161 Abraham Gross GERONA: A SEPHARDIC CRADLE OF ...

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Ezra Chwat Fig. 5 – Gerona, Historical Archive: Hebr. Frag. 1, in wich Nahmanides is quoted (line 10). 186
Identifying an Alfasi Gloss-Supplement in a Gerona Fragment the Geronese academy of Nahmanides. A student of Nahmanides, Shelomoh ibn Aderet refers to him as , and Nahmanides himself refers to him as a respected decision-maker, so he can be placed in Gerona in the mid-13nth century. Earlier this year I have published the remains of his composition of Alfasi Rosh Ha-Shanah. His work is peculiarly oft quoted by name in the Novellae on Talmud of Yom Tov Asevilli, but is otherwise, practically unmentioned by the other talmudists. Unmentioned, but not unused. Many articles in the work in front of us are clearly influenced by Isaac of Narbonne’s composition. This skeletal type of recension is a common trait in this genre, the Alfasi gloss-supplements. The function of this genre is not to offer new analysis of the Talmud text, but to enable the student of (halakha) to understand the talmudic langue of Alfasi, while supplying him with additional halakhic information that Alfasi omitted. The intention of the composer is to update the Alfasi Code so it can continue to serve as the central base text of Halakha, preserving it from obsolescence, by allowing it to facilitate halakhic pluralism. Thusly, the brilliance of the author is not inherit in logical nuances, rather in the clarity of his presentation, the scope of his sources and in the virtuosity of his composition. So the authors of this genre are practically obligated to build their compositions on the foundations of the same works of the previous generation. In the Aragonese academy, in all four generations after Nahmanides, we know of numerous works of this type, in which the literary products of each generation, serve as the skeletal texts in the works of the next one. In Aragon the chain starts with the students of Nahmanides, Aharon ha-Levi Denaclara (R’ah) and Isaac of Narbonne. In the next generation, in addition to the author of this work, there are numerous other compositions by unnamed students of Shelomoh ibn Aderet that have recently been published. One of these, found in a ms. in the Ginzburg Collection in Moscow was published last year by A. Shoshanah of the Ofeq Institute, had a profound influence on Nissim Gerondi’s composition, the 14nth century work which is found alongside the Alfasi in all the printed editions. This influence is blatant not only in his agenda of debatable topics, his choice of sources, questions and answers, but even on a textual level as well, as whole articles are virtually copied from one to another. More often, articles in the Moscow ms. are reworded by Nissim Gerondi are altered in the logical order of the text, apparently for the sake of clarity. The same correlation is found in our text as well. Notice the following example, found on page 4, relating to the third saying (memra) of Rabbi Yitzhaq found on 16b in the Bavli, paragraph 536 in Hilkhot Alfasi: <strong>GERONA</strong> FRAGMENT NISSIM GERONDI ON ALFASI Fragm. 4, f. 2v (Fig. 2) 1. ….. 2. 3. . 4. 5. . 6. Fragm. 1, f. 1r (Fig. 3) 7. 8. 9. … … 187
Page 1 and 2: Abraham Gross GERONA: A SEPHARDIC C
Page 3 and 4: A Sephardic Cradle of Jewish Learni
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Page 7 and 8: Danièle Iancu-Agou LES LIVRES INVE
Page 9 and 10: Les livres inventories de Gerone Na
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Page 15 and 16: Les livres inventories de Gerone Mi
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Page 19 and 20: Les livres inventories de Gerone lu
Page 21 and 22: Les livres inventories de Gerone Le
Page 23 and 24: Ezra Chwat IDENTIFYING AN ALFASI GL
Page 25: Identifying an Alfasi Gloss-Supplem
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161 Abraham Gross GERONA: A SEPHARDIC CRADLE OF ...

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