Isaac ben Jacob de Lattes () was a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

who lived in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

. In 1372 he completed his ''Kiryat Sefer'', including two parts, ''Shaarei Tzion'' and ''Toledot Yiẓḥaḳ.'' The first is a chronicle in which he gives valuable information concerning other

Provençal Provençal may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Provence, a region of France ** Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France ** ''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language * Provenca ...

authors and discusses the history of tradition, while the second is an allegorical commentary on the

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. ''Shaarei Tzion'' plagiarizes from

Menachem HaMeiri Menachem ben Solomon HaMeiri (; , 1249–1315), commonly referred to as HaMeiri, the Meiri, or just Meiri, was a famous medieval Provençal rabbi, and Talmudist. Though most of his expansive commentary, spanning 35 tractates of the Talmud, was not ...

's introduction to '' Avot'', as well as from other medieval authors.

Gedaliah ibn Yahya Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (; – 1587) was a 16th-century Italian Talmudist of the prominent Yahya family chiefly known for his chronology of the Bible and Jewish history up to his own time, ''The Chain of Oral Tradition'' (). Biography Bor ...

quotes from ''Shaarei Tzion'' frequently in his ''Shalshelet haQabbalah'', as does

Chaim Yosef David Azulai Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (; 1724 – 1 March 1806), commonly known as the Hida (also spelled Chida, the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication o ...

in ''Shem haGdolim''.

Salomon Buber Salomon (or Solomon) Buber (2 February 1827 – 28 December 1906) was a Jewish Galician scholar and editor of Hebrew works. He is especially remembered for his editions of Midrash and other medieval Jewish manuscripts, and for the pioneering res ...

published the first part, ''Shaarei Tzion'', in

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

, 1885. The book survives partially in two manuscripts: MS Oxford Mich. 602 (

Neubauer Neubauer or Neubaur is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Neubauer (1831–1907), Rabbinical scholar *Alfred Neubauer, Mercedes Grand Prix racing manager * Chuck Neubauer, American journalist * Dagmar Neubauer, German athlet ...

1298), which formed the basis for Buber's edition, and MS Guenzberg 1336. A critical edition of the ''Shaarei Tzion'' was published by at the back of his edition of

's ''Seder haQabbalah'' (Mossad haRav Kook, 2006).

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia article for Isaac Lattes''Shaarei Tzion'' (ed. Salomon Buber, Jarosław, 1885)MS Guenzberg 1336 on KTIV
MS Oxford Mich. 602 in Neubauer's catalog
14th-century French rabbis Provençal rabbis Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown {{France-rabbi-stub