Isaac Alfasi

Isaac ben Jacob (1013–1103), called Isaac Hakohen, or the Rif (רי"ף, an acronym for his Hebrew title and name), was a north African medieval rabbi. He was born near Fes in Morocco. Rif is an acronym of Rabbi Isaac alFasi and he was known in Arabic as Alfasi ("of Fes").

He is best known to scholars of Judaism for his work of Halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot (ספר ההלכות), considered the first fundamental work in halakhic literature. His code, an abridgement of the Babylonian Talmud, served as one of the "Three Pillars of Halakha" that contributed to the Arba'ah Turim (the "four Pillars" of the Jewish law) and Shulkhan Arukh.

Biography

Alfasi was born in Kalat ibn Hamad, a village near Fes in Morocco. He studied in Kairouan, Tunisia under Nissim Ben Jacob and Chananel Ben Chushiel (Rabbeinu Chananel) the recognized rabbinical authorities of the age. Fes's Jewish community undertook to support him and his family so that he could work on his Sefer Ha-halachot undisturbed. They also founded a yeshiva in his honor, and many students throughout Morocco came to study under his guidance. Alfasi remained in Fes for 40 years, during which time he completed his Sefer Ha-halachot. Eventually, he became known as the Alfasi ("from Fes"); Rif is an acronym of Rabbi Isaac alFasi. In 1088 two informers denounced him to the government upon some unknown charge. He left Fes and fled to Spain, eventually becoming head of the yeshiva in Lucena in 1089.

In a sense, Alfasi brought the geonic period to a close – the last of the Babylonian geonim, Hai Gaon, died when Alfasi was 25 years old. Alfasi himself was called Gaon ("genius") by several early halachic authorities. The most famous of his many students is Judah Halevi.

Works

Sefer Ha-halachot extracts all the pertinent legal decisions from the three Talmudic orders Moed, Nashim and Nezikin as well as the tractates of Brachot and Chulin. Alfasi transcribed the Talmud's halakhic conclusions verbatim, without the surrounding deliberations; he also excludes all Aggadic (non-legal) matter. This work was published prior to the times of Rashi and other commentaries, and resulted in a profound change in the study practices of the scholarly Jewish public in that it opened the world of the gemara to the public at large. It soon became known as the Talmud Katan ("Little Talmud"); it is also referred to as "the Hilchot of the Rif". Rabbi Nissim of Gerona (the RaN) compiled a detailed and explicit commentary on this work; In yeshivot "the Rif and the RaN" are regularly studied as part of the daily Talmudic schedule.

External links

• The Rif, tzemachdovid.org
• Alfasi, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
• Alfasi jewishgates.com
• Alfasi, jewishencyclopedia.com