Isaac ben Melchizedek (; also known by the acronym Ribmaṣ ; c. 1090–1160), , was a

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 of ...

nic scholar from

Siponto Siponto ( la, Sipontum, grc-gre, Σιπιούς) was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' ...

, Italy, and one of the first medieval scholars to have composed a commentary on the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

, of which only his commentary on ''

Seder Zera'im Seder Zeraim ( he, סדר זרעים, Seder Zra'im, lit. "Order of Seeds") is the first of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and the Talmud, and, apart from the first tractate which concerns the rules for prayers and bles ...

'' survives. Elements of the Mishnaic order of '' Taharot'' are also cited in his name by the

Tosafists Tosafists were rabbis of France and Germany, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and sources) on the Tal ...

, but the complete work is no longer extant.

Background

Rabbi Isaac ben Melchizedek was the son of an astute Italian Jewish Talmudist. Rabbi Isaac eventually moved away from his home town and settled in

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. He is known to have fathered at least two sons: Judah and Shiloh. It was in Salerno that Isaac's son, Judah, met with the renowned Jewish traveler,

Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela ( he, בִּנְיָמִין מִטּוּדֶלָה, ; ar, بنيامين التطيلي ''Binyamin al-Tutayli'';‎ Tudela, Kingdom of Navarre, 1130 Castile, 1173) was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, an ...

. Benjamin of Tudelo referred to his father, Rabbi Isaac, as "the great rabbi." In Italy, Rabbi Isaac maintained a correspondence with Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir, known also as ''Rabbeinu Tam''. Shiloh, his son, is mentioned in ''Sefer ha-'Iṭṭur''.

From
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
by sea to the city of
Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
, where the Christians have a school of medicine. About 600 Jews dwell there. Among the scholars are R. Judah, son of R. Isaac, the son of Melchizedek, the great Rabbi, who came from the city of
Siponto Siponto ( la, Sipontum, grc-gre, Σιπιούς) was an ancient port town and bishopric in Apulia, southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' ...
.

Isaac's Mishnah commentary is thought to have had a wide dissemination among Jewish communities throughout the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

littoral and Egypt, as some of his words are cited and argued against by great Jewish scholars in

Fostat Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by t ...

and in

Posquières Vauvert (; oc, Vauverd) is a commune in the far south of the Gard department in southern France. It was known as ''Posquières'' in the Middle Ages. The commune comprises the town of Vauvert and the villages of Gallician and Montcalm.

. Rabbi Abraham b. David of Posquières referred to Rabbi Isaac by the epithet, ''Ha-Rav ha-Yevani'', meaning, "the Grecian rabbi," seeing that part of southern Italy was at that time under

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

influence. Rabbi Isaac's work is also widely cited by

Solomon Sirilio Solomon Sirilio ( he, סיריליאו also שלמה סריליו) (1485–1554), the son of Joseph Sirilio, was a rabbi and author of one of the first commentaries made on the Jerusalem Talmud (''Seder Zeraim''). Background Solomon Sirilio was ...

where, occasionally, he decides in favor of Isaac's interpretation of a passage in the Mishnah over that of the later scholar,

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 ...

. Both,

Ishtori Haparchi Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1355), also Estori Haparchi and Ashtori ha-Parhi ( he, אשתורי הפרחי) is the pen name of the 14th-century Jewish physician, geographer, and traveller, Isaac HaKohen Ben Moses.''Encyclopedia Judaica'' Keter, Jerusal ...

and Rabbi

Chaim Joseph David Azulai Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (1724 – 1 March 1806) (), commonly known as the Hida (the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious ...

, make mention of him in their writings. Rabbi

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. ...

mentions him with respect to teachings in Mishnah ''

Kelim A kilim ( az, Kilim کیلیم; tr, Kilim; tm, Kilim; fa, گلیم ''Gilīm'') is a flat tapestry-woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran, the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kil ...

'' 8:6; ''

Nega'im Neghaʿim (Hebrew: נגעים, "Blemishes") is the third tractate of the order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It consists of fourteen chapters. Nega'im describes the various forms of ''tzaraath'', a leprosy-like disease described in the Parshiyot of ...

'' 11:1. Rabbi Isaac's commentary of ''Seder Zera'im'' has been printed in the 1890 Romm Wilna edition of the

Babylonian 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 ...

. In most editions of the ''Berakhot'' tractate, his commentary on ''Seder Zera'im'' appears in its entirety. The portion of Rabbi Isaac's Mishnah commentary of '' Bikkurim'' 2:4, unto the end of the tractate, is of special importance, as it has been printed in Shimshon of Sens's commentary of the Mishnah where he left no commentary of his own. In Rabbi Isaac ben Melchizedek's commentary, besides citing from the two Talmuds, he frequently makes use of other classical rabbinic sources, such as the ''

Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

'', 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", a ...

'' on Leviticus, '' Sifrei Zuṭa'' on the Book of Numbers, the

Aramaic Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

, the '' Seder 'Olam'', the ''Sefer Arukh'' of Rabbi

Nathan ben Jehiel Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; ''Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi'' according to Sephardic pronunciation) ( 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmud ...

of Rome, the commentary written by Rabbi

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...

on the Mishnaic orders of ''Zera'im'' and ''Ṭaharot'', as well as cites elements taken from R. Nissim's ''Sefer Mafteaḥ'' ("The book of the key to unlocking the Talmud").

Manuscripts

Two manuscripts exist of Isaac ben Melchizedek's Mishnah commentary, one at the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

in Oxford (no. 392 - ichael 203, written on paper and copied in the 16-17th century, containing all of ''Seder Zera'im''; the other is housed at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

(Or 6712), formerly the British Museum, written on parchment and also containing all of ''Seder Zera'im''. Isaac ben Melchizedek Commentary - 2

Importance

Rabbi Isaac's Mishnah commentary was published and edited by Nisan Meir Zaks ( ''q.v.'' N.M. Zaks) in 1975,

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Prize, and for former music direc ...

of the "Rav Kook Award" for original Torah literature. When read in conjunction with other commentaries, it is an indispensable source for helping scholars understand the

diachrony Synchrony and diachrony are two complementary viewpoints in linguistic analysis. A ''synchronic'' approach (from grc, συν- "together" and "time") considers a language at a moment in time without taking its history into account. Synchronic l ...

of the

Hebrew language 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 ...

, especially in its use of Greek

loan words A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...

, and how that some words have changed in meaning over the course of two millennia. Rabbi Isaac's method of elucidating the Mishnah is concise, resembling that of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

's commentary on 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 ...

. His commentary is unique in that he not only employs in his commentary Aramaic words to elucidate the text, but also Arabic, Greek, Latin and Italian words, written in Hebrew characters.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

The British Library - Collection of Talmud Commentaries
(Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project), including commentary of Isaac ben Melchizedek of Siponto
The Commentary of Rabbi Isaac ben Melchzedek of Siponto - ''Seder Zera'im''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac ben Melchizedek 12th-century Italian rabbis Commentaries on the Mishnah Medieval Hebraists Medieval Jewish writers Bodleian Library collection British Library collections Italian Hebraists Hebrew language 1160 deaths