his uiiflinchina; orthodoxy led to the most ixtnioidinarv li'irciids iiiiil opinions of tlif Taltnud, Ixliivini; thcni to hi- literNo wondrr that the manner in whieli ally tnic. Mainionidcs treated llie doelrine of resurrection in
and His liini
Abulafia
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
143
lo
sitlrilmtOR.
cliiifr
Yad ha-Hazakah made a painful impression Meir wrote a lei ler to the leadinir men of tipon luni. I.unel in order to express his indi;;nalion. He met, however, with scant approval; for Aaron l)en JFeshulInm answered him harshly, rebukinjj; him for his "
his "
presumption and
arroj,'anpc.
who was
so haughty that lie thought it derogatory to his dl;,'nily lo iiay a visit to his father, couM not i|Uielly sulTersueh a rebuke, anil replied willi great self conlidence. Contest with Mai- He next applied to the scholars of northern France regarding the sjime xnonides. matter, but his success with them was not greater. None the less he remained throughout his lifetime an opponent of Maimonides and an adJleir,
herent of the Cabala. On account of advanced age he took no ]iart in the controversies which broke out lat<-r with regard to the " Moreh." (an alluSleir was the author of "Yad Hamah sion to his name), a commentary on the 'I'almudic
Baba Batni and Sanhedrin
treatises
('2
vols.,
one in Toledo. This synagogue was finished in 1357, and was afterwarti converted into a church under
name of Ki. Tn.ixsiTo. Hebrew in.scriptions, still lucserved on the side walls of this edifice today a national monument perpetuate the memory of his good deeds. Samuel maintained himself nearly twenty years in his high position. In 1300 Don Pedro discovered the existence of a widespread conspiracy in which the archbishop of Toledo anil Don Saiiiuel were sjiid to be implicated. The archbishop was ex]>elle(l,but Don Samuel, who. it is said, had been denounced by envious coreligionists, was dragged to Seville and imprisoned, together with liis wealthy relatives. His entire fortune and that of his relatives, consisting of 190,000 doubloons (Sit.50.000 or tl!)5,737), twenty boxes filled with jewelry and silk and velvet clothing, and eighty slaves, were confiscated by the king. lie died under torture in Seville, November, 13(50. "From the prison, in which his king caused him to be affiicted, the Lord summoned the
—
—
him
to
a lieavenh' habitation."
HlBI.Ioc.RAPlIV: Amador de los Hios, Hixtnria (If Im Jiid'ioB, II. 22a ft .stf/. (iiiltz, (Ifiich. d. Jtiden. vll. 41 1 f ( «</. Kuyserllrar. l>"n I'cdro iind scin Scliatzmeiftcr Samuel Levi, In MoiiiitKSChrift, vl. Htli et scq.
Salo-
nica, 1790, 1798), and of the valuable work, "Masoret Seyag la-Torah," containing Ma.soretic notes
Samuel ha-Levi Abulafia: Translatorof Toledo, whowas still livingin r.37s. At the command of King
on the Pentateuch, alphabetically arranged (FlorHis coiTespondence with ence. 1750; IJerlin, 17(il). the "Sages of Lunel" was published from the manuscript by ,1. lirill under the title " Kilab al-Hasji'ilStfer Iggerol" (Paris, 1S71). Compare iVAUO.N BEN
Alfonso X. of Castile he translated from Araliic into Spanish " Fabrica y Usos del Orlogio della Candela" (Manufacture and Uses of the Candle Clock).
Mksiiullam.
Buimograpiiy:
Stcinsclincider, Cat. Bndl. col. irViS; Idem, Ihiir. I'ebcrs.ji.'Mi; Griitz, rvcscd.d. Jia/cii, vll.ltili; KavserExjj.-Purt. Jud. p. 9il.
lliig, liihl.
M. K. BlBi.ioc.RAPMV: Cclger. JIM. Zeil. (Jfxeh. d.
Judcu^
vll. 3t>
Moses Abulafia ish ?iiusieian
(lied
ix.
282 et seq.; Griitz,
ct »aj.
(or
Todros Abulafia
Abu AmrumMusa):
r.Js;!.
He was
Ihe
.son
Span-
of .losejdi
Aliulatia, and wrote a treatise on music (Steinsclmeider, " Hebr. I'ihl.'" viii. 70, xix. iOct sctj.; idem, "llebr. I'ebers. ' p. 6Ki(). Another Moses Abulafia was a rabbi in Toledo between 1470 and 1480 (Zunz, "Z. G." p. 4:m».
Samuel ha-Levi Abulafia
(or Al-Levi, but erfinancier; Imrii at Toledo about i;j','ll; was treasurer to Don Pedro the Cniel of Castile. In 1U.">() lie was recommended to the king as cliiif treasurer by the minisler .luan Alfonso de Albiii|ueri|iie. whose estates he managed. He soon became privy (ciuneihjrof his new master, and was Through his the most iiillueiilial man in Castile. friendship for Dona Maria de I'adilla, the mistress of Pedro, he drew on himself the hatred of the legitimate (lueen and of the grandees who adhered to her cause. In lH.Vt. while with the king in Ihe fortress of Toro, he was suddenly seized by the enemies of Ihe monarch and thrown into prison. He suecee<led in procuring his release Ihrough Ihi' payment of a large ransom and escaped, togelher with Ihe king, wild had also been seized. Don Samuel ha Levi restored the thoroughly disorganize Talmudic Haggadot in a cabaThe seilion of this realise dealing with listic .sense. l{enikot and Mo'cd has JH'en printed (Novydvor, 180S). Quouil ions from the Zohar occur in it forthe I
first
time (27n;
mt3D n3 I'tOCnD.
Zohar,
i.
3(fcr,
14.V.).
This
is
the
first
atteni|>t al a cabalistic
explanation
