Moshe haDarshan (circa early 11th century) ( he, משה הדרשן, trans. "Moses the preacher") was chief of the yeshiva of Narbonne, and perhaps the founder of Jewish
exegetical
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 interpretations ...
studies in France. Along with Rashi, his writings are often cited as the first extant writings in
Zarphatic
Zarphatic, or Judeo-French (Zarphatic: ''Tzarfatit''), is an extinct Jewish language that was spoken by the French Jews of northern France and in parts of west-central Germany, such as Mainz, Frankfurt am Main and Aix-la-Chapelle. It was als ...
, the Judæo-French language.
According to
Abraham Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal.
...
, Moses was descended from a Narbonne family distinguished for its erudition; his great-grandfather, Abun, his grandfather, Moses ben Abun, and his father, Jacob ben Moses ben Abun (called "ha-Navi"), all having been presidents of the Narbonne '' yeshivah''. Moses himself held this position, and after his death it was occupied by his brother Levi.
As aggadist
Though Moshe ha-Darshan was considered a rabbinical authority, he owes his reputation principally to the fact that together with
Tobiah ben Eliezer
Tobiah ben Eliezer ( he, טוביה בן אליעזר) was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of ''Lekach Tov'' or ''Pesikta Zutarta'', a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot.
Biography
Zunz inferred from Tob ...
he was the most prominent representative of midrashic-symbolic
Bible 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 interpretations ...
(''derash'') in the 11th century. His work on the Bible, probably sometimes called ''Yesod,'' and known only by quotations found mostly in Rashi's commentaries (Rashi (1040-1105) quotes him 19 times in his Bible commentary, and twice in his Talmud commentary -
Ketubot
A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a Jewish views of marriage, traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the b ...
75b and Niddah 19a), contained extracts from earlier aggadic works as well as midrashic explanations of his own.
Probably the non-preservation of the work was due to an excess of the foreign element in its composition, causing it to be regarded with disfavor. Moreover, as has recently been ascertained by
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, it was not a systematically arranged work, but merely a collection of notes made by Moses. For this reason, apparently, it did not have a fixed title, and therefore it is quoted under various names by different authors.
The Midrash ''Bereshit Rabbah Major'' or ''Bereshit Rabbati'', known through quotations by
Raymund Martin
Raymond Martini, also called Ramon Martí in Catalan, was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic work ''Pugio Fidei'' (c. 1270). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental lan ...
in his ''Pugio Fidei,'' has many aggadot and aggadic ideas which recall very strongly Moses ha-Darshan's teachings; it is claimed by
Zunz Zunz ( he, צוּנְץ, yi, צונץ) is a Yiddish surname:
* (1874–1939), Belgian pharmacologist
* Sir Gerhard Jack Zunz (1923–2018), British civil engineer
* Leopold Zunz (Yom Tov Lipmann Tzuntz) (1794–1886), German Reform rabbi an ...
that the midrash was actually the work of Moses.
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, however, is of the opinion that the final compiler of the midrash, certainly not Moses ha-Darshan, took from the ''Yesod'' whatever he considered appropriate for his purpose, especially from Moses' midrashic interpretation of the
Genesis creation myth
The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity. The narrative is made up of two stories, roughly equivalent to the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis. In the first, Elohim (the Hebrew generic word f ...
.
In a similar way the ''Yesod'' influenced the Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah and the Midrash Tadshe, which later, in a aggadic-symbolic manner, endeavors to show the parallelism between the world, mankind, and the Tabernacle. Concerning the Midrash Tadshe, Epstein goes so far as to assume that Moses ha-Darshan was its author. Moses ha-Darshan explained some obscure expressions in certain
piyyuṭim
A ''piyyut'' or ''piyut'' (plural piyyutim or piyutim, he, פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט ; from Greek ποιητής ''poiētḗs'' "poet") is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, ch ...
. He is credited also with a midrash on the Ten Commandments and with a "viddui".
His pupils
Moses' son was Judah ha-Darshan ben Moses. Probably the Joseph he-Ḥasid mentioned in Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jama's additions to the ''Arukh'' of Nathan ben Jehiel was a son of Judah ha-Darshan. Nathan ben Jehiel was certainly a student of Moses, whose explanations of Talmudical words and passages he cites.
Abraham Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal.
...
Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, and Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (author of the ''Sefer ha-Eshkol''). A. Epstein credits Moses with another pupil, a certain R. Shemaiah, who is quoted sometimes in Bereshit Rabbah Rabbati and in Numbers Rabbah as explaining sayings of Moses ha-Darshan's.l.c. pp. 74 et seq.; comp. p. ii. He also suggests the identity of this Shemaiah with
Shemaiah of Soissons Shemaiah of Soissons was a French Jewish scholar of the 12th century. He is often erroneously identified with Shemaiah of Troyes.
He was a pupil of Rashi, and Abraham Epstein identified him as Rashi's "secretary" and "scribe". Rashi referred to h ...
, author of a midrash on Parashat Terumah,Published by Berliner in ''Monatsschrift,'' xiii. 224 et seq. whose cosmological conceptions seem to have been influenced by Moses ha-Darshan.
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, ''Moses ha-Darshan aus Narbonne'', Vienna, 1891;
* Henri Gross, ''Gallia Judaica'', pp. 214, 410;
*
M. L. Eisenstadt
( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...