel
Asher ben Jehiel ( he, אשר בן יחיאל, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabb ...
,
Ritva, his master RaM, and R. Nissim himself. ''Nimmuḳei Yosef'' on
Ketubot
A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...
and
Nedarim was also included in the work ''Ishei Adonai'' (Leghorn, 1795), and the portion on
Shebuot in the ''Bet ha-Beḥirah'' (ib. 1795). Azulai says that Ibn Ḥabib was the author of ''novellæ'' on the whole
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
.
References
Its bibliography:
*
Chaim Joseph David Azulai, ''Shem ha-Gedolim'';
*
David Cassel, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc. section ii., part 31, p. 73;
*
Moritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1449;
*
Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, p. 470.
14th-century Catalan rabbis
Rabbis from Barcelona
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