person · P0304
Zerachiah HaLevi רבי זרחיה הלוי
The Baal HaMaor: born in Girona, formed and famous in Lunel — the Girona→Provence road in a single life. His Sefer HaMaor, a critique of the Rif's Halachot begun in his youth, is printed around the Rif in every edition; the Raavad answered him, the Ramban wrote the Milchamot Hashem against him, and between them Provence became the arena where Sefarad's halakha argued itself sharp.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- רבי זרחיה הלוי
- Also known as
- Baal HaMaor, Razah, Zerachiah ben Yitzchak Gerondi
- Era
- rishonim
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 4875–4946 AM
- Academic
- c. 1115 – after 1186 CE
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈71 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Girona, Lunel
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| He was born in Girona around 1115 (hence "Gerondi") and spent his career in Provence at Lunel, where he died after 1186. | external | ★★★★☆ | |
| His Sefer HaMaor (HaMaor HaGadol and HaMaor HaKatan), a critique of the Rif's Halachot which he began writing at nineteen, is printed alongside the Rif; it drew the Raavad's counter-hassagot and the Ramban's Milchamot Hashem in the Rif's defense — direct, documented engagement with the talmudic corpus behind the writings edge drawn here.
His teachers are not securely attested (the sages of Narbonne and Lunel are presumed), so no received_from person edge is drawn.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ |