Moshe haDarshan (circa early 11th century) (, trans. "Moses the preacher") was chief of the yeshiva of

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, and perhaps the founder of

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

exegetical Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

studies in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Along with

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

, his writings are often cited as the first extant writings in Zarphatic, the Judæo-French language. According to

Abraham Zacuto Abraham Zacuto (, ; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Sephardic Jewish astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian. Born in Castile, he served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal before fleeing to Tunis. His astrolabe of cop ...

, Moses was descended from a Narbonne family distinguished for its erudition; his great-grandfather, Abun, his grandfather, Moses ben Abun, and his father, Jacob ben Moses ben Abun (called "ha-Navi"), all having been presidents of the Narbonne ''

yeshivah A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studyin ...

''. Moses himself held this position, and after his death it was occupied by his brother Levi.

As aggadist

Though Moshe ha-Darshan was considered a rabbinical authority, he owes his reputation principally to the fact that together with

Tobiah ben Eliezer Tobiah ben Eliezer () was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of ''Lekach Tov'' or ''Pesikta Zutarta'', a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot. Biography Zunz inferred from Tobiah's reference to his father as ...

he was the most prominent representative of midrashic-symbolic Bible exegesis (''derash'') in the 11th century. His work on the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, probably sometimes called ''Yesod,'' and known only by quotations found mostly in

's commentaries (Rashi (1040-1105) quotes him 19 times in his

Bible commentary Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...

, and twice in his Talmud commentary -

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 ...

75b and

Niddah A niddah (alternative forms: nidda, nida, or nidah; ''nidá''), in traditional Judaism, is a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the ...

19a), contained extracts from earlier

aggadic Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...

works as well as

midrashic ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

explanations of his own. Probably the non-preservation of the work was due to an excess of the foreign element in its composition, causing it to be regarded with disfavor. Moreover, as has recently been ascertained by A. Epstein, it was not a systematically arranged work, but merely a collection of notes made by Moses. For this reason, apparently, it did not have a fixed title, and therefore it is quoted under various names by different authors. The Midrash ''Bereshit Rabbah Major'' or ''Bereshit Rabbati'', known through quotations by

Raymund Martin Raymond Martini, also called Ramon Martí in Catalan, was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic work ''Pugio Fidei'' (c. 1270). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental l ...

in his ''Pugio Fidei,'' has many aggadot and

ideas which recall very strongly Moses ha-Darshan's teachings; it is claimed by

Zunz Zunz (, ) is a Yiddish surname: * (1874–1939), Belgian pharmacologist * Sir Gerhard Jack Zunz (1923–2018), British civil engineer * Leopold Zunz (Yom Tov Lipmann Tzuntz) (1794–1886), German Reform rabbi and writer, the founder of academi ...

that the midrash was actually the work of Moses. A. Epstein, however, is of the opinion that the final compiler of the midrash, certainly not Moses ha-Darshan, took from the ''Yesod'' whatever he considered appropriate for his purpose, especially from Moses' midrashic interpretation of the

Genesis creation myth The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story, modern scholars of ...

. In a similar way the ''Yesod'' influenced the Midrash

Bamidbar Rabbah Numbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the Book of Numbers (''Bamidbar'' in Hebrew). In the first pri ...

and the

Midrash Tadshe Midrash Tadshe (Hebrew: מדרש תדשא) is a small midrash which begins with an interpretation of Gen. 1:11: The name of the author occurs twice, and the midrash closes with the words "'ad kan me-divrei R. Pinchas ben Yair." No other au ...

, which later, in a aggadic-symbolic manner, endeavors to show the parallelism between the world, mankind, and the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

. Concerning the Midrash Tadshe, Epstein goes so far as to assume that Moses ha-Darshan was its author. Moses ha-Darshan explained some obscure expressions in certain

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 ...

. He is credited also with a midrash on the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

and with a "viddui".

His pupils

Moses' son was Judah ha-Darshan ben Moses. Probably the Joseph he-Ḥasid mentioned in Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jama's additions to the ''Arukh'' of

Nathan ben Jehiel Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (, 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a dictionary for Rabbinic Judaism that was the first work to examine Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. He is therefore referred to as "the Arukh." B ...

was a son of Judah ha-Darshan. Nathan ben Jehiel was certainly a student of Moses, whose explanations of Talmudical words and passages he cites.

ascribes to Moses three more pupils: Moses Anaw,

Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi (Also known as Moses Halavi or ha-Lawi or simply, Allawi) flourished about the mid-12th century and was a prominent Provençal rabbi, philosopher, and talmudist. Biography He was a nephew and pupil of Isaac be ...

, and

Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne ()(-85 – 1158) was a Provençal rabbi, also known as Raavad II, and author of the halachic work ''Ha-Eshkol'' (''The Cluster''). Biography His teacher was Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi, during whose l ...

(author of the ''Sefer ha-Eshkol''). A. Epstein credits Moses with another pupil, a certain R. Shemaiah, who is quoted sometimes in Bereshit Rabbah Rabbati and in

Numbers Rabbah Numbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the Book of Numbers (''Bamidbar'' in Hebrew). In the first pri ...

as explaining sayings of Moses ha-Darshan's.l.c. pp. 74 et seq.; comp. p. ii. He also suggests the identity of this Shemaiah with Shemaiah of Soissons, author of a midrash on Parashat Terumah,Published by Berliner in ''Monatsschrift,'' xiii. 224 et seq. whose

cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

conceptions seem to have been influenced by Moses ha-Darshan.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moses Ha-Darshan 11th-century French rabbis 11th-century French writers Provençal Jews Rabbis from Narbonne French Orthodox rabbis Bible commentators Rosh yeshivas Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown

As aggadist

His pupils

See also

Notes