Isaac ben Moses Abulafia (1824-1910) was a rabbi and halakhist.
Abulafia, who was born in Tiberias, was rabbi of Damascus from c. 1877. His authoritarian attitude and his habit of making independent halakhic decisions roused the opposition of the other rabbis and of the communal leaders of Damascus, who united in an attempt to remove him from his position. In 1896 they turned to Moses ha-Levi, the Hakham Bashi, in Constantinople, who acceded to their request by appointing Solomon Eliezer Alfandari rabbi of Damascus. The two rabbis did not at first cooperate with each other. Later, however, Alfandari brought Abulafia into the sphere of his activities. Toward the end of his life Abulafia acted as rabbi in Tyre. From there he moved to Jerusalem, and finally to Tiberias, where he died. An outstanding halakhic scholar, his responsa Penei Yizhak were published in six volumes (1871-1906). Some scholars, especially Shalom Hai Gagin of Jerusalem, were critical of the first volume, and Abulafia wrote Lev Nishbar (1878) in reply to his critics.
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam, was a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. He was born and lived in Córdoba in al-Andalus within the Almoravid Empire on Passover eve 1138 or 1135, until his family was expelled for refusing to convert to Islam. Later, he lived in Morocco and Egypt and worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher.
Tiberias is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. In 2022, it had a population of 48,472.
Shimon bar Yochai or Shimon ben Yochai, also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tanna or sage of the period of Roman Judaea and early Syria Palaestina. He was one of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva. The Zohar, a 13th-century foundational work of Kabbalah, is ascribed to him by Kabbalistic tradition, but this claim is universally rejected by modern scholars.
The Jerusalem Talmud or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talmud after Palestine or the Land of Israel—rather than Jerusalem—is considered more accurate, as the text originated mainly from Galilee in Byzantine Palaestina Secunda rather than from Jerusalem, where no Jews lived at the time.
Moses Isserles, also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek. He is considered the "Maimonides of Polish Jewry."
Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba, the Hebrew acronym of his title and name: Rabbi Shlomo ben Avraham.
Mordechai ben Hillel HaKohen, also known as The Mordechai or, by some Sephardic scholars, as The Mordechie, was a 13th-century German rabbi and posek. His chief legal commentary on the Talmud, referred to as The Mordechai, is one of the sources of the Shulchan Aruch. He was killed in the Rintfleisch massacres in 1298.
Moses ben Joseph di Trani the Elder, known by his acronym Mabit was a 16th-century rabbi in Safed.
Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia, also known as the Ramah, was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain.
Abulafia or Abolafia is a Sephardi Jewish surname whose etymological origin is in the Arabic language. The family name, like many other Hispanic-origin Sephardic Jewish surnames, originated in Spain among Spanish Jews (Sephardim), during the time when it was ruled as Al-Andalus by Arabic-speaking Moors.
Moshe Feinstein was a Russian-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi, scholar, and posek. He has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the twentieth century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature. Feinstein served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, Chairman of the Council of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudath Israel of America, and head of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York.
Jews have resided in Syria from ancient times. They were joined by Sephardim who fled after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492 CE. There were large Jewish communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Qamishli for centuries. In the early 20th century, a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to British Mandate-Palestine, the U.S. and Latin America.
Hezekiah da Silva (1659–1698) was a rabbi and Jewish author born in Livorno, Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He was the son-in-law of the dayan Mordechai Rafael Malachi.
Moshe ibn Habib was the Rishon LeZion, Hakham Bashi and the head of a major yeshiva in Jerusalem.
The Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina were yeshivot that served as centers for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Syria Palaestina, and later Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda. The academies had a major influence on Judaism through the development of the Jerusalem Talmud, or Palestinian Talmud, which was compiled into book form in around 350–400 CE.
Following are timelines of the history of Ottoman Syria, taken as the parts of Ottoman Syria provinces under Ottoman rule.
Solomon Eliezer Alfandari, also known as the Saba Kadisha, was a distinguished rabbi, kabbalist and rosh yeshiva in his native home of Istanbul, and later served as Chief Rabbi of Damascus, Syria Vilayet, and Safed, Beirut Vilayet. He was known for his stringent interpretation of halakha and his uncompromising dedication to Orthodox Judaism.
Yitzhaq Shami was a Palestinian Jewish and Israeli writer, who wrote both in Arabic and Hebrew. He is one of the earliest modern Hebrew literature writers in Palestine, prior to Israeli statehood. His work was unique for his period, since in contrast with the vast majority of Hebrew writers of the period he crafted his art based on characters who were either Arabs or Sephardic Jews, residing in the Ottoman Palestine, and his literary influences were predominantly Arab and Middle Eastern. Shami published short stories, one novella, several poems and a number of essays.
Yemenite scrolls of the Law containing the Five Books of Moses represent one of three authoritative scribal traditions for the transmission of the Torah, the other two being the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions that slightly differ. While all three traditions purport to follow the Masoretic traditions of Aaron ben Moses ben Asher, slight differences between the three major traditions have developed over the years. Biblical texts proofread by ben Asher survive in two extant codices, the latter said to have only been patterned after texts proofread by Ben Asher. The former work, although more precise, was partially lost following its removal from Aleppo in 1947.
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