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143 his uiiflinchina; orthodoxy led to the most ixtnioidinarv li'irciids iiiiil opinions of tlif Taltnud, Ixliivini; thcni to hi- literNo wondrr that the manner in whieli ally tnic. Mainionidcs treated llie doelrine of resurrection in

and His liini

Abulafia

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

143

lo

sitlrilmtOR.

cliiifr

Yad ha-Hazakah made a painful impression Meir wrote a lei ler to the leadinir men of tipon luni. I.unel in order to express his indi;;nalion. He met, however, with scant approval; for Aaron l)en JFeshulInm answered him harshly, rebukinjj; him for his "

his "

presumption and

arroj,'anpc.

who was

so haughty that lie thought it derogatory to his dl;,'nily lo iiay a visit to his father, couM not i|Uielly sulTersueh a rebuke, anil replied willi great self conlidence. Contest with Mai- He next applied to the scholars of northern France regarding the sjime xnonides. matter, but his success with them was not greater. None the less he remained throughout his lifetime an opponent of Maimonides and an adJleir,

herent of the Cabala. On account of advanced age he took no ]iart in the controversies which broke out lat<-r with regard to the " Moreh." (an alluSleir was the author of "Yad Hamah sion to his name), a commentary on the 'I'almudic ''

Baba Batni and Sanhedrin

treatises

('2

vols.,

one in Toledo. This synagogue was finished in 1357, and was afterwarti converted into a church under

name of Ki. Tn.ixsiTo. Hebrew in.scriptions, still lucserved on the side walls of this edifice today a national monument perpetuate the memory of his good deeds. Samuel maintained himself nearly twenty years in his high position. In 1300 Don Pedro discovered the existence of a widespread conspiracy in which the archbishop of Toledo anil Don Saiiiuel were sjiid to be implicated. The archbishop was ex]>elle(l,but Don Samuel, who. it is said, had been denounced by envious coreligionists, was dragged to Seville and imprisoned, together with liis wealthy relatives. His entire fortune and that of his relatives, consisting of 190,000 doubloons (Sit.50.000 or tl!)5,737), twenty boxes filled with jewelry and silk and velvet clothing, and eighty slaves, were confiscated by the king. lie died under torture in Seville, November, 13(50. "From the prison, in which his king caused him to be affiicted, the Lord summoned the

—

—

him

to

a lieavenh' habitation."

HlBI.Ioc.RAPlIV: Amador de los Hios, Hixtnria (If Im Jiid'ioB, II. 22a ft .stf/. (iiiltz, (Ifiich. d. Jtiden. vll. 41 1 f ( «"n I'cdro iind scin Scliatzmeiftcr Samuel Levi, In MoiiiitKSChrift, vl. Htli et scq.



Salo-

nica, 1790, 1798), and of the valuable work, "Masoret Seyag la-Torah," containing Ma.soretic notes

Samuel ha-Levi Abulafia: Translatorof Toledo, whowas still livingin r.37s. At the command of King

on the Pentateuch, alphabetically arranged (FlorHis coiTespondence with ence. 1750; IJerlin, 17(il). the "Sages of Lunel" was published from the manuscript by ,1. lirill under the title " Kilab al-Hasji'ilStfer Iggerol" (Paris, 1S71). Compare iVAUO.N BEN

Alfonso X. of Castile he translated from Araliic into Spanish " Fabrica y Usos del Orlogio della Candela" (Manufacture and Uses of the Candle Clock).

Mksiiullam.

Buimograpiiy:

Stcinsclincider, Cat. Bndl. col. irViS; Idem, Ihiir. I'ebcrs.ji.'Mi; Griitz, rvcscd.d. Jia/cii, vll.ltili; KavserExjj.-Purt. Jud. p. 9il.

lliig, liihl.

M. K. BlBi.ioc.RAPMV: Cclger. JIM. Zeil. (Jfxeh. d.

Judcu^

vll. 3t>

Moses Abulafia ish ?iiusieian



(lied

ix.

282 et seq.; Griitz,

ct »aj.

(or

Todros Abulafia

Abu AmrumMusa):

r.Js;!.

He was

Ihe

.son

Span-

of .losejdi

Aliulatia, and wrote a treatise on music (Steinsclmeider, " Hebr. I'ihl.'" viii. 70, xix. iOct sctj.; idem, "llebr. I'ebers. ' p. 6Ki. Another Moses Abulafia was a rabbi in Toledo between 1470 and 1480 (Zunz, "Z. G." p. 4:m».

Samuel ha-Levi Abulafia

(or Al-Levi, but erfinancier; Imrii at Toledo about i;j','ll; was treasurer to Don Pedro the Cniel of Castile. In 1U."> lie was recommended to the king as cliiif treasurer by the minisler .luan Alfonso de Albiii|ueri|iie. whose estates he managed. He soon became privy (ciuneihjrof his new master, and was Through his the most iiillueiilial man in Castile. friendship for Dona Maria de I'adilla, the mistress of Pedro, he drew on himself the hatred of the legitimate (lueen and of the grandees who adhered to her cause. In lH.Vt. while with the king in Ihe fortress of Toro, he was suddenly seized by the enemies of Ihe monarch and thrown into prison. He suecee<led in procuring his release Ihrough Ihi' payment of a large ransom and escaped, togelher with Ihe king, wild had also been seized. Don Samuel ha Levi restored the thoroughly disorganize<I tinanees of the slate, and by rigorous control of the taxcol-

roneously

h'clors,

which

AUavi): Spanish

on the one hand, and by an arrangement made with the credilors, on the other, lie

hi'

lo accumiilale a large amount of money in the riiyal treasury. He appoiiiled a number of his relatives ciilhclors of taxes. Ilisnephew. Jo-

managed

Don

seph ha-Levi. became lax-eollcctorof Siville.

Iloii

occupied a mansion in Toledo. which as Palacio del .ludio (".lew's I'alace '"). Several synagogues were built at his expense in various purls of Castile, among them a magnillceut

Sannii'l ha-l.evi Is still

known

Spanish Talniudist, religious born in 1234; died at Seville after cabalist 1304 (according to Griitz. "(Jcsch. d. Juden." viii. note 12; Zacuto in the "Yuhasiu" gives 12S8; AzuHe lai, 1283; Zunz,"Literalurge-scli." p. 481. 1283).

and

lioet.



was a sfin of .Joseph ben Todros ben .Tudali ha-Levi Abulafia and a nephew of Jleirben Todros Abulafia. He was wealthv and inlluential and enjoved the royal favor of King'Sancho IV. of Castile {1284-95). "At one time lie fell into disgrace, was imprisoned and in danger of capital punishment. "While in prison he had a vision foretelling his speedy release, which hapHe wasan especial ))eneil on the following morning. favorite of Queen Maria de Molina and. as one of her retinue, accompanied the monarchs of Castile to their meeting with the king of France on Provencal soil. Upon this occasion great respect was shown him by the .lews of southern France, and the poet Abraham Isaac Bedersi coniposeil .some eulogistic verses in his honor. A ]ioetie dedicalion by Todros himself is mentioned by Ziinz ("S. P." ji. 481). and he was also the aulhorof "Scfcr Aliyot Yebaniot," containing novell.e upon the Talmudic treatise Yebaniot (.Vzulai, "Sheiii ha (iedolim"). He devoted most alleiition, however, to the Cabala. He, like his sons .Joseph ami Levi, liberally supHe wrote two cabalistic ported cabalistic scholars. works, (1) "Slia'ar halfazim" (The Gate of Socrel.s), a commentary on Ps. xix.. in which he iliscusscs its mysleries in connection with Ihe St'firot; (2)"zar ha Kabod " (The Treasury of (Jlory), an inli'rpretation of tln> Talmudic Haggadot in a cabaThe seilion of this realise dealing with listic .sense. l{enikot and Mo'cd has JH'en printed (Novydvor, 180S). Quouil ions from the Zohar occur in it forthe I

first

time (27n;

mt3D n3 I'tOCnD.

Zohar,

i.

3(fcr,

14.V.).

This

is

the

first

atteni|>t al a cabalistic

explanation