Yechiel of Paris | |
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Personal | |
Born | end of the 12th century [1] |
Died | c. 1268 |
Religion | Judaism |
Children | Moses ben Yechiel |
Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris or Jehiel of Paris, called Sire Vives in French (Judeo-French: שיר ויויש) and Vivus Meldensis ("Vives of Meaux") in Latin, [2] was a major Talmudic scholar and Tosafist from northern France, father-in-law of Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil. He was a disciple of Rabbi Judah Messer Leon, and succeeded him in 1225 as head of the Yeshiva of Paris, [1] which then boasted some 300 students; his best known student was Meir of Rothenburg. He is the author of many Tosafot.
Rabbinical eras |
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Yechiel of Paris is best known as the main defender of Judaism in the 1240 Disputation of Paris held at the court of Louis IX, where he argued against the convert Nicholas Donin. This was the first formal Christian-Jewish disputation held in medieval Christendom. In defence of accusations of slanderous quotes in the Talmud against the founder of Christianity, Yechiel argued that the references to Yeshu in fact refer to different individuals. Yechiel delineates them as Jesus himself another "Yeshu haNotzri", also from Nazareth (Sanhedrin 107b), and a third "Yeshu" of the boiling excrement in Gittin 47a. [3] Berger (1998) writes: "Whatever one thinks of the sincerity of the multiple Jesus theory, R. Yehiel found a way to neutralize some dangerous rabbinic statements, and yet the essential Ashkenazic evaluation of Jesus remains even in the text of this disputation." Yechiel's argument was followed by Nachmanides at the Disputation of Barcelona in 1263[ citation needed ], but not by Profiat Duran at the Disputation of Tortosa in 1413–14. [4]
Although the disputants were believed by at least some to have successfully defended Judaism, a decree was passed for the public burning of all available manuscripts of the Talmud—and on Friday, June 17, 1244, 24 carriage loads of written works were set alight.
The arguments and the contents of the debate were published in Thorn in 1873 under the title Vikuaḥ Rabenu Yeḥiel mi Paris [5] (Hebrew : ויכוח רבינו יחיאל מפריס). [6]
According to some sources, Yechiel arrived in Outremer around 1258 and settled in Acre, then ruled by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, along with his son, Messire Delicieux (מישירא דילשיש) and a large group of followers. [7] [8] He soon re-established the Great Academy of Paris (Midrash haGadol d'Paris) [9] and is believed to have died there between 1265 and 1268. [10] He was buried near Haifa, at Mount Carmel.[ citation needed ][ clarification needed ]
According to Simha Emanuel [he] however, he never emigrated and died in France, [11] where a fragment of a funeral stone has been found bearing the inscription,
מורנו
י)יחיאל)
לגן עד
(translated: Our master Yehiel to the Paradise), which could be from Rabbi Yechiel.[ citation needed ]
He was a tosafist. His tosafot are quoted as authoritative by Peretz ben Elijah, [12] in "Kol Bo", [13] and in "Mordechai". [14] He is frequently quoted also in the edited tosafot.
The Talmud is, after the Hebrew Bible, 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 centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.
Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the Rosh. His yahrzeit is on 9 Cheshvan.
Adherents of Judaism do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah nor do they believe he was the Son of God. In the Jewish perspective, it is believed that the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, which is central to Judaism; Judaism sees the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, which is forbidden. Therefore, considering Jesus divine, as “God the Son”, is forbidden.
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.
Yeshu is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature, thought by some to refer to Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name Yeshu is also used in other sources before and after the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. It is also the modern Israeli spelling of Jesus.
Jacob the heretic is the name given to a 2nd-century heretic whose doings were used as examples in a few passages of the Tosefta and Talmud to illustrate laws relating to dealing with heresy (minut).
Meir of Rothenburg (c. 1215 – 2 May 1293) was a German Rabbi and poet, as well as a major contributing author of the tosafot on Rashi's commentary on the Talmud. He is also known as Meir ben Baruch, and by the Hebrew language acronym Maharam of Rothenburg. He was referred to by Rabbi Menachem Meiri as the "greatest Jewish leader of Zarfat" alive at the time.
Samson ben Abraham of Sens ,was one of the leading French Tosafists in the second half of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. He was the most outstanding student and the spiritual heir of Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel ha-Zaken. He is referred also known as "the Rash" or "the Prince of Sens", and within Tosafot as "Rashba".
Nicholas Donin of La Rochelle, a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-century Paris, is known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of all available manuscripts of the Talmud. Latin sources referred to him as "Repellus," referring to his native La Rochelle.
Yechiel is a Hebrew masculine given name meaning "May God live" or "God shall live".
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The Disputation of Paris, also known as the Trial of the Talmud, took place in 1240 at the court of King Louis IX of France. It followed the work of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who translated the Talmud and pressed 35 charges against it to Pope Gregory IX by quoting what appeared to be a series of blasphemous passages about Jesus, Mary, or Christianity. Four rabbis defended the Talmud against Donin's accusations.
There are several passages in the Talmud which are believed by some scholars to be references to Jesus. The name used in the Talmud is "Yeshu", the Aramaic vocalization of the Hebrew name Yeshua.
Nosson Dovid Rabinowich is an American scholar of classical and medieval Jewish history former Dean of Ahavath Torah Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He is a descendant of Nathan David Rabinowich of Shidlowce and is a modern advocate of "the theory of the two Jesuses." In February 2013 he was arrested for attempting to lure a child for sex.
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