Malachi ben Jacob

Malachi ben Jacob

Malachi ben Jacob ha-Kohen was a renowned Talmudist, methodologist, and one of the greatest Kaballists of the 18th century.[1] He was a student of the famous kaballist Rabbi Joseph Ergas, author of the original kaballistic text known as 'Shomer Emunim'. Born in Livorno sometime between 1695–1700, he is considered the last of the great rabbinical authorities of Italy. While his exact birthdate and date of death are unknown, he died before 1790. Praised effusively by his contemporaries and quoted by major halakhic authorities of the 18th and 19th centuries, he served as Rabbi of Livorno, Italy, and apparently lived to an old age. A decision by him, dated Nisan, 1732, and referring to a civil case at Rome, is included in the responsa of Rabbi Isaiah Bassani of Reggio (Todat Shelamim, No. 11, 1741). During the controversy between Jonathan Eybeschutz and Jacob Emden he sided with the former (letter of the rabbinate of Leghorn in "Luḥot 'Edut," p. 22). He is most famous for his Yad Mal'aki (1766-7), a methodological work in three parts: part one contains an alphabetical list of all the rules and technical terms found in the Talmud, with explanations; part two deals with rules regarding the codifiers; part three deals with the rules relating to legal decisions, explaining certain general principles of legal responsa. Malachi wrote also a liturgical work, Shibḥe Todah(1744), containing prayers for the 22d of Shebaṭ, a fast-day instituted by the community of Leghorn. In addition to these, Malachi also wrote a Sefer Torah in his own hand which then became an authoritative reference for many details regarding the correct formation of various Hebrew letters.[2]

Yad Malachi

His major work, the 'Yad Malachi', first printed in Livorno (1766),[3] and later Berlin (1857), was praised by his contemporaries as well as halakhic authorities of later generations. Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes wrote that; "Every reader of this book will be amazed by the way this living lion, the high priest.....dives in the mighty waters, the sea of the talmud. No secret is hidden from him",[4] while Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai (the 'Chida') wrote; "And after much time, the sun shone upon the land.... with the precious book 'Yad Malachi', and as the eyes of servants to the hand of their masters, I have raised my eyes and seen..."[5] The 'Yad Malachi' was printed again in the late 20th century, and a new edition with greatly improved fonts, format, and biographical detail was printed in Israel in 2001.

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Publishers introduction to 'Yad Malachi', New York, 2001 p.2
  2. ^ Hayim Palaggi in Chaim Bayad ch.83
  3. ^ http://hebrewbooks.org/32530
  4. ^ Rabbi Yitzchak Shmelkes, author of 'Beis Yitzchok' in his approbation to the third edition, Premysl, 1877
  5. ^ Azulai, Ayin Zocher sec.7

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • MALACHI BEN JACOB HA-KOHEN — (d. 1785–1790), Italian scholar. Little is known of his life. He was the pupil of Abraham Ḥayyim Raphael Rodrigues and of the kabbalist R. joseph ergas , whom he succeeded as rabbi of Leghorn after the latter s death in 1730. He arranged Ergas… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • JACOB — (Heb. יַעֲקֹב ,יַעֲקוֹב), younger twin son of isaac and rebekah , third of the patriarchs of the people of Israel. His father was 60 years old at the time of Jacob s birth, which occurred after 20 years of childless marriage (Gen. 25:20, 26).… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Malachi — For the prophetic book, see Book of Malachi. For other uses, see Malachy (disambiguation). The Prophet Malachi, painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, c. 1310 (Museo dell Opera del Duomo, Siena Cathedral). Malachi, Malachias or Mal achi ( …   Wikipedia

  • BERLIN, ISAIAH BEN JUDAH LOEB — (Isaiah Pick; 1725–1799), rabbi and author. Berlin was known also as Isaiah Pick after his father in law, Wolf Pick of Breslau, who supported him for many years. He was born in Eisenstadt, Hungary, but his father, an eminent talmudic scholar (who …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Isaac Lampronti — (February 3 1679 ndash; November 16 1756), was an Italian rabbi and physician, best known as author of the rabbinic encyclopedia Paħad Yitzħak .Lampronti was born at Ferrara. His great grandfather, Samuel Lampronti, had emigrated from… …   Wikipedia

  • POETRY — This article is arranged according to the following outline (for modern poetry, see hebrew literature , Modern; see also prosody ): biblical poetry introduction the search for identifiable indicators of biblical poetry the presence of poetry in… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Judaism — /jooh dee iz euhm, day , deuh /, n. 1. the monotheistic religion of the Jews, having its ethical, ceremonial, and legal foundation in the precepts of the Old Testament and in the teachings and commentaries of the rabbis as found chiefly in the… …   Universalium

  • Talmud — Rabbinic Literature Talmudic literature Mishnah • Tosefta Jerusalem Talmud • Babylonian Talmud Minor tractates Halakhic Midrash Mekhilta de Rabbi Yishmael (Exodus) Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimon (Exodus) Sifra (Leviticus) Sifre (Numbers Deuteronomy) …   Wikipedia

  • LITERATURE, JEWISH — Literature on Jewish themes and in languages regarded as Jewish has been written continuously for the past 3,000 years. What the term Jewish literature encompasses, however, demands definition, since Jews have lived in so many countries and have… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GENIZAH, CAIRO — Introduction The term genizah is a word shortened from the rabbinical Hebrew phrase bet genizah (see also genizah ). Its counterpart in late biblical Hebrew is genez (pl. genazim, ginzei) which in Esther evidently means a treasury, as well as the …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”