Vidal of Tolosa, alternate spelling Vidal de Toulouse (

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 ...

: וידאל די טולושא), was a Spanish

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 o ...

and scholar of the late 14th century, and is often referred to by the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

, ''Harav Ha-Maggid'', or the ''Maggid Mishneh'', named for his ''magnum opus'' by that name.

Biography

From his name it would appear that his origin was a place called Tolosa. The Hida and others wrote that he was from Tolosa, Spain; while modern scholar Israel Netanel Rubin placed his origin at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

. He lived in Villefranche-de-Conflent and later in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, where he met Nissim of Gerona and published ''Maggid Mishneh''. From Joseph Caro's preface to his ''Kesef Mishneh'' it appears that Vidal was a personal friend of Nissim of Gerona. Vidal's son Isaac was also a prominent scholar, who lived in Alcala and corresponded with Isaac ben Sheshet.

Writings

Maggid Mishneh

His most important work was ''Maggid Mishneh'', a commentary on

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

' ''

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law ('' ...

''. This work covered the entire ''Mishneh Torah'', but by 1906 only those parts were extant which cover the following books: 3 (Zemanim), 4 (Nashim), 5 (Kedusha) (chapters 1-9 only), 11 (Nezikim), 12 (Kinyan) (chapters 1-3 only), and 13 (Mishpatim). It is considered one of the most important

commentaries on Mishneh Torah Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

. When there is a halachic dispute regarding the proper understanding of the Mishneh Torah, it is common to rule according to the understanding of the Maggid Mishneh. In addition, Vidal's approach is commonly held to reflect that of

Shlomo ibn Aderet Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet ( he, שלמה בן אברהם אבן אדרת or Solomon son of Abraham son of Aderet) (1235 – 1310) was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba (Hebrew: ), the Hebrew acronym ...

, so that when there is dispute over the meaning of Aderet's words, it is common to rule according to the Vidal's understanding. Before the twentieth century, the commentary was never published separately, but only together with the ''Mishneh Torah'' (first at Constantinople, 1509).

Other works

Vidal's second work was a commentary in Arabic on a work by

Al-Ghazali Al-Ghazali ( – 19 December 1111; ), full name (), and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali (Persian: امام محمد غزالی) or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian poly ...

that is known in Hebrew as ''To'elet ha-Higgayon''. This commentary was translated into Hebrew by Moses ben Joshua of Narbonne, and as of 1906 was extant in manuscript in the Library of the Vatican. Many scholars now think Vidal did not actually write ''To'elet ha-Higgayon'' and was in fact falsely attributed to him due to a similarity in the name of the translator. Additionally, the philosophy in the work seems to be counter what historians think Vidal would believe based on his work ''Maggid Mishneh''.רובין, ישראל נתנאל, and Israel Netanel Rubin. “Rabbi Vidal De Tolosa, Author of ‘Magid Mishne’, and His Attitude to Philosophy and Science / ר' וידאל דה טולוסה בעל 'מגיד משנה' ויחסו לפילוסופיה ולמדע.” Daat: A Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah / דעת: כתב-עת לפילוסופיה יהודית וקבלה, no. 84, 2017, pp. 139–154. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26273324. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

References

It cites the following sources: *

Giulio Bartolocci Giulio Bartolocci (1 April 1613 – 19 October 1687) was an Italian Cistercian Hebrew scholar and author of the four volume ''Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica.'' Life He was born at Celleno and became the a pupil of a baptized Jew, Giovanni Battist ...

. ''Ḳiryat Sefer'' (''Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica''). Four folio volumes, 1675–93. ii. 804a-805b. *

Isaac Benjacob Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob (January 10, 1801, Ramygala – July 2, 1863, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian Jewish Maskil, best known as a bibliographer, author, and publisher. His 17-volume Hebrew Bible included Rashi, Mendelssohn, as well as his own ' ...

, ''Oẓar ha-Sefarim, Thesaurus Librorum Hebræorum tam Impressorum quam Manuscriptorum''. Wilna, 1880. p. 384. * David Conforte. ''Ḳore ha-Dorot''. ed. David Cassel (Berlin, 1846), pp. 26a, 27a. * Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi. ''Dizionario Storico degli Autori Ebrei e delle Loro Opere'' (Parma, 1802; German translation by Hamberger, Leipsic, 1839). p. 328. * Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya. ''Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah''. ed. Amsterdam, p. 45. * Heimann Joseph Michael. ''Or ha-Ḥayyim''. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1891. pp. 360–361. *

David Rosin David Rosin (May 27, 1823 – December 31, 1894) was a German Jewish theologian from Rosenberg, Silesia. Having received his early instruction from his father, who was a teacher in his native town, he attended the yeshiva of Kempen, of M ...

. ''Ein Compendium der Jüdischen Gesetzeskunde aus dem 14. Jahrhundert''. Breslau, 1871. p. 115, Breslau, 1871. *

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

. ''Die Hebräischen Uebersetzungen des Mittelalters und die-Juden als Dolmetscher, etc.'' Berlin, 1893. i. 315, note 353. *

. ''Jüdische Literatur'', p. 388, note 17. *

. ''Catalogus librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana''. Berlin, 1852–1860. cols. 2707–2708. * Johann Christoph Wolf. ''Bibliotheca Hebræa'' (4 vols., Hamburg, 1715–33). i. 563, iii. 562. *

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. ...

. ''Sefer Yuḥasin ha-Shalem''. ed. Hirsch Filipowski (London, 1857). p. 225a. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal 14th-century Catalan rabbis Authors of books on Jewish law