Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris or Jehiel of Paris, called Sire Vives in French (
Judeo-French
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 al ...
: ) and Vivus Meldensis ("Vives of
Meaux
Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris.
Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...
") in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, was a major
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 cente ...
ic scholar and
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 ...
from northern France, father-in-law of
Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil
Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil (died 1280) ( he, יצחק בן יוסף מקורבי"ל) was a 13th-century French rabbi and tosafist, best known as the author of ''Sefer Mitzvot Ḳatan.''
Biography
Isaac was the son-in-law of R. Yechiel of Paris, ...
. He was a disciple of Rabbi
Judah Messer Leon
Judah ben Jehiel, ( he, יהודה בן יחיאל, 1420 to 1425 – c. 1498), more usually called Judah Messer Leon ( he, יהודה מסר לאון), was an Italian rabbi, teacher, physician, and philosopher. Through his works, assimilating a ...
, and succeeded him in 1225 as
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
of the
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 s ...
of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, which then boasted some 300 students; his best known student was
Meir of Rothenburg
Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfred J. ...
. He is the author of many
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 ...
.
Disputation of Paris
Yechiel of Paris is best known as the main defender of Judaism in the 1240
Disputation of Paris
The Disputation of Paris ( ''Mishpat Pariz''; ), also known as the Trial of the Talmud (), took place in 1240 at the court of King Louis IX of France. It followed the work of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who translated the T ...
held at the court of
Louis IX
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...
, where he argued against the convert
Nicholas Donin
Nicholas Donin (french: Nicolas Donin) of La Rochelle, a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-century Paris, is known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of all available ...
. This was the first formal
Christian-Jewish disputation held in medieval Christendom. In defence of accusations of slanderous quotes in 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 cente ...
against the founder of Christianity, Yechiel argued that the references to
Yeshu
Yeshu (Hebrew: ''Yēšū'') is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature, which historically has been assumed to be a reference to Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name ''Yeshu'' is also used in other sources ...
in fact refer to different individuals. Yechiel delineates them as
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
himself another "Yeshu haNotzri", also from
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
(
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...
107b), and a third "Yeshu" of the
boiling excrement in
Gittin
Gittin (Hebrew: ) is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Talmud, and is part of the order of Nashim. The content of the tractate primarily deals with the legal provisions related to halakhic divorce, in particular, the laws relating to the ''Get'' ...
47a. Berger (1998) writes: "Whatever one thinks of the sincerity of the multiple Jesus theory, R. Yehiel found a way to neutralize some dangerous rabbinic statements, and yet the essential Ashkenazic evaluation of Jesus remains even in the text of this disputation." Yechiel's argument was followed by
Nachmanides at the
Disputation of Barcelona
The Disputation of Barcelona (July 20–24, 1263) was a formal ordered medieval debate between representatives of Christianity and Judaism regarding whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. It was held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in ...
in 1263, but not by
Profiat Duran
Profiat Duran (c. 1350 – c. 1415) (Hebrew: פרופייט דוראן), full Hebrew name Isaac ben Moses ha-Levi; was a Jewish apologist/polemicist, philosopher, physician, grammarian, and controversialist in the 14th century. He was later sometim ...
at the
Disputation of Tortosa
The Disputation of Tortosa was one of the famous ordered disputations between Christians and Jews of the Middle Ages, held in the years 1413–1414 in the city of Tortosa, Catalonia, Crown of Aragon (part of modern-day Spain). According to the ' ...
in 1413–14.
Although the disputants were believed by at least some to have successfully defended Judaism, a decree was passed for the public
burning of all available manuscripts of the Talmud—and on Friday, June 17, 1244, twenty-four carriage loads of written works were set alight.
The arguments and the contents of the debate were published in
Thorn
Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to:
Botany
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants
* ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species
Comics and literature
* Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...
in 1873 under the title ''Vikuaḥ Rabenu Yeḥiel mi Paris'' ( he, ויכוח רבינו יחיאל מפריס).
Disputed move to Acre
According to some sources, Yechiel arrived in
Outremer
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political int ...
around 1258 and settled in Acre, then ruled by the Crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
, along with his son, Messire Delicieux (מישירא דילשיש) and a large group of followers. He soon re-established the
Great Academy of Paris The Great Academy of Paris (''Midrash HaGadol d'Paris'') was a 13th-century Talmudic academy in Acre, established by Rabbi Jehiel of Paris.
History
In around 1258, Rabbi Jehiel of Paris immigrated to the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Northern Franc ...
(''Midrash haGadol d'Paris'') and is believed to have died there between 1265 and 1268. He was buried near Haifa, at
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
.
According to
Simha Emanuel ">ehowever, he never emigrated and died in France,
where a fragment of a funeral stone has been found bearing the inscription,
מורנו
י)יחיאל)
לגן עד
(translated: Our master Yehiel to the Paradise), which could be from Rabbi Yechiel.
Teachings
He was a
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 ...
. His tosafot are quoted as authoritative by
Peretz ben Elijah in "Kol Bo" and in "Mordechai".
[Mordechai, ]Hullin
Hullin or Chullin (lit. "Ordinary" or "Mundane") is the third tractate of the Mishnah in the Order of Kodashim and deals with the laws of ritual slaughter of animals and birds for meat in ordinary or non-consecrated use (as opposed to sacred use ...
, No. 924 He is frequently quoted also in the edited tosafot.
See also
*
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv ( he, היישוב הישן, ''haYishuv haYashan'') were the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period, up to the onset of Zionist aliyah and the consolidation of the New Yishuv by the end of World ...
References
External links
Rabbi Jehiel of Paris (Chabad.org)
{{Authority control
1260s deaths
13th-century French rabbis
French Tosafists
Clergy from Paris
Jews and Judaism in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
13th-century rabbis from the Mamluk Sultanate
Aliyah
Jewish apologists
Year of birth unknown