Rabbi Yoel ben Isaac ha-Levi (

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 ...

: רבי יואל בן יצחק הלוי; - 1200) also known as Rav Yoel of Bonn was a 12th-century

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

, and the father of

Eliezer ben Joel HaLevi Eliezer ben Yoel HaLevi of Bonn (Hebrew acronym Ra'avyah; 1140–1225To be more precise, it is only known that he died after 1220.) was a Rabbinic scholar in Germany. He had a significant influence on Asher ben Jehiel (the ROSH). As a Rishon, he w ...

Biography

Born in about 1115 in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, his father Rabbi Yitzchak HaLevi, may have been a minor Rabbi in Mainz. Through his wife, he was related to Samuel ben Natronai. In his early years, Rabbi Yoel studied in Regensburg under Isaac ben Mordecai and Ephraim ben Isaac. It was Ephraim ben Isaac in particular that Rabbi Yoel had an intense exchange with regarding eating abdominal fat. He later spent time in Wuerzburg and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, finally settling in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, where he set up his own

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...

. His most notable pupils were his son Eliezer and Ephraim of Bonn whom he was related to though his wife. Several of his commentaries have been preserved in "''Sefer ha-Ravyah"'' written by his son, and "''Yihusei Tanna'im va-Amora'im"'' by his one of his teachers, Judah ben Kalonymus. Rabbi Yoel is also known for several of his liturgical hymns, reflecting the horrors of the Second Crusade. Many of his contemporaries such as Isaac ben Samuel wrote about Rabbi Yoel referring to him with great admiration. Rabbi Yoel later died in 1200.

References

Tosafists Rabbis from Mainz 12th-century German rabbis 1110s births 1200 deaths {{Germany-rabbi-stub