Creator Bio
Judah Barzillai of Barcelona
11th Century–12th Century
Judah Barzillai of Barcelona, sometimes given the honorific title ha-Nasi (the prince), was a probably a native of Barcelona. Little else is known about his life. He was a leading promulgator of the talmudic works of Samuel ha-Nagid (993–1056). Judah’s two surviving legal works, The Book of Seasons and The Book of Documents, cover ceremonial and civil law, respectively; they include much geonic material. His commentary on Sefer yetsirah (Book of Creation) is the longest medieval commentary on that work. He was also involved in a controversy with Abraham bar Ḥiyya (ca. 1065–1136), who thought a wedding should be postponed if astrological concerns existed.
Content by Judah Barzillai of Barcelona
Primary Source
Commentary: On the Book of Creation (Sefer yetsirah)
Our rabbis said that a person must teach himself the satisfactory proofs that God is one, and that there is no other. As we learned: “Be diligent in the study of Torah and know what to answer a…
Primary Source
The Book of Seasons
It is also the custom nowadays in our region, on Sabbaths and festivals, when Jews rise from their beds upon awakening from sleep, to attend to the call of nature, wash their hands, recite the…
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The Book of Contracts
Sefer ha-shetarot, 26
We the undersigned witnesses know in the form of a clear testimony that So-and-so son of So-and…