The Torah Atlas

person · P0303

The Raavad הראב"ד

Master of Provence: head of the academy at Posquières, author of Ba'alei HaNefesh and the commentary on the Sifra, and the Rambam's great interlocutor — his hassagot ride the margin of the Mishneh Torah in every printing, the loyal opposition bound into the code itself. Kabbalistic tradition also names him among its earliest Provençal masters. His attested teachers (the sages of Narbonne and Lunel) are not yet in the atlas, so no upstream person edge is drawn.

I. Who

Hebrew
הראב"ד
Also known as
Avraham ben David of Posquières, Raavad III, Baal HaHasagot
Era
rishonim

II. When

Traditional
c. 4885–4958 AM
Academic
c. 1125–1198 CE
Lifespan (traditional)
≈73 years
Precision
approximate

III. Where

Places
Posquières

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
He headed the academy at Posquières, supporting its students at his own expense; imprisoned by the lord of Posquières in 1172, he was released at the order of the count of Carcassonne. tradition external ★★★★☆
His hassagot on the Mishneh Torah — for example, his famous objection to calling one who errs about God's corporeality a heretic, "greater and better men than he have followed this thought" — are printed with the code itself; this sustained critical engagement is the basis of the writings edge to Mishneh Torah drawn here. rabbinic ★★★★★
His Ba'alei HaNefesh (on the laws of family purity) and his commentary on the Sifra are independent pillars of Provençal halakha; he also wrote hassagot on the Rif and on Zerachiah HaLevi's Sefer HaMaor. rabbinic tradition ★★★★☆
He studied under the masters of Narbonne and Lunel — R' Avraham ben Yitzchak Av Beit Din of Narbonne (whose daughter he married), R' Moshe ben Yosef, and R' Meshullam of Lunel are the attested names — none of whom is yet in the atlas, so his reception is recorded as a claim pending their entities.
Gap by atlas coverage; a future Provence pass should close it.
 tradition reconstruction ★★★☆☆