Judah ben Nathan, also referred to by the Hebrew acronym RIBaN, was a gifted French
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and commentator on 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 center ...
in the eleventh to twelfth century, best known for being the son-in-law and pupil of the great commentator
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
, and to a great extent his continuator.
It was Judah who completed Rashi's commentary on tractate ''
Makkot
Makot (in Hebrew: מכות) (in English: "Lashes") is a tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the fifth volume of the order of Nezikin. Makkot deals primarily with laws of the Jewish courts ( beis din) and the punishments which they may admi ...
'' of the Talmud (from 19b to the end), and who wrote the commentary on ''Nazir'' which is erroneously attributed to Rashi. He is also known to have written independent commentaries on ''Eruvin'', ''Shabbat'', ''Yevamot'', and ''Pesahim''. Finally, Halberstam manuscript No. 323 contains a fragment of Judah's commentary on ''Nedarim''.
He also contributed some of the first ''
tosafot
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 ...
'' (additions) to Rashi's Talmud commentary, pulling out certain points in greater detail. It is generally considered that Judah b. Nathan wrote tosafot to several treatises of the Talmud, and he is mentioned as a tosafist in ''Haggahot Mordekhai'' (Sanhedrin, No. 696). He is often quoted in the edited tosafot.
Judah married Rashi's second daughter Miriam, and they had several children. Their son
Yom Tov
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
later moved to Paris and headed a yeshiva there, along with his brothers Shimson and Eliezer;
their daughter, Alvina, was a learned woman whose customs served as the basis for later halakhic decisions.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Judah Ben Nathan
11th-century French rabbis
12th-century French rabbis
French Tosafists
11th-century French writers
12th-century French writers