Isaac ben Reuben Albargeloni (born 1043) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Talmudist The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and liturgical poet born in

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Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. He was a

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in the Denia community, where he became connected with ibn Alḥatosh, likely due to becoming his son-in-law. Among his later descendants was Moses ben Naḥman (Naḥmanides); Judah Albargeloni is said to have been Isaac's pupil. He was one of five prominent contemporaneous scholars named Isaac and the regard in which he was held by his own and succeeding generations is indicated by the fact that he is simply designated "Ha-Rab Albargeloni." He wrote commentaries on various sections of the tractate

Ketubot A ketubah (; ) 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, the ''ketubah'' has no a ...

, and at the age of thirty-five (1078) translated, from the

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into

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Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (), better known as Hai Gaon (), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He receiv ...

's ''Ha-Miḳḳaḥ weha-Mimkar,'' on buying and selling (Venice, 1602, and frequently afterward printed with commentaries). Noteworthy among his liturgical poems are his ''

Azharot ''Azharot'' (, "exhortations") are didactic liturgical poems on, or versifications of, the 613 commandments in rabbinical enumeration. The first known example are 'Ata hinchlata' and 'Azharat Reishit', recited to this day in some Ashkenazic and Ital ...

'', included in the rituals of

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, and

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. There are 145 strophes in the poem, each consisting of three verses, and it ends with a

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quotation. Contemporaries said that Isaac's use of Biblical verses indicates great skill.

Al-Ḥarizi Yehuda Alharizi, also Judah ben Solomon Harizi or al-Harizi (, ), was a rabbi, translator, poet, and traveler active in al-Andalus (mid-12th century Toledo, Spain? – 1225 in Aleppo, Ayyubid dynasty, Ayyubid Syria). He was supported by wealthy ...

remarked: "He has put the religious laws into rime, and has fitted them so well to Biblical passages that it almost seems as if the work had been inspired by a higher power." Isaac faithfully copied the division of the laws and interdictions of the ''

Halakot Gedolot Halachoth Gedoloth (lit. great halachoth) is a work on Jewish law dating from the Geonic period. It exists in several different recensions, and there are sharply divergent views on its authorship, though the dominant opinion attributes it to Sime ...

''; at times even following its wording, while he also took into account the regulations of traditional literature referring to Biblical prescriptions. The following poems of Isaac are also included in the ''Azharot'': * ''Alah Mosheh le-Rosh Har Sinai'' (introduction) * ''Yom Zeh Horid'' (pizmon preceding the commands) * ''Yaḥid Nora 'Alilah'' (pizmon between the commands and interdictions) Isaac also wrote ''Paḥadti mi-Yoẓeri'' and ''Yom Zeh Mekapper le-Shabim,'' both in three-line strophes, the latter with signature and alphabet. Rapoport also attributes to Isaac the works ''Ayumati Yonah,'' ''ahabah'' for the Sabbath before the

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, and ''Yaḳush be-'Onyo,'' ''ge'ullah'' for the fifth Sabbath after

Pesaḥ Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

, but other scholars dispute whether these works were created by Isaac.

References

Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography

* Rapoport's biography of Hai Gaon in '' Bikkure ha-'Ittim'', 1829, x. 91; *

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, ''Zur Gesch. der Jüdischen Poesie'', pp. 46, 168; *

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (; 30 March 1816 – 24 January 1907) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist, and an important figure in Jewish studies and Jewish history. He is credited as having invented the term ''antisemitism.'' Education Mo ...

, ''Cat. Bodl.'' cols. 1149 et seq.; ** ''

idem ''idem'' is a Latin term meaning "the same". It is commonly abbreviated as ''id.'', which is particularly used in legal citations to denote the previously cited source (compare '' ibid.''). It is also used in academic citations to replace the ...

'', Hebr. Uebers. p. 910; * Michael, Heimann Joseph, (1891) ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'', Frankfort-on-the-Main (in Hebrew), p. 510; *

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar who is considered the founding father of Reform Judaism and the academic field of Quranic studies. Emphasizing Judaism's constant developm ...

, ''Jüdische Dichtungen'', pp. 9 et seq. (Hebr. part, pp. 4 et seq.); * Landshuth, Ammude ha-'Abodah'', p. 126; *

Leopold Zunz Leopold Zunz (—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', —''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies ('' Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual. Nah ...

, ''Literaturgesch.'' pp. 201, 673; *

Heinrich Grätz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (no ...

, ''Gesch.'' 3rd ed., vi.62 et seq.; *

Weiss, Dor Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia. After having received elementary instruction in Hebre ...

, iv.281; * Halberstam, introduction to Judah Albargeloni's commentary on the Sefer Yeẓirah, pp. xvii-xviii; * comp. '' Oẓar Neḥmad'', ii.188 et seq. {{DEFAULTSORT:Albargeloni, Isaac ben Reuben 1043 births 11th-century Catalan rabbis Rabbis from Barcelona Arabic–Hebrew translators Year of death unknown