Solomon Alami was a

Portuguese-Jewish Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the i ...

ethical writer of the 14th and 15th centuries, contemporary of

Simon ben Ẓemaḥ Duran Simeon ben Zemah Duran, also Tzemach Duran (1361–1444; ), known as Rashbatz () or Tashbatz was a Rabbinical authority, student of philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and especially of medicine, which he practised for a number of years at Palm ...

(רשב"ץ). He is known through his ethical treatise ''Iggeret Musar,'' (Why Catastrophes Come) which he addressed, in the form of a letter, to one of his disciples in 1415.

Iggeret Musar

Alami was an eye-witness of the persecutions of the Jews of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, Castile, and

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to so ...

in 1391. Alami considers these and other severe trials inflicted upon the

Spanish Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the ...

as the effect of, and a punishment for, the moral and religious decadence into which his co-religionists had fallen; and he holds before his brethren a mirror of the moral degeneration extending through all circles of Jewish society. He says in his book: The Hebrew style of the letter is dignified and impassioned, and its moral admonition reveals the noble courage of Alami. Each section of the ''Iggeret Musar'' is preceded by a

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

verse suggesting its contents.

Zunz Zunz ( he, צוּנְץ, yi, צונץ) 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 ...

published an abridged

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

translation of part of it in Busch's ''Jahrbuch für Israeliten,'' iv. (Vienna, 1844), and this also appeared in his ''Gesammelte Schriften,'' ii. 177. An earlier edition appeared in Venice in 1712, as ''Iggeret ha-Ḥokmah weha-Emunah'' (Letter on Wisdom and Faith); but the name of the author was corrupted to Solomon ben Laḥmi. The best edition now extant (c.1906) of Alami's work is that issued by

Jellinek Jellinek is a Germanized variant of the Czech name Jelínek meaning "little deer" (diminutive of ''jelen''). When used as a kinnui, it refers to the Biblical allusion to Naphtali. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Jellinek (1821–1 ...

(Vienna, 1872). Extracts of the ''Iggeret'' are given in ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'' of

Joseph Jaabez Joseph ben Hayyim Jabez (also "Yaavetz") (1438-1539) was a Spanish-Jewish theologian. He lived for a time in Portugal, where he associated with Joseph Hayyun, who inspired him with that taste for mysticism which he subsequently displayed in hi ...

and in I.S. Reggio's ''Ha-Torah weha-Philosophia.'' On the name Alami, see

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

, ''

Jew. Quart. Rev. ''The Jewish Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering Jewish studies. It is published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (University of Pen ...

'' xi. 486.

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia article on Solomon Alami
by

Samuel Baeck Samuel Baeck, also spelled Samuel Bäck ( he, שמואל בק, born Boskowitz, Moravia, April 3, 1834 – died Lissa, May 11, 1912) was a German rabbi and father of Leo Baeck. His father, Nathan Baeck, was rabbi in Kromau, Moravia; his grandf ...

. {{Authority control 15th-century Portuguese rabbis 14th-century Portuguese rabbis 14th-century Portuguese writers 15th-century Portuguese writers