- Yonah Gerondi
Yonah ben Abraham Gerondi ( _he. יונה גירונדי), also known as Rabbeinu Yonah and Yonah of Gerona) (d. 1263) was a
Catalan rabbi and moralist, cousin ofNahmanides . He is most famous for his ethical work "The Gates of Repentance" ( _he. שערי תשובה).Biography
Yonah Gerondi came from
Girona , in Catalonia. Gerondi was the most prominent pupil ofSolomon of Montpellier , the leader of the opponents ofMaimonides ' philosophical works, and was one of the signers of the ban proclaimed in 1233 against the "Moreh Nebukim " and the "Sefer ha-Madda". According to his pupil,Hillel of Verona , Gerondi was the instigator of the public burning of Maimonides' writings by order of the authorities atParis in 1233, and the indignation which this aroused among all classes of Jews was mainly directed against him. Subsequently (not forty days afterward, as a tradition has it, but in 1242; see note 5 toH. Grätz , "Geschichte," vol. vii.), when twenty-four wagon-loads ofTalmud s were burned at the same place where the philosophical writings of Maimonides had been destroyed, Gerondi saw the folly and danger of appealing toChristian ecclesiastical authorities on questions ofJewish doctrine, and publicly admitted in the synagogue ofMontpellier that he had been wrong in all his acts against the works and fame of Maimonides.As an act of repentance he vowed to travel to
Palestine and prostrate himself on Maimonides' grave and implore his pardon in the presence of ten men for seven consecutive days. He leftFrance with that intention, but was detained, first inBarcelona and later in Toledo. He remained in Toledo, and became one of the greatTalmud ical teachers of his time. In all his lectures he made a point of quoting from Maimonides, always mentioning his name with great reverence. Gerondi's sudden death from a rare disease was considered by many as a penalty for not having carried out the plan of his journey to the grave of Maimonides. He died in Toledo, Spain, Nov., 1263.Works
Gerondi left many works, of which only a few have been preserved. The "Hiddushim" to
Alfasi onBerakot which are ascribed to "Rabbenu Jonah" were in reality written in Gerondi's name by one, if not several, of his pupils. The "Ḥiddushim" originally covered the entire work of Alfasi, but only the portion mentioned has been preserved. Gerondi wrote novellæ on theTalmud , which are often mentioned in the responsa and decisions of his pupilSolomon Aderet and of other great rabbis, and some of which are incorporated in the "Shiṭṭah Mekubbeẓet" of R.Bezalel Ashkenazi .Azulai had in his possession Gerondi's novellæ on the tractatesBaba Batra andSanhedrin , in manuscript ("Shem ha-Gedolim," p. 75, Wilna, 1852). His novellæ on the last-named tractate form part of the collection of commentaries on the Talmud by ancient authors published byAbraham ben Eliezer ha-Levi under the title "Sam Ḥayyim" (Leghorn, 1806; seeBenjacob , "Oẓar ha-Sefarim," p. 422). His commentary onPirke Avot was first published by Simḥah Dolitzki of Byelostok (Berlin and Altona, 1848)and was translated into English for the first time by Rabbi David Sedley of TorahLab. The work "Issur we-Heter" is wrongly attributed to Gerondi. A commentary by him on Proverbs, which is very highly praised (seeBahya ben Asher 's preface to his commentary on thePentateuch ), exists in manuscript. Among other minor unpublished works known to be his are "Megillat Sefarim," "Hilkot Ḥanukkah," and "Hilkot Yom Kippur."But the fame of Gerondi chiefly rests on his moral and
ascetic works, which, it is surmised, he wrote to atone for his earlier attacks on Maimonides and to emphasize his repentance. His "Iggeret ha-Teshuvah," "Shaare Teshuvah," and "Sefer ha-Yirah" belong to the standard Jewish ethical works of theMiddle Ages , and are still popular amongOrthodox Jewish preachers. The "Sefer ha-Yirah" was published as early as 1490, as an appendix toJoshua ben Joseph 's "Halikot 'Olam" [SeeJoseph Zedner , "Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus." p. 783.] . The "Shaare Teshuvah" first appeared in Fano (1505) with the "Sefer ha-Yirah," while the "Iggeret ha-Teshuvah" was first published in Cracow (1586). All have been reprinted many times, separately and together, as well as numerous extracts from them; and they have been translated intoJudæo-German and English. A part of the "Iggeret ha-Teshuvah" (sermon 3) first appeared, under the name "Dat ha-Nashim," inSolomon Alami 's "Iggeret Musar" [SeeBenjacob , l.c. p. 123.] . For an estimate of Gerondi's ethical works and his partial indebtedness to the "Sefer Hasidim " see "Zur Geschichte der Jüdisch-Ethischen Literatur des Mittelalters" [InBrüll 's "Jahrb." v.-vi. 83 et seq.] . He is also supposed to be mentioned, under the name of "R. Jonah," five times in theTosafot [Shab. 39b;M. K. 19a, 23b;Ned. 82b, 84a; seeZunz , "Z. G." p. 52, Berlin, 1845.] .Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*
Moritz Steinschneider , Cat. Bodl. No. 5859;
*Zevi Hirsch Edelmann , "Hemdah Genuzah", No. 6 (letters of R. Hillel of Verona), Königsberg, 1856;
*Heinrich Grätz , Gesch. vol. vii., Index;
*Julius Fürst , Bibl. Jud. i. 327-328;
*David Conforte , Kore ha-Dorot, pp. 37-38, Berlin, 1845;
*Azulai , Shem ha-Gedolim, ed. Benjacob, pp. 75-76;
*Gustav Karpeles , Gesch. der Jüdischen Literatur, pp. 621 et seq.;
*Winter and Wünsche, Jüdische Literatur, ii. 425-426, Treves, 1894;
*Fuenn , Keneset Yisrael, pp. 448-449, Warsaw, 1886;
*Heimann Joseph Michael , Or ha-Ḥayyim, No. 1038, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1891
*JewishEncyclopediaExternal links
* [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/tohen.asp?id=122 "Shaarei Teshuvah"]
* [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/tohen.asp?id=123 "Sefer HaYirah" Vilna print]
* [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/mahadurot/sefer-2.htm "Sefer HaYirah" Warsaw print]
* [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/tohen.asp?id=111 Commentary on Proverbs]
* [http://www.seforimonline.org/seforim/sefer_hayirah_vesod_hateshuvah_vekarban_taanis_veiggeres_hateshuvah_vedrashas_hanashim.pdf "Sefer HaYirah", "Iggeret HaTeshuvah", "Sod HaTeshuvah", "Korban Taanis", "Derashat HaNashim".]
* [http://dafyomireview.com/article.php?docid=287"Yesod HaTeshuva Free English Translation"]Notes
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