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Bible Series:
Jacob The Patriarch Torah Commentators 
© 2007 Moshe Zauderer |
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RAMBANScion of a prominent Rabbinical family, Rabbi Moshe son of Nachman was born in Gerona, Spain, in the year 1195. In his time, Ramban was the acknowledged Spanish authority in issues of Jewish Law, and his decisions were among the most highly respected throughout the Jewish world. Though he studied medicine and later practiced as a physician, Ramban spent most of his life in Gerona teaching Torah to his many students. During his long lifetime, he authored a wide variety of classical books, including an extensive Talmud commentary, compendiums on Jewish law, philosophical and ethical works, and a monumental Torah commentary. In 1263, Ramban was ordered by King James of Aragon to engage in a religious disputation with a Jewish apostate, Pablo Christiani. Despite his successful defense of Judaism (King James even awarded Ramban with a gift of three hundred coins) pressures from the Church forced him to leave the Kingdom of Aragon. After several years of travel in other kingdoms of Spain, Ramban settled in the Land of Israel in 1267. During this period, Ramban began writing his Torah commentary, which he completed in the Land of Israel. Among his accomplishments in the Land of Israel was the reestablishment of the devastated Jewish community in Jerusalem, which has continued uninterrupted until today. Later, Ramban settled in Acco, a Torah center at the time. It is generally accepted that he passed away in 1270, at the age of 75, although the exact date and place of his burial are uncertain. SFORNOBorn in Cesena, Italy, in 1470, Rabbi Ovadiah, son of Ya'cov Sforno lived during a period of volatile change in the relationships between Italian Jewry and the Italian non-Jewish population. In his early years, Sforno received a thorough Jewish and secular education. He traveled to Rome to attend university where he studied philosophy, mathematics, and medicine, and received a medical degree in 1501. During the years he resided in Rome, Sforno taught Torah and authored many books on Jewish philosophy and the Bible. He also came into contact with the Christian community where he enjoyed congenial relationships with scholars and dignitaries. Later, he settled in Bologna, where he officiated as a judge in the local Jewish court and established an academy of Torah study. In contrast to Sforno's early years of relative peace between the Jewish and non-Jewish populations, Sforno's later years were marked by a dramatic deterioration in their relationship. This worsening change in events is reflected in Sforno's later writings- including his Written Torah commentary- where he endeavors to encourage his Jewish brethren. He passed away in 1550, just prior to the advent of severe persecutions of Italian Jewry, including a mass burning of the Talmud in Rome in 1553. |
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