FARISSOL, ABRAHAM BEN MORDECAI
- FARISSOL, ABRAHAM BEN MORDECAI
- FARISSOL, ABRAHAM BEN MORDECAI (c. 1451–c. 1525), Bible
commentator, geographer, and polemicist. Born in Avignon, Abraham spent
most of his life in Ferrara, Italy, where he did most of his work, and
in Mantua. He served as a cantor, and for many years as a copyist, a
task he performed with great devotion and care. It seems that he was
highly regarded by the Jews of Ferrara, for they chose him to represent
Judaism before the duke of Ferrara in a religious dispute with two
Dominican monks. Farissol's main works are (1) Pirhei
Shoshannim, a short commentary on the Torah, which was never
printed but is extant in manuscript; a commentary on Ecclesiastes, also
in manuscript; and a commentary on the Book of Job, printed in the
Bomberg Bible (Venice 1516–17). (2) Magen Avraham, a work
dedicated to the defense of Judaism in religious disputes, and
containing in two separate chapters, polemical attacks against
Christianity and Islam. Most of the work is basedupon the writings of
earlier medieval Hebrew polemicists, but parts were influenced by the
author's own experience in the dispute in Ferrara. The work is still
extant in manuscript. (3) Iggeret Orḥot Olam, his most famous
and most important work, is the first modern Hebrew work on geography
(Ferrara 1524; Venice 1586; and many subsequent printings). Each of its
30 chapters deals with a certain geographical area or subject. In
addition, many cosmological and historical matters are also treated. The
author collected all the evidence he could regarding Jewish settlements
in each country. The inclusion of a description of the New World makes
Farissol the first Hebrew writer to deal in detail with the
newly-discovered America. The 14th chapter of Iggeret
Orḥot Olam, which deals mainly with the settlements of the
ten lost tribes , is of special interest. According to Farissol's
introduction to this chapter, it is clear that what moved him to
undertake this investigation was the appearance in Italy in 1523 of
david reuveni , many of whose descriptions are included in this
work.
-BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Steinschneider, Cat Bod, 689–90; Benjacob, Ozar, 9 no. 189, 296 no. 490;
Graetz, Hist, 4 (1894), 411–3; Waxman, Literature, 2 (19602),
485–7, 556.
Encyclopedia Judaica.
1971.
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