Isaac of Ourville

Not to be confused with Isaac of Corbeil or Isaac ben Dorbolo.

Isaac of Ourville (Hebrew: יצחק מאורביל‎ Yiṣḥaq me-Orvil, fl. late 13th century[1]) was a medieval French rabbi, author of the as yet unpublished Menahel, a book of halakha (Jewish ritual law).

Isaac appears to have been a contemporary of Perez of Corbeil (died c. 1297);[2] Isaac cites Moses of Coucy's Semag, from the generation before Perez, while segments of Isaac's Menahel are, in turn, cited alongside the Perez's teachings.[3] His master was Hayyim of Blois,[4] who is possibly identical with Hayyim ben Isaac the Frenchman (Hebrew: חיים בן יצחק הצרפתי‎), the author of Ez Hayyim on Jewish monetary law, a disciple of Samuel of Evreux.[3]

Carmoly and others read אורביל as "Orbeil", a village in the Puy-de-Dôme department, while Gross considered this unlikely, as Orbeil probably had no Jewish population in medieval times. According to Gross, אורביל is probably Ourville (Ourville-en-Caux), Seine-Maritime, or perhaps Orville, Orne.[4] Isaac is thus sometimes named האורבלי HaOrvili (or HaOrbeli). He was confused by Samuel David Luzzato with a similarly named rabbinical authority, Isaac ben Dorbolo, after Rapoport's misinterpretation of the latter's patronymic as "d'Orbolo".[5]

Selections of his halakhic book, HaMenahel (Hebrew: המנהל‎ "the Guide"), were incorporated in the closely related pair of halakhic works, Orhot Hayyim by Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen and Kol Bo,[4] and, anonymously, in the halakhic decisions of Menahem Recanati.[1] Once considered lost, parts of the Menahel are now known to exist in manuscript.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Emanuel, Simha (2008). "פסקי ר' מנחם מרקנטי". Shenaton ha-mishpaṭ ha-ʻIvri (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) 25: 158–159. LCCN 74647727.
  2. ↑ Renan, Ernest (1877). "Les rabbins français". In Hauréau, B. Histoire littéraire de la France. XXVII. Paris: Imprimerie nationale. p. 448. LCCN f01002304.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Goldmints, A. Y. (2001). "Foreword". In Hayyim ben Isaac. Ez Hayyim (in Hebrew). Goldmints, A. Y. (ed.). Jerusalem: Mekhon Yerushalayim. p. 12. LCCN 2004418780.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Gross, Heinrich (1897). Gallia Judaica (in French). Paris: L. Cerf. pp. 27–28. LCCN 51050586.
  5. ↑ Taylor, Charles (1900). Appendix to Sayings of the Jewish Fathers. p. 13.