Samson ben Abraham of Sens

Samson ben AbrahamofSens(שמשון בן אברהם משאנץ; c. 1150 – c. 1230),was one of the leading FrenchTosafistsin the second half of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. He was the most outstanding student and the spiritual heir of RabbiIsaac ben Samuelha-Zaken (theRi). He is referred also known as "theRash"( הר" ש; anacronymof his name) or "the Prince of Sens", and withinTosafotas "Rashba".

Biography

He was probably born inFalaise, Calvados,where his grandfather, the tosafist Samson ben Joseph, called "the Elder", lived. He studied underRabbeinu TamatTroyesandDavid ben Kalonymusof Münzenberg, and for ten years, together with his older brother R. Yitzhak (known as the "Ritzba" ), attended theYeshivaof Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel ha-Zaken (theRi) ofDampierre,after whose death he took charge of the yeshiva of Sens. TheRoshsaid of him that only Rabbeinu Tam and Rabbi Isaac ben Samuel exercised greater influence upon Talmudical studies inFranceand inGermanyduring the 13th century.

The Rash sided with the opponents ofMaimonidesin their disputes. He kept up a lively correspondence with RabbiMeïr Abulafia,and like him, condemned Maimonides' rationalistic views on bodily resurrection and Talmudichaggadah.He also sided with Rabbi Abulafia in his objection to some of Maimonides'halachicviews, and reproached Maimonides for not having indicated the Talmudic sources in hisMishneh Torah.However, he did express his great admiration for Maimonides saying, "I have heard that the gates of wisdom have been revealed to him".Later on he quarreled with Rabbi Abulafia because Abulafia was offended by some of his remarks.

Due to persecution of the Jews byPope Innocent III,the Rash joined 300 English and French rabbis in emigrating toPalestineabout 1211. For some years he lived inJerusalem,hence he is designated "the Jerusalemite" or "Rabbi Samson of theLand of Israel".He died inAcrearound 1230 and he was buried at the foot ofMount Carmel. Just before his death, he was the founder of the Talmudic School of Acre. This allowedYehiel of Paris,among others, to settle inHaifaafter the trial of the Talmud in 1240 and a new expulsion of the Jews of France.

Works

He authored manytosafot,abridged byEliezer of Touques.They are fundamentally important, the principal sources for the interpretation of theTalmud.In addition to the manytosafothe composed, he also authored a commentary on two of theMishnaicorders,ZeraimandTohorot.

He frequently refers therein to theJerusalem Talmud,to which he devoted more attention than any of his predecessors or contemporaries, and to the older compilationsTosefta,Mechilta,Sifra,andSifre,and he tries to reconcile the discrepancies between them and theMishnah.He refers toNathan ben Jehiel,toRashi,to RabbiIsaac ben MelchizedekofSiponto,and other authorities, but never mentions Rambam's commentary, which he probably did not know.

According toJacob ben Aksai,Rabbi Samson also wrote commentaries onShekalim,Eduyot,Middot,andDinnim,but none are extant.

He also wrote a commentary on theSifra;for this, besides other older works, he utilized the commentary ofAbraham ben Davidof Posquières (Rabad), which he quotes under the designation "Hachmei Lunel"or"Hachmei Provence",without mentioning the author's name.

RabbiMeïr Abulafiaspeaks of Rabbi Samson's father, Abraham, as a pious, saintly, and noble man. Rabbi Samson's brother,Isaac of Dampierre(Riba), also known as Isaac the Younger to distinguish him from his teacher Isaac the Elder (Isaac ben Samuel), whom he succeeded as principal of the school of Dampierre, is also one of the prominent tosafists. He wrote some liturgical poems (piyutim) and a commentary on thePentateuch.He died about 1210, and Rabbi Samson attended his funeral. Both brothers are frequently mentioned in works such asOr Zarua,The Mordechai,Orchot Chaim,SeMaG,Semak(authored by a student of the Rash),Kol Bo,Sha'are Dura,Haggahot Maimuniyyot,Terumat HaDeshenand similar works, and by Asher ben Jehiel andMeir of Rothenburg.

Rashi family tree
Isaac Hatzarfati Samuel Rashi Meir Jochebed Rachel Eliezer Miriam Judah ben Nathan Samuel ben Meir Rabbeinu Tam Miriam Samson ben Yosef Rivam Solomon ben Meir Miriam Samuel of Vitry Yom Tov Eliezer? Isaac Joseph Solomon Abraham of Sens Judah ben Yom Tov Joseph Isaac ben Samuel Isaac of Dampierre Samson ben Abraham Isaac Rabbeinu Elhanan Rabbi Jacob Judah ben Isaac Messer Leon Samuel ben Elhanan Samuel of Acre
Notes: Rashi's daughters

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Samson ben Abraham of Sens".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.