Rabbeinu Asher ben Meshullam was a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish theologian and

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

scholar who lived at Lunel in the second half of the 12th century CE.Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion - Page 74) A renowned Talmudist, he was a son of the well-known R'

Meshullam ben Jacob ''Rabbeinu'' Meshullam son of Jacob (or ''Meshullam HaKohen ben Ya'akov'') also known as ''Rabbeinu Meshullam hagodol'' (Rabbi Meshullem the great) was a Franco-Jewish Talmudist of the twelfth century CE.Heinrich Graetz History of the Jews - Page ...

''(Rabbeinu Meshullam ha-Gadol)'', and a pupil of R' Joseph ibn Plat and the Raavad. He shared Raavad's ascetic tendencies. Benjamin of Tudela, in the first part of his "Travels," says that R' Asher lived in complete seclusion, wholly devoted to the study of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "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. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, and that he never tasted meat. At the same time R' Asher was not hostile to philosophy. R' Yehudah Ibn Tibbon, in a letter to R' Asher, praised his fondness for science, and in his testament exhorted his son to cultivate R' Asher's friendship. R' Asher's alleged leaning towards

kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

, mentioned by

Heinrich Graetz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was amongst 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 (now Książ Wielko ...

, is unproven. The fact that he was responsible for the translation of Solomon ibn Gabirol's ''Tikkun Middot haNefesh'' is no proof for or against his kabbalistic leanings; the kabbalists had a strong leaning toward ibn Gabirol's

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

; and, after all, ''Tikkun Middot haNefesh'' is moral in its tendencies, rather than strictly philosophical.

Works

R' Asher was the author of several Talmudic works, including: * ''Hilkhot Yom Tov'', ("Rules for the Holidays") * ''Sefer haMatanot,'' ("The Book of Gifts") a work referring perhaps to the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s payable to the

kohanim Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally be ...

. Neither of these writings seems to have been preserved. According to an entry in the manuscript of the small ''

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

Aseret ha-Dibberot,'' R' Asher was its author, but the statement is not verifiable.

References

Its bibliography: :* Chaim Joseph David Azulai, ''Shem ha-Gedolim'', ed. Wilna, p. 34; :*

, ''Geschichte der Juden'', 3d ed., vi. 203; :*

Henri Gross Heinrich Gross, writing also as Henri Gross (born Szenicz, Hungarian Kingdom, now Senica, Slovakia, 6 November 1835; died 1910), was a German rabbi. He was a pupil in rabbinical literature of Judah Aszod. After graduating from the Breslau semina ...

, ''Gallia Judaica'', pp. 280-281; :* Ernest Renan and Adolphe Neubauer, ''Les Ecrivains Juifs Français'', pp. 468-469; :* Yakov Reifmann, ''Toledot Rabbenu Zerahaya'', p. 48; :*''Literaturblatt des Orients'', 1849, p. 481; :*Michael, ''Or ha-Ḥayyim'', No. 552.K. L. G. {{DEFAULTSORT:Asher Ben Meshullam 12th-century French rabbis Provençal Jews French Orthodox rabbis