Ahimaaz ben Paltiel

Who is Ahimaaz ben Paltiel?

Ahimaaz ben Paltiel was an Italian-Jewish liturgical poet and author of a family chronicle. Very little is known about his life. He came of a family some of whose members are well known in Jewish literature as scholars and poets; for example, Hananiel ben Amittai, and his nephew Amittai ben Shephatiah. Ahimaaz had two sons, Paltiel and Samuel. The family tree of this clan is given by Ahimaaz in his Chronicle:

Benjamin of Tudela mentions an Ahimaaz ben Paltiel in Amalfi in southern Italy, in the year 1162. This may well have been a descendant of his earlier namesake; for it is known that two brothers of the grandfather of Ahimaaz ben Paltiel were sent with presents to Paltiel by the prince of Amalfi. In a list of twenty-two selihah poets, Ahimaaz ben Paltiel is mentioned as the author of two poems; and a Mahzor of the Roman rite attributes to him a selihah for the Fast of Esther.