Isaac ben Reuben Albargeloni

Who is Isaac ben Reuben Albargeloni?

Isaac ben Reuben Albargeloni was a Spanish Talmudist and liturgical poet born in Barcelona. He was a judge in the important community of Denia, where he became connected, probably as son-in-law, with ibn Alḥatosh. Among his later descendants was Moses ben Naḥman; Judah Albargeloni is said to have been Isaac's pupil. He was one of five prominent contemporaneous scholars of the name of "Isaac," and the regard in which he was held by his own and succeeding generations is indicated by the fact that he is simply designated "Ha-Rab Albargeloni." He wrote commentaries on various sections of the tractate Ketubot, and at the age of thirty-five translated, from the Arabic into Hebrew, Hai Gaon's Ha-Miḳḳaḥ weha-Mimkar, on buying and selling. Noteworthy among his liturgical poems are his Azharot, included in the rituals of Constantine, Tlemçen, Tunis, Morocco, Algeria, and Oran.

Of the 145 strophes in the poem each consists of three verses, ending with a Biblical quotation. Isaac's use of Biblical verses indicates great skill. Al-Ḥarizi remarked: "He has put the religious laws into rime, and has fitted them so well to Biblical passages that it almost seems as if the work had been inspired by a higher power." Isaac copies faithfully the division of the laws and interdictions of the Halakot Gedolot; at times even following its wording, while he also takes into account the regulations of traditional literature referring to Biblical prescriptions. The following poems of Isaac are also included in the Azharot: