Hachmei Provence () refers to the
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 o ...
s of
Provence, now known as
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
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
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
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
Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language, Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This ...
. 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
Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label=Occitan language, Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteen ...
),
Lunel (which is informally transliterated ''Lunil''), and the city of
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, not far (7 km) from the Mediterranean coast. It also included cities which at that time formed part of the
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...
political and cultural domain, such as
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
. 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
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of
Comtat Venaissin, who remained following the
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
Sephardi rites and the Nusach Ashkenaz, and was in some ways closer to the
Italian rite than to either.
After the
French Revolution, when Venaissin was annexed by France, the Provençal rite was replaced by the
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
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
*
Joseph Kimhi and sons
David and
Moshe.
*
Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne the ''Eshkol'', also known as the RABaD II.
*
Isaac ben Merwan ha-Levi
Isaac ben Merwan ha-Levi ( he, יצחק בן מרון הלוי; flourished in the first third of the 12th century) was a Provençal rabbi and Talmudist; he was the elder son of Merwan of Narbonne.
As highly respected in the community as his father ...
*
Aaron ben Jacob Ha-Kohen the
Orhoth Chaim
Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen was a Provençal rabbi, one of a family of scholars living at Narbonne, France (not Lunel, as David Conforte and others say), and who suffered the expulsion of the Jews in 1306.
He emigrated to Majorca, and there, some t ...
, according to some he lived in
Lunel.
Lunel
*
Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona the ''Baal haMaor''.
*
Abraham ben Nathan haYarhi (''Yareah'' is
Hebrew for
moon, which is ''Lune'' in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, the source for the city-name ''Lunel'').
*
Yonatan HaKohen of Lunel.
*
Abba Mari haYarhi, and his son
Isaac.
* Rava Shlomo Yitzchaki (
Rashi) (disputed)
Montpellier
*
Solomon of Montpellier Solomon ben Abraham ben Samuel, also known as Solomon of Montpellier and Shlomo Min Hahar, was a Provençal rabbi and Talmudist of the first half of the 13th century. He was rabbi at Montpellier, and leader of the movement against Maimonides. Mei ...
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
Kabbalist
*
Menachem Meiri
*
Nathan ben Meir
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
*Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David and ...
of
Trinquetaille
*
Shem-Tob ben Isaac of Tortosa Shem-Ṭob ben Isaac of Tortosa (born at Tortosa 1196) was a Provençal rabbi and physician.
Life
He engaged in commerce, and travelled. Once at Acre, he was reminded by its rabbi of his insufficient knowledge of the Jewish religion; and he left t ...
* The famous family
Ibn Tibbon
*
Caslari family
Caslari is the name of a Jewish family originally from Caylar (Latin, "Castalarium"), a village in the department of Hérault, France. An important Jewish community existed at Caylar in the Middle Ages. After the royal edict of 17 September 1394, ...
of
Carpentras
*
Bonet de Lattes
Bonet de Lattes (by 1450-after 1514) was a European Jewish physician and astrologer. He is known chiefly as the inventor of an astronomical ring-dial by means of which solar and stellar altitudes can be measured and the time determined with grea ...
*
Jacob Anatoli
Members of the Kalonymus Family
*
Kalonymus ben Kalonymus Kalonymus ben Kalonymus ben Meir (Hebrew: קלונימוס בן קלונימוס), also romanized as Qalonymos ben Qalonymos or Calonym ben Calonym, also known as Maestro Calo (Arles, 1286 – died after 1328) was a Jewish philosopher and transl ...
of
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
.
*
Kalonymus ben Todros
Kalonymus ben Todros () (d. ca. 1194) was a Provencal rabbi who flourished at Narbonne in the second half of the twelfth century. He bore the title '' Nasi'', and was the leader of the community when Benjamin of Tudela visited Narbonne in 1165. H ...
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