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 ItalianTalmudist.[1]
Isaiah originated inTrani,[2] an ancient settlement of Jewish scholarship, and lived probably inVenice. He carried on a correspondence withSimhah of Speyer and with Simḥah's two pupils,Isaac ben Moses of Vienna[3] andAbigdor Cohen of Vienna. Isaiah himself probably lived for some time in theOrient. He left a learned son, David, and a daughter, with whose son,Isaiah ben Elijah di Trani, he has often been confounded.[1]
Isaiah was a very prolific writer. He wrote:Nimmukim orNimmukei Homesh, a commentary on thePentateuch, consisting mainly ofglosses onRashi which show him to have been, asGüdemann says, an acute critic rather than a dispassionateexegete. The work has been printed as an appendix toAzulai'sPenei Dawid (Leghorn, 1792); extracts from it have been published in Stern's edition of the Pentateuch (Vienna, 1851) under the titlePeturei Tzitzim[4] andZedekiah ben Abraham, author ofShibbolei haLeket and a pupil of Isaiah, composed glosses on it in 1297.[5] As regards other Bible commentaries ascribed to him, seeIsaiah di Trani the Younger. Isaiah also wrote an introduction (petiḥah) to aseliḥah beginning with איכה שפתי,[6] which has been metrically translated into German by Zunz.[7][8]
Isaiah's chief importance, however, rests upon the fact that he was the most prominent representative ofTalmudic scholarship inItaly. He wrote commentaries on almost the whole Talmud, in the form oftosafot,ḥiddushim (novellae), orpesakim (decisions). Of histosafot the following have been printed: those toKiddushin, in the Sabbionetta (1553) edition of that treatise;[9] onTa'anit andKiddushin, inEleazar ben Aryeh Löw'sEinei haEdah (Prague, 1809); onBaba Batra,Baba Kamma,Baba Metzia,Avodah Zarah,Hagigah,Shabbat,Niddah,Eruvin,Rosh haShanah,Yoma,Sukkah,Megillah,Mo'ed Katan,Pesahim,Bezah,Nedarim, andNazir, in the two collectionsTosafot R. Yeshayahu (Lemberg, 1861, 1869). Some extracts are also contained inBezalel Ashkenazi'sShittah Mekubbetzet.[8]
Of hispesakim there have been printed those onRosh haShanah,Hagigah, andTa'anit, inOholei Yitzhak (Leghorn, 1819); onBerakhot inN. Coronel'sBeit Natan (Vienna, 1854); onsukkah,tefillin,tzitzit, andmezuzah, inSam Chayyim (Leghorn, 1803); and some others exist in manuscript only.[10]
The author sometimes quotes thepesakim in histosafot, from which it would seem that he composed the former earlier than the latter. As in many instances thepesakim appear to have been inserted in thetosafot by the copyists; they cannot always be distinguished. Of some of the tosafot Isaiah made two or more versions.[8]
Isaiah also wrote, under the titleHaMachria',halakhic discussions and decisions on ninety-two halakhic topics. The first edition of this work (Leghorn, 1779) contains also histosafot (orchiddushim) onTa'anit. Isaiah mentions other works of his; e.g., a second commentary on theSifra,Kontres haZikronot,Sefer haLeket, and someresponsa, a volume of whichAzulai claims to have seen in manuscript and which exist in the collection of manuscripts inCambridge University.[8]
Isaiah possessed a remarkable clarity of expression, which enabled him to expound the most difficult topics with ease and lucidity. The same severe criticism that he passed upon such respected authorities asRashi,Alfasi,Jacob Tam,Samuel ben Meir,Isaac ben Samuel (RI), and others he applied toward his own halakhic decisions whenever he changed his view. He was in favor of a more moderate interpretation of theLaw, and he condemned the ritualistic rigor of the teachers ofFrance andGermany. According to Güdemann, Isaiah, as a halakhic authority, had for Italy the same importance thatMaimonides had for the Orient and Rabbeinu Tam for the Jews of France and Germany. He was held in very high esteem both by his contemporaries and by the teachers of the following centuries; even one so important asIsaac ben Moses of Vienna called him andEliezer ben Samuel of Verona "the two kings of Israel"[11]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Isaiah (ben Mali) di Trani".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography:
