Mordecai Comtino
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Mordecai ben Eliezer Comtino (; lived at
Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
and
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
; died in the latter city between 1485 and 1490) was a
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 scientist. The earliest date attached to any of his writings is 1425. The form of his family name is doubtful, and has been transcribed by modern scholars as "Comtino." Mordecai's biographer, Jonah Hayyim Gurland, uses the form "Kumatyano," a name which he found still in use in Turkey (Geiger, in "Wiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol." iii.445; idem, "Melo-Chofnajim," p. 13). He was the pupil of Enoch Saporta, a distinguished Talmudist, known for his cultivation of the sciences and his tolerance toward the Karaites.


Life and career

Mordecai was the teacher not only of
Elijah Mizraḥi Elijah Mizrachi () (c. 1455 – 1525 or 1526) was a Talmudist and posek, an authority on Halakha, and a mathematician. He is best known for his ''Sefer ha-Mizrachi'', a supercommentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah. He is also known as ...
, but also of the Karaites Elijah Bashyaẓi and
Caleb Afendopolo Caleb Afendopolo (born at Adrianople December 1, 1464; lived some time at Belgrade, and died March 1523 at Constantinople) was a Karaite Judaism, Karaite polyhistor. He was the brother of Samuel ha-Ramati, ''ḥakam'' of the Karaite Judaism, Karai ...
. Though an opponent of their teachings, Mordecai was held in honor by the Karaites, two of his
piyyuṭim A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some p ...
being included in their Siddur (Landshut, "'Ammude ha-'Abodah," p. 200). Most of his works have come down in manuscript, selections from which have been published by Gurland, in his "Ginze," part iii., 1866. The scientific bent of his mind is shown in his commentary to the ''
Pentateuch 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 () o ...
'' (MSS. Paris, Nos. 265, 266; St. Petersburg, No. 51), in the preface to which he speaks of his researches in grammar, logic, physics, astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and metaphysics. This commentary, in which he especially criticized
Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...
, was attacked by Shabbethai ben Malchiel Kohen ("Hassagot," c. 1460), which attack Mordecai answered in his "Teshubot Hassagot" (Steinschneider, "Cat. Codicum Hebr. Bibl. Acad. Lugduno-Batavæ," pp. 202–207). He also wrote commentaries to Ibn Ezra's treatises "Yesod Morah" (dedicated to his pupil Joseph Rachizi), "Sefer ha-Shem," and "Sefer ha-Eḥad" (MS. Paris, No. 661; compare
Adolf Neubauer Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 – 6 April 1907) was a Hungarian-born at the Bodleian Library and reader (academic rank), reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University. Biography He was born in Bittse (Nagybiccse), Upper Hungary (now Bytča ...
, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." col. 436), and a commentary to
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 ...
's "Millot ha-Higgayon," printed in Warsaw, 1865. Mordecai was a teacher of mathematics, and did much to advance the study of the exact sciences in Turkey. In his commentaries to Ibn Ezra he has often occasion to touch upon such subjects. His chief works in this branch are: a treatise in two parts on arithmetic and geometry, in which he follows partly the Greek and Latin authors, partly the Mohammedan (MSS. Berlin, No. 49; Brit. Mus. 27,107 A; Paris, 1031, 5; St. Petersburg, 343, 344, 345, 346); "Perush Luḥot Paras," a commentary written in 1425 on the astronomical tables of Yezdegerd, tables already treated of by Solomon b. Elijah Sharbiṭ ha-Zahab (MSS. Paris, Nos. 1084, 1085; St. Petersburg, 359); glosses to Euclid (MS. Günzburg, No. 340, 5); an essay upon the construction of the astrolabe, "Tiḳḳun Keli ha-Neḥoshet," as a complement to the Hebrew works on the subject, which he found to be superficial; an essay (1462) upon the construction of the astronomical instrument ("Al-Ẓafiḥah") invented by Al-Zarkala, written at the request of his pupil Menahem (MSS. Munich, No. 36, 13; Paris, 1030, 5; St. Petersburg, 353); an essay upon the construction of an instrument for measuring time (sun dial), which can be made in two different ways (MS. St. Petersburg, No. 361).


References

* Jonah Hayyim Gurland, ''Gincz Yisra'el,'' iii, Mordecai Kumatyano (in Russian) *idem, in ''Talpiyyot,'' pp. 1–34 (popular ed.) *
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 ...
, in ''Bibliotheca Mathematica,'' 1901, p. 63; *idem, ''Hebr. Uebers.'' pp. 435, 593, 630. *
Julius Fürst Julius Fürst (; 12 May 1805, Żerków, South Prussia – 9 February 1873, Leipzig), born Joseph Alsari, was a Jewish German oriental studies, orientalist and the son of noted maggid, teacher, and Hebrew grammarian Jacob Alsari. Fürst was a dis ...
, ''Gesch. des Karäerthums,'' ii.297 et seq.; *
Graziadio Nepi Graziadio (Hananel) Nepi (; 1759 – January 18, 1836), also known by the acronym Ḥen (), was an Italian rabbi, Kabbalist, and physician. Biography Graziadio Nepi studied at Ferrara for twelve years under Rabbi and subsequently was himself the ...
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Mordecai Ghirondi Mordecai Samuel ben Benzion Aryeh Ghirondi (; October 1799 – January 4, 1852) was an Italian Jewish author and Chief Rabbi of Padua. Biography Mordecai Samuel Ghirondi was born into a rabbinic family in Padua. He studied at the rabbinical coll ...
, ''Toledot Gedole Yisrael,'' p. 260; *
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.'' viii.290 and note 6; *Grünwald, in ''Jüdisches Literaturblatt,'' xxiii.176 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Comtino, Mordecai 15th-century deaths Medieval Jewish astronomers Astronomers from the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown 15th-century mathematicians 15th-century astronomers 15th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Medieval Jewish writers Jews in the medieval Islamic world Jews from the Ottoman Empire 15th-century Jews