Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona

Zerachiah ben Isaac ha-Levi Gerondi (Hebrew: זרחיה הלוי‎), called the ReZaH, RaZBI or Baal Ha-Maor (author of the book Ha-Maor) was born about 1125 in the town of Girona, Spain – hence the name Gerondi – and died after 1186 in Lunel. He was a famous rabbi, Torah and Talmud commentator and a poet.

Zerachiah was born into a Rabbinic family called Yitzhari of Girona. His father was Isaac Ha-Levi, a Talmudic scholar in Provence, and the son of Zerachiah Ha-Levi, his namesake. The elder Zerachiah was a son of Shem Tov Ha-Levi, one of the greatest Talmudic scholars in Provence, who claimed direct descent of the prophet Samuel, who according to Jewish tradition was a direct descendant of Yitzhar (hence the family name "Ha-Yitzhari"), son of Kehath, son of Levi, son of Jacob.

In his youth, Zerachiah moved to Provence and studied with the Talmudic scholars of Narbonne (one of them was the famous Moshe ben Yosef). At the age of 19 he wrote a piyyut in Aramaic and devoted himself to halakhic problems. For many years thereafter he lived in Lunel (studying with Meshullam of Lunel), but the conflicts, disputes and quarrels constantly splitting the community forced him to leave.

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