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Vidal of Tolosa, alternate spelling Vidal de Toulouse (Hebrew: וידאל די טולושא), was a Spanish rabbi and scholar of the late 14th century, and is often referred to by the sobriquet, Harav Ha-Maggid, or the Maggid Mishneh, named for his magnum opus by that name.
Biography
From his name it would appear that his origin was a place called Tolosa. The Hida and others wrote that he was from Tolosa, Spain; while modern scholar Israel Netanel Rubin placed his origin at Toulouse. He lived in Villefranche-de-Conflent and later in Barcelona, where he met Nissim of Gerona and published Maggid Mishneh. From Joseph Caro's preface to his Kesef Mishneh it appears that Vidal was a personal friend of Nissim of Gerona.
Vidal's son Isaac was also a prominent scholar, who lived in Alcala and corresponded with Isaac ben Sheshet (according to Isaac ben Sheshet's responsa, number 473).
Writings
Maggid Mishneh
His most important work was Maggid Mishneh, a commentary on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. This work covered the entire Mishneh Torah, but by 1906 only those parts were extant which cover the following books: 3 (Zemanim), 4 (Nashim), 5 (Kedusha) (chapters 1-9 only), 11 (Nezikim), 12 (Kinyan) (chapters 1-3 only), and 13 (Mishpatim).
It is considered one of the most important commentaries on Mishneh Torah. When there is a halachic dispute regarding the proper understanding of the Mishneh Torah, it is common to rule according to the understanding of the Maggid Mishneh. In addition, Vidal's approach is commonly held to reflect that of Shlomo ibn Aderet, so that when there is dispute over the meaning of Aderet's words, it is common to rule according to the Vidal's understanding.
Before the twentieth century, the commentary was never published separately, but only together with the Mishneh Torah (first at Constantinople, 1509).
Other works
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vidal's second work was a commentary in Arabic on a work by Al-Ghazali that is known in Hebrew as To'elet ha-Higgayon (Hebrew: תועלת ההגיון). This commentary was translated into Hebrew by Moses ben Joshua of Narbonne, and as of 1906 was extant in manuscript in the Library of the Vatican. However, according to modern scholar Israel Netanel Rubin, Vidal did not actually write To'elet ha-Higgayon and it was falsely attributed to him due to a similarity in the name of the translator. Additionally, the philosophy in the work seems to be counter what historians think Vidal would believe based on his work Maggid Mishneh.
References
- See Shalshelet haKabbalah and Kore haDorot
- ^ Israel Netanel Rubin, Rabbi Vidal de Tolosa, Author of "Magid Mishne", and His Attitude to Philosophy and Science, Daat: A Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah, No. 84 (תשע"ח/ 2017), pp. 139–154
- According to a responsum signed by him from the year 1346
- According to Catalonian records, in 1367 he was living in Barcelona
- ^
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "VIDAL OF TOLOSA". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. It cites the following sources:
- Giulio Bartolocci. Ḳiryat Sefer (Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica). Four folio volumes, 1675–93. ii. 804a-805b.
- Isaac Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, Thesaurus Librorum Hebræorum tam Impressorum quam Manuscriptorum. Wilna, 1880. p. 384.
- David Conforte. Ḳore ha-Dorot. ed. David Cassel (Berlin, 1846), pp. 26a, 27a.
- Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi. Dizionario Storico degli Autori Ebrei e delle Loro Opere (Parma, 1802; German translation by Hamberger, Leipsic, 1839). p. 328.
- Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya. Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah. ed. Amsterdam, p. 45.
- Heimann Joseph Michael. Or ha-Ḥayyim. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1891. pp. 360–361.
- David Rosin. Ein Compendium der Jüdischen Gesetzeskunde aus dem 14. Jahrhundert. Breslau, 1871. p. 115, Breslau, 1871.
- Moritz Steinschneider. Die Hebräischen Uebersetzungen des Mittelalters und die-Juden als Dolmetscher, etc. Berlin, 1893. i. 315, note 353.
- Moritz Steinschneider. Jüdische Literatur, p. 388, note 17.
- Moritz Steinschneider. Catalogus librorum Hebraeorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana. Berlin, 1852–1860. cols. 2707–2708.
- Johann Christoph Wolf. Bibliotheca Hebræa (4 vols., Hamburg, 1715–33). i. 563, iii. 562.
- Abraham Zacuto. Sefer Yuḥasin ha-Shalem. ed. Hirsch Filipowski (London, 1857). p. 225a.
- See Haim Shabtai, Torat Haim, Even haEzer 31