Judah ben Barzillai (Albargeloni)[1] was a CatalanTalmudist of the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. Almost nothing is known of his life. He came of a very distinguished family, on account of which he was not seldom called "ha-Nasi" (the prince), a title of honor borne also by his descendants inBarcelona.
It is very doubtful if Judah was a pupil ofIsaac ben Reuben, as some have asserted; nor can the names of his own pupils, and whetherAbraham ben Isaac of Lunel (RABaD II) was among them, be determined. It is certain that Abraham ben Isaac knew Judah personally and consulted him in difficult cases. Judah once had a controversy with his learned fellow citizenAbraham ben Ḥiyya. The latter, it seems, tried to postpone a wedding because the stars displayed unfavorable omens, while Judah held such a course to be contrary to law, since the regarding of omens is forbidden in theScriptures.
Judah was one of the greatest codifiers of theMiddle Ages. With the exception of a few fragments, hishalakhic writings have been lost. However, they are often cited as authoritative by Rabad II,Isaac ben Abba Mari (for both of whom he is simply "HaRav," or "HaRav haMeḥabber"),Abraham ben David (RABaD III), andZerahiah ben Isaac ha-Levi.
The works ofMaimonides andJacob ben Asher,[2] published a century later, caused Judah's codex to be neglected, although individual scholars down to the 16th century made use of it. From quotations found in works of more than forty authors it is seen that Judah codified the whole law, ritual and civil. HisSefer haIttim, of which manuscript fragments exist,[3] is cited by name. The fragments contain regulations forShabbat, but the book originally included not only regulations for the Sabbath, festivals, andRosh Chodesh, but also nearly all the material treated of in the first part of theṬur, and probably even more than this. Part of theSefer haIttim is printed inCoronel'sZekher Natan.[4] The part of the codex which deals with marriage laws and kindred topics is called by someSeder Nashim; by others,Yiḥus She'er Bosar. The civil law was contained in theSefer ha-Dinim (so read byHalberstam instead ofSefer ha-Dayyanim), which was divided into five "gates," and the extent of which may be judged from that portion of it published asSefer ha-Sheṭarot[5] embracing 138 pages, and treating of the different forms of contracts according to rabbinical law.
Besides thishalakhic work, Judah wrote a detailed commentary on theSefer Yetzirah. Like most commentaries onSefer Yetzirah, that by Judah helps little to an understanding of the text; on the contrary, it contains Judah's own rather diffuse, half-mystical, half-philosophical theological discussions. The author betrays an astonishing familiarity with theTalmudic-Midrashic literature, and gives extracts from works of theGeonim which are otherwise unknown.
Judah was acquainted with the philosophical writings ofSaadia and ofSamuel ben Hophni, but not with those ofSolomon ibn Gabirol andBaḥya. He shows little talent for dealing with theological or philosophical subjects. He argues strenuously against the charge made by theKaraites that the Rabbis favoredanthropomorphisms. TheSefer Yetzirah was first published by Halberstam in 1885 (Berlin).
A treatise on the preparation ofTorah scrolls[6] is attributed to Judah, but without sufficient reason. In his commentary toSefer Yetzirah Judah mentions another of his own works,Zemanim, about which nothing further is known. To judge from certain allusions of Judah it would seem that he wrote a commentary also on theBible; at any rate he had planned such a work.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Solomon Schechter,Louis Ginzberg (1901–1906)."Judah ben Barzillai". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography:
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