Rabbeinu Yosef ha-Levi Migash - Ibn Migash

Rabbeinu Yosef ben Meir ha-Levi Migash - Ibn Migash (1077–1141) - a disciple of the Rif - the greatest Spanish Talmudist of the third generation of Spanish rabbis. Yahrzeit - 30 Nisan Burial place - He first studied with Isaac ben Baruch Albalia, and at the age of 12 he went to Lucena, where he studied under the Alfasi for 14 years. His teacher encouraged him, ordained him as a rabbi, and honored him greatly, even appointing him as his successor as head of the yeshiva, although his own son was himself a Talmudist. Ibn Migash held this position for 38 years, until his death. Ibn Migash enjoyed an outstanding reputation among his contemporaries. Maimon, the father of the Rambam, appears to have been among his many students, and Maimonides, especially in his novellae on the Talmud, frequently relies on traditions of Ibn Migash, which he states he received from his father. In the introduction to his commentary on the Mishnah, he says of him: "This man's understanding of the Talmud inspired awe... so that one could almost say that there had never before been anyone like him." Maimonides' attachment to Ibn Migash was so strong that for a long time he was mistakenly considered his student. Yehuda Halevi, a friend of Ibn Migash since youth, composed laudatory poems in his honor, and it was he who drafted the letter to the scholars of Provence in which Ibn Migash sought to become acquainted with them and their teachings. This letter is the earliest surviving document concerning the connections between the centers of learning in Provence and Spain. Very little of Ibn Migash's work has survived. His novellae on Bava Batra (Amsterdam, 1702) and Shevuot (Salonika, 1759) were published, but his commentary must have covered at least half of the Talmud, and even the published portion is itself incomplete. His novellae on Bava Batra are more widely and fully cited in the works of other Rishonim, and appear in excellent form in the "Shitah Mekubetzet" on this tractate, as well as in Agmati's work "Sefer ha-Ner." A relatively small number of his responsa (translated from the original Arabic) have been published (Salonika, 1786); some of them are included in the works of others (for example, in the responsa Pe'er ha-Dor, Amsterdam, 1765), while others survive in manuscript. He is known to have composed a book of commentaries (which, however, has not survived) on his teacher's Hilchot ha-Rif. Ibn Migash's works had a decisive influence on the study of Talmud in Spain and Provence. Meir Abulafia, who summarized the teachings of Spanish scholars up to the generation of the Ramban, incorporated many of Ibn Migash's commentaries into his work — mostly anonymously. The Ramban did the same, passing them on to his students and followers, such as Solomon ben Abraham Adret (Rashba) and Yom Tov ben Abraham Ashvili (Ritva). They were also well known in Provence, already being cited by Abraham ben Isaac, who often relies on them in his responsa. Meir, son of Yosef ibn Migash, was also a renowned scholar in Spain; his son Isaac served together with Meir Abulafia on the Beit Din of Toledo in 1205. Among Meir's important students was Yonatan ha-Cohen of Lunel. May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael! (A.L. Grajevsky, Rabbenu Yosef ha-Levi ibn Migash (19632); B.Z. Benedict, in: Tarbiz, 22 (1950/51), 99ff.; idem, in: ks, 31 (1955/56), 264–5; I. Ta-Shema, in: ks, 46, 47 (1971–72). [Israel Moses Ta-Shma])