Jacob ben Nathanael ibn al-Fayyumi () was a ''

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

'' of the

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

in the second half of the 12th century CE, son of the illustrious Rabbi, Nathanel al-Fayyumi. All that is known of him is that at the suggestion of Solomon ha-Kohen, a pupil of

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

, he wrote to the latter asking his advice in regard to a pseudo-Messiah who was leading the

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s of southern Arabia astray. From a passage in Maimonides' "Letter to the Wise Men of the Congregation of Marseilles", the date of Jacob's letter is fixed as 1172 (Halub, in his ed. of ''Iggeret Teman,'' p. 51, note). In answer, Maimonides sent his ''

Iggeret Teman The Epistle to Yemen or Yemen Letter (, translated as ) was an important communication written by Maimonides and sent to the Yemenite Jews. The epistle was written in 1173/4. The letter was written in Arabic. The need for the epistle arose becaus ...

'' or, as it is also called, ''Petah Tikva.''

Abraham Harkavy Abraham (Albert) Harkavy (also known as Abraham Eliahu Harkavy or Abraham Eliyahu Harkavy, , ; 17 October 1835 – 15 March 1919) was a Russian historian and orientalist. Biography Harkavy was born in 1835 to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Na ...

supposes that Jacob had knowledge of

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

's ''Sefer ha-Galui'' (''Studien und Mittheil.'' v.154; comp. ''Monatsschrift,'' xliv.508). Jacob's father was known as a philosophical writer (see ''Jew. Encyc.'' v.354).

References

* 12th-century Yemeni people 12th-century rabbis Yemenite rabbis Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{MEast-rabbi-stub