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15 :

Aaron ben Joseph Aaron ha-Levi

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

15

'• lm-5a*losh " (the Saint). He not only enlarged the older Karaite ritual by hisowncompDsitiDns.mauy of wliitli arc nithcr mystical in diameter ami imt of f;rcat literary merit, tint he His Xiiturg'ical also embodied in this ritual tlic hynuis and Other of Ibn (iabirol, Judah ha-Levi, Ibn Works. Ezni, and other jrreat litursieal poets of the Ualibanites, thus showinjr his broadness of mind as well as his tine judjrmeut and lie also composed a didactic ])oem. presenting taste. in brief rimes for popular instruction and education tlie contentsand spiiitual lessonsof each weekly portion of the I'entateueh. He wrote, besich's, brief commentaries on the earlier Prophets; on the later Prophets, of which oidy that on Isaiah has lieen preserved: and on the llai:io;;rapha, of wliieh the

one on .lob is mcntioiud in Ids Peutateueh commentary, and the one on the Psalms has been preserved only in part. He wrote, also, a _i;nimniar under the title of Kelil Yoti " (Diadem of Beauty), a compilation from older works, with his own additions, amontr which was a chapter on Bible exegesis; but he left it untiiiishcd. It was coiupleleil by Isaac Tishbi and published at Constantinople, in 1581, and ••

at Koslov. in 1H47. Aaron ben .Joseph's "Jlibhar" (existing in Lej-den, London. Paris, and elsewhere in manuscript) was published with a commentary by Joseph Solo-

mon ben Moses Yerushalmi. at Koslov. in 18;)."). For other commentaries see Tismbi. Ei.i.i.Mi I{. i!..M iii;n JiDAii. K.l,.M. S.vMtF.i, !!i;x JosEi'ii, and His commentary Li/Ki. .MiiitDKc.M liK.N Nissan. on the earlier propliets and Isjuah. chaps, i.-lix., was edited under the title " .Vrilihar Yeshariin," by Abraham Firkovilch. who completed the commentary on Isaiah, at Koslov, IH'io; better manuscripts are in Leyden. Aaron ben Joseph's commentary on the Psalms exists in Leyden in manuscript only and is incomplete. His liturgy. "SeehT Tetillot," appeared first in Veniee(I). Bomberg). l.W.'i-iO; then in Kale, 1734 ami IHO.T; and in Koslov, 1836. BiBLiooRAPiiV: UriUz.ftfKth.il.Jmhn.vM.Xiirt «(•<;.; Ki'irst, liiM-li. fl. Kiirflirl. li. SIS Sill: Jiist. fif.vh. il. Juihiilhuins II. :t.Vl-;iill Ni-iil)auiT. A iw ./. I'tlmliuruir llililhilhik. p. Haiiilmn.'iT, III WInliT unit Wilnmlie's JUili«chc Lileritlur. II. ICJ-HH. whfn* a few simtImiciis (»f hLs style arej^ven In (ier.'ill



iimii Ininslutldn Liltriilur. 1H«),



Si-hn-lntT,

Ihr KiUhin

d. JUdiiicltcn

iii

I). .'iT.

K.

AARON BEN JOSEPH SASON



Talmiidic

born toward the middle of the sixteenth century, probably at Salonica. where he received his rabbinical eduealion under the supervision of Mordeeai Matalon. an eminent scholar. During the last decades of the sixteenth century Aaron ben Joseph engaged in teaching, and .some of his pupils ranked among the emini'iit rabbis of Turkey. With these, as well as with his colleagiU'S. he imiintained a lively correspondence on Talniiidic (|Ueslions, the summary of which |'3:!'2 responsat was ]uiblislied at Venice in Ki'i'i umler the title " Torat Kmet " (Law of Truth). In the introduction to this work he men tions his commetitariis on " Yad ha Hazakah " of Maimonides anil on the "Tiir " of .laeob ben Asher, as well as his treatises on various lialakic subjects, which do not appear to have been published, and aiillior;

which are perhaps the

allogi'lher lost.

work "Sifat Kmit

"

It

seems


 * >rob-

(Lip of Trillin, which. aecordiiiL' to the lestinioiiy of Sliablielhai Bass, contains scholia to the Talmud aii<l to the Tosafot, was written by .Varoii bin Joseph and not by his grandson, Aaron bi'ii Isaac Sasoii. This jirob aiiility is supported to some extent by the title. ".Se fat Kinel." w liich corresponds with llie title of his col lection of lesponsa. as well as by the above cited abli- that

statement in his introduction to "Torat Emet," that he had written scholia to the Talmud. BiBi.iooRAPHv: ronforte,

I^ori: ha-lMirnt, see Index of CasAzulal. Shtm iui-fifdnUm, eU. Benjacob, letter No, 139 MIohael, Or ha-Hautlim. No. SIM Furei, iii(ji. Jud. iii. i-'iil Ila-EMiiA (encycIupeUlal, pp. 457, 4js. sel's edition



,l(i).

ish Talmiidist of the

author of the

first

end of the thirteenth century; book of religious instruction

among

the Jews of the .Middle Ages. Though his work the ".Sefer liaHiiinuk " (Book of Education) was well known, having been repeatedly commented on and republished in more than a dozen editions, it was reserved for Hosin to discover anything accurate concerning the personality of the author. The book itself is anonymous; and the statement by Gedaliah ibn Yahyah (dating from the middle of the sixteenth century), that its author was the celebrated Talmudist Aaron ben Joseph ha-Levi. has

been genenilly accepted. It is now. however, certain that the author was a Spanish instructor of youth, of modest position, one who had contented himself with but the faintest allusion to his own identity in symbolically applying to himself the verse JIal. ii. 5. at the end of tin' luefatory letter to the book; in an old Midrash (Sifra. Shemini. ed. Weiss, i. 45(/) this verse is referred to Aaron. He lays no claim to original research. The k was simply intended to imparl to Jewish youth a knowledge of the Law, and to present in simple form the principles of Judaism to the unlearned layman. Tl.;' writer seemstolmve had I

always before him; and his work is from that of his predeces-sors, -Maimonides. Xahinanidis. and Moses of Coiicy. from whose works he liberally draws. The ''Hiniiuk" is an enumeration of the six hundred and thirteen affirmative and nc^gative precepts of the Mosaic Law, arranged in the order of the weekly lessons piintxlmt), with their ethical The "Hinnuk." and lialakic aspects, based upon rabbinical tradition of the Talmudic and post-Talmudic periods, for which latter fi'ature he relies upon .lfasi. Maimonides. and Xahinanides as main authorities. His ihief and original merit is ilisplayiil in the ingenuity and religions fervor with which he dwells upon the ethical siile of the Law, avoiding most admirably all abstruse philosophical and mystical theories, such as are only too abundant in his guides, Maimonides and Xahinanides. The following are some specimens of his method. I'pou the prece|it concerning the treading OX (Deut. x.w. this lay-iuiblic

in this respect difTerent

(

4) the

"

"Hinnuk" remarks:

the duly of iiian to ai-<'Usloin himself to sliow kindness, and eoiisideniilon to his fi*Ilo«' en-alnn's. When Iherefore treat coiislderaiely e^eii the aniinab driven for our use, and wllhdniw not from Ihem some of the fruits of what Ihelr lalH)r ohuiliis for us, we tMlucale i>ur soul Ihen'by to lie all the kinder to our fellow men. ami ueeiistoin oursi'lve.s not to withhold from them what Is their due, hut to allow them to en*' Jov with us the result of that to whieli Ihev have eontribuled II »

eoiiipa.Msl<)n.

we

I

par. mill.

Someof his explanations of purely ritual ordinances betray likewise a deep religious sentiment. Thus, he says, the counting (see 'OMKlDof the seven weeks between Pas.sovcT and PenlecosI (Lev. xxiii. 15) is intended to cause us to iiiedilate upon the real and deeper meaning of lioth those festivals. Isnu'l's redemption from KgypI was only the beginning of true freedom for the nation: its full measure was not attained until tin- Bevelalion was given, which event is commemoniled liy the lalliT festival. On thai day Isniel may be truly said to have iH'Come a free people; theri'fore let the true Israelite reveri'U-