Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (; – 1587) was a 16th-century Italian

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ist of the prominent Yahya family chiefly known for his

chronology of the Bible The chronology of the Bible is an elaborate system of lifespans, " generations", and other means by which the Masoretic Hebrew Bible (the text of the Bible most commonly in use today) measures the passage of events from the creation to around 16 ...

and Jewish history up to his own time, ''The Chain of Oral Tradition'' ().

Biography

Born in

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, Italy, the son of Joseph ibn Yahya ben Solomon and Abigail. In his early years he studied in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

, later settling down in

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the province of Rovigo, eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Veni ...

, where he remained until 1562 when the burning of the Talmud took place in Italy. Following this he briefly lived in

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

, moving back to Imola in 1567. He was later expelled with other Jews by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

, and suffering a loss of 10,000 gold pieces, he went to

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

, and thence to Ferrara, where he remained till 1575. During the ensuing eight years he led a wandering life, and finally settled in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, which perhaps is where he died in 1587. Another theory "indicates that Gedaliah did not die in Alexandria, Egypt, but in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

, a town sixty to seventy miles northwest of Genoa, Italy, along the road to Turin." Ibn Yayha's chief work was the ''Chain of Oral Tradition'', also called the ''Book of Yahya'' (''Sefer Yahya''), which he labored on for more than forty years. It included a justification of Aristotelian and

Neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...

philosophy. This work is not without defects, having suffered either because of the author's itinerant mode of life or through faulty copying of the original manuscript. Its contents are as follows: * History and genealogy of the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from the time of

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

until that of Moses Norzi (1587) * Account of the heavenly bodies, Creation, the soul, magic, and evil spirits * History of the peoples among which the Jews have dwelt, and a description of the unhappy fate of the author's coreligionists up to his time. The ''Chain of Oral Tradition'' was published at

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, 1587;

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, 1596;

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 1697;

Zolkiev Zhovkva is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. Zhovkva hosts the administration of Zhovkva urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximately History A village named ''Vynnyky'' was men ...

, 1802, 1804; Polonnoye, 1814; and

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, 1862. Gedaliah was the alleged author of twenty-one other works, which he enumerates at the end of his ''Chain'' and which are mentioned also in Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob's ''Oṣar ha-Sefarim''.

References

* * Maria L. Mayer Modena, La Masseket Hamor di Gedalyà ibn Yahia, “Italia”, In Memory of Giuseppe Sermoneta, XIII-XV (2001), pp. 303–342
In praise of women – the article of Rabbi Gedaliah Ibn Yahya (1526-1587)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibn Yahya ben Joseph, Gedaliah 1510s births 1580s deaths Jewish historians 16th-century Italian historians 16th-century Italian male writers Italian male non-fiction writers Italian Sephardi Jews Egyptian rabbis 16th-century rabbis from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century Italian rabbis Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain