Aharon Ibn Hayyim ( he, אהרן אבן חיים‎ 1545–1632) was a

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...

and

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 ce ...

ic commentator. Born in

Fez, Morocco Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 m ...

, he served on the

bet din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

Aharon ibn Hayyim at JewishEncyclopedia.com
/ref> and studied at the

yeshivot A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish education, Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish p ...

of his father, Vidal ha-Zarefati and Joseph Almosnino. In 1606 he left Fez for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, and made his way to

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 ...

in 1608 where he printed his numerous manuscripts. While in Venice, Ibn Hayyim gave lectures in several congregations, and was well known by famous rabbis at the time. He died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in 1632, and is well known for his publications ''Leb Aharon'', ''Korban Aharon'' (commentary on the

Sifra Sifra ( Aramaic: סִפְרָא) is the Halakhic midrash to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" ...

), and ''Middot Aharon''.www.etz-hayim.com
/ref>

Leb Aharon

''Leb Aharon'' (Aaron's Heart) is a commentary on

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

and the

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

, and contains both simple explanations of the words (

peshat ''Peshat'' (also ''P'shat'', ) is one of the two classic methods of Jewish biblical exegesis, the other being Derash. While ''Peshat'' is commonly defined as referring to the surface or literal (direct) meaning of a text,Goldin, S. (2007). Unloc ...

), as well as a more in depth analysis of the text at large (derush). While Ibn Hayyim wrote commentaries to the

Mekhilta Mekhilta ( arc, מְכִילְתָּא דְּרַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל IPA /məˈχiltɑ/, "a collection of rules of interpretation"; corresponding to the Mishnaic Hebrew ' 'measure', 'rule'), is used to denote a compilation of scriptura ...

Sifrei Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of '' Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers ...

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, Prophets, and Song of Songs, ''Leb Aharon'' was his only commentary of this type to be published.

Middot Aharon

''Middot Aharon'' (Aaron's Rules) is Aharon ibn Hayyim's most well-known publication, and serves as one of the only compositions that adequately discusses the thirteen

hermeneutic Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

principles as laid out by R. Ishmael. This work focuses on the development and application of the thirteen hermeneutical principles, and was largely responsible for the Sifra becoming a subject of study. Ibn Hayyim's main objective is to search for and explain the plain meaning of the text, and seeks to interpret the literal meaning, despite his often-wordy explanations.

Korban Aharon

Korban Aharon (Aaron's Offering) is a lengthy commentary on Sifra, printed in Venice from 1609-1611 (reprinted Jerusalem 1970). This commentary is significant because Aharon Ibn Hayyim inserted the so-called Mekhilta de Arayot (Weiss Edition 91c-93b) into the Sifra and it was printed in Weiss' edition. The manuscript tradition (Vatican 66) has inserted this piece from another source. Aharon Ibn Hayyim's commentary also discusses the relevant parallel texts from rabbinical literature.

References

1545 births 1632 deaths Jewish biblical scholars People from Fez, Morocco 16th-century Jewish biblical scholars 17th-century Jewish biblical scholars {{Judaism-bio-stub