Joseph Kara

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Joseph ben Simeon Kara (c. 1065 – c. 1135) (Hebrew : יוסף בן שמעון קרא), also known as Mahari Kara, was a French Bible exegete who was born and lived in Troyes.

Contents

Biography

His uncle and teacher was Menachem ben Helbo, whom Ḳara often cites in his commentaries, these quotations being almost the only source of knowledge concerning Menahem's exegesis.

Ḳara frequented Rashi's house; it is even possible that he was Rashi's pupil, [1] though this is denied by A. Epstein. They each quote from the other. [2] In Rashi's house Ḳara also made the acquaintance of Samuel ben Meïr. [3] They likewise quote each other. [4]

Isaac Ḳara, of whose exegesis specimens are given in Monatsschrift, 1864, p. 219; 1865, p. 384, [5] may be Joseph's son.

The surname "Ḳara" is usually taken to be a professional name, meaning "reader" or "interpreter of the Bible". [6] Adolf Jellinek points out, however, [7] that "Ḳara," as contrasted with "Darshan," means the representative of the "Peshaṭ" ("Pashṭan").

He was among the first French exegetes and the forerunner of the French school of exegetes later to come. They were all to some extent influenced by his works, most notably among them, the Rashbam. Rashi too was influenced by R. Yosef who repeated his teacher's comments to him and incorporated several of them in his commentary. [8]

Works

Ḳara was a prolific exegetical writer. When he copied Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch he added numerous glosses and remarks in order to supplement and revise it; and these glosses were inserted by the scribes in the text of Rashi. They have been collected. [9]

The original or independent Bible commentaries of Ḳara are:

It is quite possible that Ḳara wrote also commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah, but that the commentaries on these books as contained in MS. Saraval No. 27, and ascribed to Joseph Ḳara, are not genuine. [24] Some comments of Ḳara on Chronicles must have existed, as is proved by the quotations in pseudo-Rashi to those books (see II Chronicles 3:15, 5:9, 25:24). According to Epstein, [25] Ḳara wrote additionally

Characteristics

While in his glosses on the Pentateuch and in his commentaries on the Prophets Ḳara depends upon Rashi to the greatest extent, his explanations of the Hagiographa are more original. He quotes Menahem ben Saruḳ, Dunash ibn Labraṭ, Judah and Moses ha-Darshan, Ḳalir, Meïr Sheliaḥ Ẓibbur, Kalonymus, and others. In his commentary on Book of Job he frequently uses the writings of Shabbethai Donnolo, and gives very valuable extracts from the lost Baraita of Samuel with Donnolo's commentary (comp. Epstein, l.c. pp. 34 et seq.).

His grammatical standpoint is that of Rashi. Whole Hebrew sentences are sometimes translated into French. In his expressions he is not as terse as Rashi. He is bold enough to express the opinion that the Book of Samuel was not written by the prophet himself, but later (Commentary on I Samuel ix.9). He does not go into grammatical or philological research, and cares more for the sense of the whole sentence than for a single word. He shows more common sense than depth, and though he does not altogether hold aloof from aggadic interpretations, he takes a leading place among the exegetes of northern France, who in general preferred the rational exegesis.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tosafot</span> Medieval commentaries on the Talmud

The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes.

Eleazar of Worms, or Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today as Eleazar Rokeach from the title of his Book of the Perfumer —where the numerical value of "Perfumer" is equal to Eleazar, was a leading Talmudist and Kabbalist, and the last major member of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a group of German Jewish pietists.

Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, also called Yehuda HeHasid or 'Judah the Pious' in Hebrew, was a leader of the Chassidei Ashkenaz, a movement of Jewish mysticism in Germany considered different from the 18th-century Hasidic movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov.

Samuel ben Meir, after his death known as the "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi".

Moshe haDarshan was chief of the yeshiva of Narbonne, and perhaps the founder of Jewish exegetical studies in France. Along with Rashi, his writings are often cited as the first extant writings in Zarphatic, the Judæo-French language.

Tobiah ben Eliezer was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of Lekach Tov or Pesikta Zutarta, a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot.

Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor of Orléans was a French tosafist, exegete, and poet who flourished in the second half of the 12th century. He was the father of Abraham ben Joseph of Orleans and Saadia Bekhor Shor.

Isaiah di Trani ben Mali (the Elder) (c. 1180 – c. 1250) (Hebrew: ישעיה בן מאלי הזקן דטראני), better known as the RID, was a prominent Italian Talmudist.

Samuel ben Hofni was the gaon of Sura Academy in Mesopotamia ("Babylonia") from 998 to 1012.

Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani (the Younger) (Hebrew: ישעיה בן אליהו דטראני) was an Italian Talmudist and commentator who lived in the 13th century. He was the grandson, on his mother's side, of Isaiah (ben Mali) di Trani the Elder. He is usually quoted as ריא"ז (= "R. Isaiah Acharon, ז"ל"), or (ריב"א = "R. Isaiah ben Elijah").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shabbethai Donnolo</span> Graeco-Italia Jewish physician

Shabbethai Donnolo was a Graeco-Italian Jewish physician and writer on medicine and astrology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midrash Abkir</span> Midrash on Genesis and Exodus

Midrash Abkir is one of the smaller midrashim, the extant remains of which consist of more than 50 excerpts contained in the Yalkut Shimoni and a number of citations in other works. It dealt, according to all accessible evidence, only with the first two books of the Pentateuch.

<i>Yalkut Shimoni</i>

The Yalkut Shimoni, or simply Yalkut, is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. It is a compilation of older interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, arranged according to the sequence of those portions of the Bible to which they referred.

Shemaiah of Soissons was a French Jewish scholar of the 12th century. He is often erroneously identified with Shemaiah of Troyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baraita of the Forty-nine Rules</span>

The Baraita of the Forty-nine Rules is a work of rabbinical literature which is no longer in existence except in references by later authorities. It is mentioned or cited by Rashi, the Tosafists, Abraham ibn Ezra, Yalḳut, and Asher ben Jehiel. Rashi on Exodus 26:5, Yalkut Shimoni Genesis 61, calls it "Midrash"; Rashi on Exodus 27:6 calls it "Mishnah".

Simeon ben Helbo Kara was a French rabbi who lived in Mans in the 11th century; brother of Menahem ben Helbo and father of Joseph Ḳara. Isaac de Lattes, in his Ḳiryat Sefer, counts Ḳara among the prominent French rabbis, although no work of his has survived. J.L. Rapoport identified him with the compiler of the Yalḳuṭ Shim'oni, on account of the similarity of some Midrashic quotations in this work with citations in Rashi's Bible commentary. Abraham Epstein has, however, shown that in the manuscripts the name "Ḳara" does not occur, and in place of "Simeon" the reading "Simson" at times is found.

Isaac ben Dorbolo was a rabbi, about 1150.

Kalonymos or Kalonymus is a prominent Jewish family who lived in Italy, mostly in Lucca and in Rome, which, after the settlement at Mainz and Speyer of several of its members, took during many generations a leading part in the development of Jewish learning in Germany. The family is according to many considered the foundation of Hachmei Provence and the Ashkenazi Hasidim.

Meir ben Samuel, also known by the Hebrew acronym RaM for Rabbi Meir, was a French rabbi and tosafist, who was born in about 1060 in Ramerupt, and died after 1135. His father was an eminent scholar. Meir received his education in the Talmudical schools of Lorraine, his principal teachers being Isaac ben Asher ha-Levi and Eleazar ben Isaac of Mainz, with whom he later carried on a correspondence.

References

  1. Zunz, Z.G. p. 68.
  2. Compare Joseph Ḳara on Proverbs 4:4, 5:14, 6:23, 18:22; Rashi on Judges 3:26; Numbers 17:5, 24:14; Isaiah 10:24
  3. Compare RaSHBaM on Gen. 37:13
  4. Compare RaSHBaM on Genesis 24:60 and Numbers iv.10; Rosin, R. Samuel ben Meïr, pp. 12 et seq., 72 et seq.; Joseph Ḳara on Amos 3:12; Job 11:17; Gen. 10:15; Porges, in Monatsschrift, 1883, p. 169.
  5. Compare Rosin, l.c. pp. 24 et seq.
  6. See Jew. Encyc. iii.168, s.v. Bible Exegesis
  7. Commentarien zu Esther, Ruth, etc., p. vi, Leipzig, 1855.
  8. The Rishonim, The Artscroll history series. Entry R. Yosef Kara.
  9. By A. Geiger in Niṭ'e Na'amanim, i.1 et seq.; idem in Parschandatha, pp. 21 et seq.; and by Abraham Berliner in Pleitath Soferim (Hebr. part), p. 12.
  10. "ALHATORAH.ORG". alhatorah.org. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  11. "ALHATORAH.ORG". alhatorah.org. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  12. See Samuel Poznanski in Zeit. für Hebr. Bibl. v.68
  13. In Ha-Shaḥar, ii.289, iii.688, iv.55l see also, L. Dukes in Orient, Lit. 1847, p. 344
  14. In Josef ben Simeon Kara, pp. 26–32
  15. Porges, in Monatsschrift, 1883, p. 170; Rosin, l.c. p. 72, note 2
  16. (Commentaire sur Jerémie, Paris, 1881; comp. Brüll's Jahrb. vii.170 et seq.; see, also, Zunz, Z.G. p. 68; Geiger, l.c. i.18
  17. see also, S.D. Luzzatto in Kerem Ḥemed, vii. 61 et seq.; A. Geiger, l.c. [Hebr. part], pp. 11 et seq.
  18. Ḥamesh Megillot, Prague, 1866; see Salfeld, Das Hohelied Salomo's, p. 49
  19. compare A. Epstein in Ha-Ḥoḳer, i.31, note 2
  20. Divre Ḥakhamim, pp. 17 et seq., Metz, 1849
  21. In Kaufmann Gedenkbuch, pp. 8 et seq.
  22. in Berliner's Magazin, xiii. [Oẓar Ṭov]
  23. ib. 1878; compare ib. 1876, p. 158
  24. A. Geiger, in Oẓar Neḥmad, iv.43 et seq.
  25. l.c. i.29 et seq.
  26. compare Zunz, Ritus, p. 198

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Richard Gottheil; Max Schloessinger (1901–1906). "Joseph ben Simeon Kara". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.