person · P0228
Rabbi Maimon (the Dayan) רבי מימון הדיין
Dayan of Córdoba, student of R' Yosef ibn Migash at Lucena, and father and first teacher of the Rambam. He led his family through the Almohad persecutions — Córdoba to Fez to Eretz Yisrael to Egypt — writing the Iggeret HaNechamah (Letter of Consolation) to sustain forced converts. He is the personal link that carries the Rif's line into the Rambam.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבי מימון הדיין
- Also known as
- Maimon ben Yosef
- Era
- rishonim
- Received the mesorah from
- Yosef ibn Migash
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Rambam
- Teachers
- Yosef ibn Migash
- Children
- Rambam
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 4870–4925 AM
- Academic
- c. 1110–1165/1170 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈55 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Cordoba, Fez, Fustat
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| He studied under R' Yosef ibn Migash at Lucena and served as dayan in Córdoba — the standard account of his formation, reflected in the Rambam's own references to Ibn Migash as the teacher of his father and thereby "my teacher." | tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| His Iggeret HaNechamah, written in Arabic during the Almohad persecution, comforted Jews compelled to outward conversion — the family's own crisis literature, foreshadowing his son's Iggeret HaShmad. | external tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Served as a dayan in Cordoba and stood in a line of dayanim; his son's signature traces the family through seven generations of judges ending 'ben Ovadiah HaDayan'.
The seven-generation genealogy is standard in the colophon and in Rambam's autograph signatures; the exact printed locus varies by edition, so the research pass has not asserted one.
|
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ |
|
| Left Cordoba with his family after the Almohad conquest of 1148 CE, wandered in the Iberian peninsula, then settled at Fez around 1160, reaching Acre in 1165 and Egypt thereafter.
The itinerary is a scholarly reconstruction assembled from Rambam's letters and later reports; individual dates carry different weight.
|
rabbinic reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |
|
| Died in Egypt shortly after the family's arrival, c. 1165–1166 CE.
Date inferred; the research pass could not verify a specific letter and daf/page and have not guessed.
|
reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |
|