Zerahiah the Greek
Zerachiah Ha-Levi Gerondi
, the author of the well-known Sefer ha-Ma'or, the Sefer ha-Yashar was attributed by some bibliographers to the latter.
The Sefer ha-Yashar is divided into eighteen short chapters, and treats the ethical principles which underlie the relation of man to God. It is an imitation of
Hobot ha-Lebabot, which Zerahiah acknowledges in his preface that he had studied, although he found it too long and too profound for the average reader. The indebtedness of the Sefer ha-Yashar to the "Hobot ha-Lebabot" is especially evident in the first chapter, entitled Sod Beri'at 'Olam, which is simply a brief summary of the chapters called Sha'ar ha-Yihud and Sha'ar ha-Behinah in Bahya's work. The Sefer ha-Yashar was first published at Constantinople
in 1526, and since then has passed through twenty-four editions.
Resources
- Zerahiah ha-Yewani. Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906; which cites the following bibliography:
- De Rossi, Dizionario, s.v. Tam, Jacob;
- Nachman Krochmal, in Kerem Ḥemed, iv. 272;
- Eliakim Carmoly, in Jost's Annalen, i. 155;
- Moritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 2586-2588.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
References
- ^ Jewish Ethics and Jewish Mysticism in Sefer Ha-Yashar, Shimon Shokek, Edwin Mellen Press, 1991