Moshe ben Avraham Provençal (1503–1576) was an Italian posek,

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 ...

grammarian, and mathematician.

Biography

Provençal's surname suggests that his family hailed from

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. In the aftermath of Provence's incorporation into France in 1480s, the local Jewish population was expelled between 1498 and 1501. Like much of the exiled Jewish population, it is likely that Provençal's family fled from Provence to Italy in the years shortly before his birth. Provençal was born in

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

in north-west Italy. In 1535, he composed a poetic guide to the rules of Hebrew grammar entitled ''B'shem Kadmon'', which was later published in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

by the author's grandchildren in October or November 1596. By 1550, he was

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, in the North-Italian

Duchy of Mantua The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, northern Italy. Its first duke was Federico II Gonzaga, member of the House of Gonzaga that ruled Mantua since 1328. The following year, the Duchy also acquired the March of Montferrat, thanks to ...

. During the infamous Tamari-Venturozzo divorce scandal of 1564, the Italian rabbinate was split over the validity of Samuel Venturozzo's bill of divorce. The

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

debate quickly descended into a fierce and raging legal feud which eventually came to include halakhic giants from

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. Provençal spearheaded the rabbinic group arguing that Venturozzo's bill of divorce was invalid. In 1566, Provençal published a pamphlet making his case and arguing that the opposing rabbis did not follow proper judicial protocol. By 1574, the debate was resolved, and the Italian rabbinate was reconciled. Provençal died on 30 July 1576. Provençal's responsa, known as ''She'elot u'Teshuvot Rabbeinu Moshe Provençal'' (first printed: 2 vols., Jerusalem, 1989–98), have often been studied and quoted by later rabbinical authorities.

References

Rabbinic legal texts and responsa 1503 births 1576 deaths 16th-century Italian rabbis {{Italy-rabbi-stub