the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Bible Encyclopedias
Gerondi, Isaac B. Zerahiah Halevi
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Talmudist; lived in Gerona in the twelfth century. He was the father of Zerahiah ha-Levi, author of "Sefer ha-Ma'or," and of Berachiah ha-Levi, author of some piyyuṭim; among the latter are to be found compositions for Sabbath Parah which perhaps formed a supplement to Gerondi's poems for the four special Sabbaths (
). Gerondi is the author of "Megillat ha-Neḥamah," a work on civil law, which is no longer extant. Of his religious poems about fifty have been preserved; they include piyyuṭim for Sabbaths Sheḳalim, Zakor, and Rosh ha-Ḥodesh, for the Feast of Weeks, and for the Day of Atonement (among them a so-called "Short 'Abodah" for Shaḥarit, beginning 
, and quoted by Isaac Ḳimḥi); a piyyuṭ on the death of Moses, one for Simḥat Torah, and some seliḥot. In his poetry he makes use of meter, for which he expresses a preference.
Gerondi's poems are highly praised by Menahem di Lonsano, and have been introduced into the rituals of Avignon, Carpentras, Montpellier, Oran, and Tlemçen; some are also found in "Ayyelet ha-Shaḥar," as well as in the French, Polish, and Roman rituals. He wrote an Aramaic poem to Zerahiah's "Sefer ha-Ma'or," in which he clearly demonstrates his familiarity with the Aramaic idiom.
- Conforte, Ḳore ha-Dorot (ed. Cassel), p. 13b;
- Reifmann, Toledot Rabbi Zeraḥyah ha-Levi, pp. 3, 37;
- Landshuth, 'Ammude ha-'Abodah, p. 116;
- Zunz, Literaturgesch, pp. 410, 463;
- Luzzatto, Naḥalat, p. 43;
- Gross, Gallia Judaica, p. 255.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Gerondi, Isaac B. Zerahiah Halevi'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/g/gerondi-isaac-b-zerahiah-halevi.html. 1901.
