Chaim Paltiel (known as Paltiel of

Falaise Falaise may refer to: Places * Falaise, Ardennes, France * Falaise, Calvados, France ** The Falaise pocket was the site of a battle in the Second World War * La Falaise, in the Yvelines ''département'', France * The Falaise escarpment in Quebec ...

) was a French Biblical commentator of the thirteenth century and grandson of the

tosafist The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

Samuel of Falaise (Sir Morel). An anonymous commentator on the

Pentateuch 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 sa ...

(Munich MS. No. 62) frequently quotes another commentary (''pshatim'') on the Pentateuch, the author of which he on one occasion calls "my teacher, Ḥayyim of Falaise"; in other places he speaks of "Ḥayyim," but more often of "Ḥayyim Paltiel." Many passages from Ḥayyim's commentary are given by Isaac b. Judah ha-Levi in his "Pa'aneaḥ Raza" (Munich MS. No. 50). The commentary is called there "Peri 'Eẓ, Ḥayyim," and the author is called "Ḥayyim Paltiel" or, more often, "Paltiel Gaon"; he is also mentioned as teacher of Isaac b. Judah.

Disambiguation

Contrary to Ziemlich's supposition, Gross concluded that Ḥayyim of Falaise must not be identified with Ḥayyim Paltiel b. Jacob, rabbi of Magdeburg, who corresponded with

Meir of Rothenburg Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred J. ...

and who is quoted by Solomon b. Adret. On the other hand, Zunz"Literaturgesch." p. 493 mentions ten liturgical pieces composed by "Ḥayyim b. Baruch, called Ḥayyim Paltiel," who may be the same as Ḥayyim of Falaise. Zunz says (l.c.) that he is probably the Ḥayyim Paltiel of Magdeburg, forgetting that the latter's father was called Jacob and not Baruch.

Commentary style

Ḥayyim's commentary is

aggadic Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

in character, and shows the author to have possessed a thorough knowledge of the

Talmud 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 cente ...

. Ḥayyim was decidedly a great Ashkenazi Rishon and typically presents finely woven elucidations of the words and verses against backdrop of midrashic thought, though at times venturing into the area of ''remez''—the hidden messages which offer further insight into broader applications of Torah passages.

References

{{Authority control Bible commentators 13th-century French rabbis 13th-century Jewish theologians 13th-century French Jews 13th-century French writers