Joseph ibn Abitur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article with a good introductory style.

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2007)

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (November 2007)

Joseph ibn Abitur was a student of R. Moshe b. Hanoch. He was from a very prestigious Spanish family from the city of Merida. His great great grandfather was a communal and Rabbinic leader. Besides being a great Torah scholar, R. Yosef was also a paytan of note. He also wrote a commentary on the Bible in Hebrew. He also enjoyed a relationship with the Caliph of the time and fashioned an Arabic translation of the Talmud for him. When R. Chanoch was chosen to succeed his father, R. Yosef felt compelled to leave Spain and travel to the Yeshivas in Bavel. On his way he stopped in Egypt before arriving in Bahgdad. He eventually went to Damascus, where he died. He wrote many Teshuvas, some that we still have.