"TaSHBaẒ" and "Tashbetz" redirect here. For the author of a different work with the same name, see
Samson ben Zadok.
Simeon ben Zemah Duran, also Tzemach Duran (1361–1444;
Hebrew: שמעון בן צמח דוראן), known as Rashbatz (רשב"ץ) or Tashbatz, was a Rabbinical authority, student of philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and especially of medicine, which he practised for a number of years at
Palma de Mallorca. A major 15th century
posek, his published decisions in matters of
halakha have been widely quoted in halakhic literature for hundreds of years.
Biography
Simeon ben Tzemach was born in the Hebrew month of
Adar, 1361. Various accounts put his birthplace as either
Barcelona, or the island of
Majorca.[1] He was a near relation but not a grandson of
Levi ben Gershon. He was a student of
Ephraim Vidal, and of
Jonah de Maestre, rabbi in
Zaragoza or in
Calatayud, whose daughter Bongoda he married.
After the
1391 massacre in the Balearic Islands, he fled
Spain with his father and sister for
Algiers, where, in addition to practicing medicine, he continued his studies during the earlier part of his stay. In 1394 he and the Algerian rabbi
Isaac ben Sheshet ("the Rivash") drafted statutes for the Jewish community of Algiers. After the Rivash's retirement, Duran became rabbi of
Algiers in 1407. Unlike his predecessor, he refused on principle to accept any confirmation of his appointment by the regent.[2] As Duran had lost all his property during the massacre at Palma, he was forced against his will to accept a salary from the community, not having other means of subsistence. He held this office until his death. His epitaph, written by himself, has been reprinted for the first time, from a manuscript, in Orient, Lit. v. 452. According to
Joseph ben Isaac Sambari, Simon was much respected in court circles.[3] He was the father of the
Solomon ben Simon Duran.
Duran's Magen Avot was a polemic against Christians and Muslims, of which the fourth chapter of the second part was published separately as Keshet u-Magen ("The Arrow and the Shield").[4]
Works
Simon was prolific. He wrote commentaries on several tractates of the
Mishnah and the
Talmud and on
Alfasi (Nos. 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, and 16 in the list of his works given below); he treated various religious dogmas as well as the synagogal rite of Algiers (Nos. 5, 8, 10, 16), while in his responsa he showed a profound acquaintance with the entire
halakic literature. His theologico-philosophical scholarship, as well as his secular learning, is conspicuous in his elaborate work, Magen Abot, in which he also appears as a clever controversialist (No. 7). The same ability is evidenced in his writings against
Hasdai Crescas, which afford him an opportunity to defend
Maimonides (No. 2), in his commentary on the
Pentateuch (No. 6), where he takes occasion to enter into polemics with
Levi ben Gershon, and in that on the
Book of Job (No. 1), especially the introduction. In his commentary on the
Pirke Avot he shows a broad historical sense (No. 7, part iv.) and it is not improbable that the tradition which ascribes to him the historico-didactic poem Seder ha-Mishneh leha-Rambam (No. 9) is well founded.
Simon also wrote a considerable number of poems, both religious and secular (Nos. 9 [?], 15); commented on the
Pesah Haggadah, the
Hoshanot, the works of more ancient poets (Nos. 5 (c), 13, 14), and he was the author of numerous pamphlets. The following list of Duran's writings is arranged according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, on the basis of a catalogue drawn up by the author himself (Responsa, vol. iii.):
Oheb Mishpaṭ, commentary on the
Book of Job, with a theologico-philosophical introduction, Venice, 1589;[5] Amsterdam, 1724-1727 (in the Rabbinic Bible Ḳehillat Mosheh).
Or ha-Ḥayyim, controversial treatise against
Hasdai Crescas' Or Adonai.
Zohar ha-Raḳia, commentary on Solomon
ibn Gabirol's Azharot, Constantinople, 1515. (
Jacob Hagis [Petil Tekelet] and
Moses PisanteNer Miẓwah have reedited this work, of which a shorter recension also exists.)
Ḥiddushe ha-Rashbaẓ,novellæ on and elucidations of
Niddah,
Rosh ha-Shanah,
Kinnim, Leghorn, 1744. (Ḥiddushim, novellæ to
Ketubot and
Gittin [Färth, 1779], is erroneously ascribed to Duran.)
Tif'eret Yisrael, on the computations of the new moon ("moladot")
Perush, commentary on the Mishnah
Zebahim, ch. v. ("Ezehu Meḳoman"), and the Baraita de Rabbi Yishma'el (taken from the
Sifra) subjoined thereto in the prayerbook (Leghorn, 1744). Part (c) appeared as Ma'amar Afiḳomen with the Haggadah (Rödelheim, 1822).
Liwyat Ḥen, commentary on the
Pentateuch; also two tracts against
Hasdai Crescas ("Anaḳim," "Ma'amar Ha-Yiḥud")
Magen Abot, consisting of four parts with special titles:
"Ḥeleḳ Eloah mi-Ma'al"
"Ḥeleḳ Shosenu"
"Ḥeleḳ Ya'aḳob"
"Ḥeleḳ Adonai 'Ammo."
A commentary on Abot, including a literary-historical introduction on the sequence of tradition, appeared under the title "Magen Abot," Leghorn, 1762; reedited by Y. Fischl, Leipsic, 1855. Under the same title appeared parts i.-iii., with the exception of one chapter in part ii. (ib. 1785). The missing chapter in this edition, being a polemic against
Christianity and
Islam, was published under the title Ḳeshet u-Magen (ib. 1785–1790; reedited by Steinschneider, Berlin, 1881). Extracts from this chapter, "Setirat Emunat ha-Noẓrim," are contained in Milḥemet Ḥobah, Amsterdam, 1710. It is largely taken from
Profiat Duran's Kelimmat ha-Goyim (Monatsschrift, iv. 179).
Minhagim, ritual observances, presumably treating of the rites in Algiers.
Seder ha-Mishneh leha-Rambam, didactic poem, ascribed to Duran in MS. Poc. 74 (Neubauer, Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. No. 1971).
Perush ha-Ketubbah weha-Geṭ, on marriage contracts and divorces, Constantinople, c. 1516–1548.
Perush Hilkot Berakot le-Harif, commentary on
Alfasi's Berakot.
Perush 'al ha-Hosha'not, published with the
Hoshanot according to the
Spanish rite, Ferrara, 1553. (A short extract from the Perush is contained in the Spanish prayer-book of 1571.)
Perush Ḳeẓat Piyyuṭim, of which several pieces are inserted in the Algiers
Mahzor, Leghorn, 1772. (The commentary on the introduction, "[Baruk] Asher Ishshesh," may also be found in B. Goldberg's Ḥefes Maṭmonim, pp. 85 et seq., Berlin, 1845.)
Ḳunṭras Teḥinnot u-Pizmonim, religious and secular poems. (The elegy (
ḳinah) on the destruction of Jerusalem, "Eksof le-Sapper," was published in
Profiat Duran's Iggeret Al-Tehi, Constantinople, c. 1577; that on the persecutions in Spain in the second edition of Magen Abot, Leipsic, 1855. A larger collection was edited by I. Morali in part i. of his Ẓofnat Pa'aneaḥ, Berlin, 1897.)
Remaze Pisḳe Niddah (distinct from No. 4).
Taḳḳun ha-Ḥazzanim, of which the title only is known.
Taḳḳanot ha-Rashbaẓ, inserted in part ii. of the responsa, (19), and in
Judah Ayyash's responsa, entitled Bet Yehudah, Leghorn, 1746.
Tashbaẓ, 802 responsa in three parts, Amsterdam, 1738–1739; title ed., ib. 1741.