Hachmei Provence () refers to the rabbis of Provence, now known as Occitania, Occitania, France that was a great Torah center in the times of the Tosafists. The phrase literally means ''the wise ones of Provence''; hakham "wise one, sage" is a Sephardic law and customs, Sephardic and Hachmei Provençal term for a rabbi.
In matters of Halacha, as well as in their traditions and custom, the Provençal rabbis occupy an intermediate position between the Sephardic Judaism of the neighboring History of the Jews in Spain, Spanish scholars, and the Old French (similar to the Nusach Ashkenaz) tradition represented by the Tosafists.
The term "Provence" in Jewish tradition is not limited to today's administrative region of Provence but refers to the whole of Occitania. This includes Narbonne (which is sometimes informally, though incorrectly, transliterated as "Narvona" as a result of the back-and-forth transliteration between Hebrew and Old Occitan), Lunel, Hérault, Lunel (which is informally transliterated ''Lunil''), and the city of Montpellier, not far (7 km) from the Mediterranean coast. It also included cities which at that time formed part of the Catalonia, Catalan political and cultural domain, such as Perpignan. In some ways, the Jewish traditions of Catalonia were closer to those of Provence than to those of the Kingdom of Castile and al-Andalus.
There was a distinctive Provençal liturgy used by the Jews of the Papal enclave of Comtat Venaissin, who remained following the History of the Jews in France#Expulsions and Returns, expulsion of the Jews from the rest of France.
[For this liturgy, se]
''Seder ha-Tamid''
, Avignon 1776. This liturgy was intermediate in character between the Sephardic law and customs#Liturgy, Sephardi rites and the Nusach Ashkenaz, and was in some ways closer to the Italian Jews#Italian rite Jews, Italian rite than to either.
After the French Revolution, when Venaissin was annexed by France, the Provençal rite was replaced by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, Portuguese Sephardic liturgy, which is used by the Jews of Carpentras today.
Partial list
Hachmei Narbonne
* Moses ha-Darshan
* Makhir of Narbonne and his great family.
* Moses ben Joseph ben Merwan ha-Levi
* Joseph Kimhi and sons David Kimhi, David and Moses Kimhi, Moshe.
* Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne the ''Eshkol'', also known as the RABaD II.
* Isaac ben Merwan ha-Levi
* Aaron ben Jacob Ha-Kohen the Orhoth Chaim, according to some he lived in Lunel, Hérault, Lunel.
Lunel
* Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona the ''Baal haMaor''.
* Abraham ben Nathan haYarhi (''Yareah'' is Hebrew for moon, which is ''Lune'' in French language, French, the source for the city-name ''Lunel'').
* Jonathan ben David ha-Cohen, Yonatan HaKohen of Lunel.
* Abba Mari haYarhi, and his son Isaac ben Abba Mari, Isaac.
* Rava Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) (disputed)
Montpellier
* Solomon of Montpellier who led the movement against Maimonides.
Rest of Provence
* Abraham ben David known as the ''RABaD'' or ''RABaD III''
* His son Isaac the Blind a famous Kabbalah, Kabbalist
* Menachem Meiri
* Nathan ben Meir of Trinquetaille
* Shem-Tob ben Isaac of Tortosa
* The famous family Ibn Tibbon
* Caslari family of Carpentras
* Bonet de Lattes
* Jacob Anatoli
Members of the Kalonymus Family
* Kalonymus ben Kalonymus of Avignon.
* Kalonymus ben Todros
References
* Y. Maser (2016), ''Les rabbins du Sud de la France au Moyen Age et leurs écrits. Les Sages de Provincia''. Institut R' Yesha'ya Bakish, Hotsaat Bakish, Montpellier, 118 p.
The Shem-Tov Bonet Kalonymos family
{{authority control
French rabbis
Rishonim
Tosafists
Provençal Jews
Judaism in France
Jewish French history