Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani (the Younger) (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: ישעיה בן אליהו דטראני) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
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 ce ...
ist and commentator who lived in the 13th century. He was the grandson, on his mother's side, of
Isaiah (ben Mali) di Trani the Elder. He is usually quoted as ריא"ז (= "R. Isaiah Aḥaron, ז"ל"), or (ריב"א = "R. Isaiah ben Elijah").
Works
He wrote
commentaries on the books of
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
,
Judges
A judge is an official who presides over a court.
Judge or Judges may also refer to:
Roles
*Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc.
*Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
and
Samuel,
Kings and
Job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
. MSS. Nos. 217 and 218, in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, contain commentaries by him on the prophetical books and on
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
; the Rome MSS. contain a commentary on the
five Megillot
The Five Scrolls or The Five Megillot ( he, חמש מגילות , ''Hamesh Megillot'' or ''Chomeish Megillos'') are parts of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third major section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Five Scrolls are the Song of Songs, ...
. The last-named are sometimes ascribed to his grandfather, but
Güdemann advances several reasons in support of Isaiah ben Elijah's authorship, the principal being their identity of style with Isaiah's acknowledged commentaries.
Gilbert Génébrard published a Latin translation of di Trani's commentary to
Song of Songs in 1585 (the commentary was identified by
H. J. Matthews in 1880).
Isaiah's commentaries are confined to simple, concise, and rational
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
. Their importance lies in the fact that they were the first to be issued in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
that were free from allegorical interpretations. In them he quotes the Spanish grammarians
Ibn Janaḥ
Jonah ibn Janah or ibn Janach, born Abu al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ ( ar, أبو الوليد مروان بن جناح, or Marwan ibn Ganaḥ Hebrew: ), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in Al-Andalus, or Islamic ...
,
Ibn Ḥayyuj, and
Abraham ibn Ezra.
More important, however, is his ''Pirkei Halakhot,'' a ritual code, the first produced in Italy. Extracts from it are printed in
Joshua Boas's ''Shilṭe ha-Gibborim,'' Sabbionetta, 1554, and in the editions of
Isaac Alfasi
Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) ( ar, إسحاق الفاسي, he, ר' יצחק אלפסי) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of ...
's ''Halakhot.'' On the basis of the
Talmudical
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 ...
treatises and following their sequence the ''Halakot'' are derived from the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
rather than from the
Gemara, and are clearly arranged in a precise way. The author ascribes great authority to the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
. He is independent in his criticisms of older authorities, his grandfather not excepted, whom he often quotes (with the abbreviation מז"ה = "Mori Zeḳeni ha-Rav"). As a sort of preliminary work to the ''Halakhot'' he wrote a book, ''Kontres ha-Re'ayot,'' which contained and discussed the proofs for his halakic decisions.
Isaiah also wrote a ''Tachanun'' prayer.
[ Zunz, ''Literaturgesch.'' p. 363] Two other prayers, signed merely "Isaiah",
[ may be ascribed to him or to his grandfather, who also was a liturgical poet.][See Landshuth, ''Ammudei haAvodah,'' p. 134] Unlike his grandfather, Isaiah was an opponent of Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
and of the rest of the Greek philosophers
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...
who "denied the Torah." Religious conceptions are, according to him, a matter of tradition more than of individual meditation. He advised against religious disputations with the Gentiles and against teaching them 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 ...
. He endeavored to shield the grotesque midrashim from derision on the part of Christian theologians and baptized Jews by interpreting them as symbolic or hyperbolic.
References
It has the following bibliography:
* Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim, i.;
*Abraham Berliner
Abraham (Adolf) Berliner (May 2, 1833 – April 21, 1915) (Hebrew: אברהם ברלינר) was a German theologian and historian, born in Obersitzko, in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia. He received his first education under his father, who ...
, ''Pletath Soferim'', pp. 8, 13 et seq.;
*Heinrich Grätz
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 Wielkop ...
, Gesch. vii. 161;
*Moritz Güdemann
Moritz Güdemann ( he, משה גידמן; 19 February 1835 – 5 August 1918) was an Austrian rabbi and historian. He served as chief rabbi of Vienna.
Biography
Moritz (Moshe) Güdemann attended the Jewish school in Hildesheim, and thereafter we ...
, Gesch. ii. 189 et seq., 390;
* Moritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1392;
*Winter and Wünsche, Die Jüdische Litteratur, ii. 332, 338, 483;
*Marco Mortara
Marco Mortara (born at Viadana, 7 May 1815; died at Mantua, 2 February 1894) was an Italian rabbi and scholar.
Having graduated from the rabbinical college of Padua in 1836, he was called as rabbi to Mantua in 1842, and occupied this position unti ...
, Indice, p. 66;
*Isaac Hirsch Weiss
Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia.
After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...
, Dor, v. 95 et seq.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Trani, Isaiah the Younger
13th-century Italian rabbis
Talmudists
14th-century Italian rabbis