Nachmanides
Leading medieval Jewish scholar, rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator from Girona.
Nachmanides was a medieval Jewish scholar, rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator who lived from 1194 to about 1270.[1][2] He is also known by the acronym Ramban and the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta.[1] He was born in Girona and died in the Land of Israel.[2]
Quick Facts
- Region
- Jewish philosophy
- Era
- Medieval philosophy
- Born
- 1194
- Birthplace
- Girona, Crown of Aragon (present-day Spain)
- Died
- 1270
- Place of death
- Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem
- Main interests
- Religious law
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He defended Alfasi's decisions against criticisms in his work Milhamot Hashem.[3] He wrote a letter around 1238 rebuking adversaries of Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier.[3] Nachmanides participated in a religious disputation in Barcelona in 1263 at the request of King James I of Aragon.[3] The debate lasted four days and covered whether the Messiah had appeared and which faith was true.[4][3]
After the disputation, Nachmanides was sentenced to exile for two years, which later became perpetual banishment.[5][3] He made aliyah to Jerusalem in 1267 and established a synagogue there that still exists.[6][3] Shlomo ibn Aderet's responsa indicate that Nachmanides acquired medical knowledge.[7] His initial writings concerning Jewish law were composed when he was sixteen years old.[3]
For Nachmanides, the teachings of the Mishnah, Talmud, and Geonim sages were not to be challenged.[3]
What the cited sources add
Aryeh Leibowitz's 2018 work states that the Ramban did not provide a running commentary on the Talmudic discussion.[8] The same source notes that the Ramban's commentary bears distinct similarity to the writings of the Tosafists.[8] According to Leibowitz, the Ramban's Talmud commentary was the initial one to completely employ the Tosafist dialectical method and to methodically merge that approach with classic Sefardic teachings.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Now also found in the form Nahmanides .; Alberch i Fugueras, "The Jews in Girona", Diputació de Girona, 1994, p. 27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bar Ilan CD-ROM; Encyclopaedia Judaica | second edition | vol 14 | pg 741; "MOSES BEN NAḤMAN GERONDI - JewishEncyclopedia.com", www.jewishencyclopedia.com; Kaufmann Kohler & Isaac Broydé, "AZRIEL (EZRA) BEN MENAHEM (BEN SOLOMON)" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "MOSES BEN NAḤMAN GERONDI - JewishEncyclopedia.com", www.jewishencyclopedia.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: הרמב"ן, "כתבי הרמב"ן", מוסד הרב קוק; "MOSES BEN NAḤMAN GERONDI - JewishEncyclopedia.com", www.jewishencyclopedia.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Graetz, Geschichte der Juden Vol. VII, pp. 440–441; Chazan, Barcelona and Beyond, p. 199 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "MOSES BEN NAḤMAN GERONDI - JewishEncyclopedia.com", www.jewishencyclopedia.com; p. 73 in Jonathan Sacks (2005) To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility. London: Continuum ( ) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Nachmanides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Section 1, responsa 120 and 167; Encyclopaedia Judaica | second edition | vol 14 | pg 741 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Aryeh Leibowitz (2018). Ramban’s Talmud Commentary. facts only, no text reused. torahmusings.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Nachmanides (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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