Trani

Family of scholars, members of which were prominent in Spain and the Levant.

Aaron di Trani:

Spanish tosafist; born in Castile; descendant of a family which produced several eminent Talmudists. He received his education under the direction of R. Joseph Alfasi. At an early age he removed to Italy, whence he went, in 1502, to Adrianople. There he made the acquaintance of Joseph Caro, who had gone thither to publish his "Bet Yosef." As a Talmudist, Trani was very highly esteemed by his contemporaries. He ranks among the representatives of pilpul, not only on accountof his preference for the Tosafists, but also by virtue of the fact that his nephew and pupil Moses di Trani, in conjunction with the son of Joseph Caro, introduced pilpul into the schools of Palestine. It may, however, be assumed that Aaron Trani's pilpul did not go to extremes, else Joseph Caro would not have spoken of him so highly. The few notes concerning him which may be found in the works of others were collected by Michael in his "Or ha-Ḥayyim."

J. Sr. L. G.Isaiah (ben Elijah) di Trani (the Younger):

See Jew. Encyc. vi. 644.

Isaiah (ben Mali) di Trani (the Elder; RID):

See Jew. Encyc. vi. 644.

Joseph di Trani:

Scholar of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; uncle of Moses di Trani. Expelled, with his brother, from the city of his birth in 1502, he settled in Salonica.

Joseph di Trani (the Elder):

Talmudist of the latter part of the sixteenth century; lived in Greece. By contemporary scholars he was called , and regarded as one of the foremost Talmudists of his time. He was the author of "She'elot u-Teshubot," a work in three parts: part i. comprises 152 responsa, together with a general index (Constantinople, 1641); part ii. consists of 111 responsa in the order of the first three parts of the ritual codex (Venice, 1645); part iii. contains responsa to the fourth part of the ritual codex, together with novellæ to the treatise Ḳiddushin, and supercommentaries on RaN's and Alfasi's commentaries on the treatises Ketubot and Ḳiddushin (ib. 1645). The entire work appeared in Fürth in 1764. Joseph also published novellæ to the treatises Shabbat, Ketubot, and Kiddushin (Sudzilkov, 1802), and the responsa which were embodied in Alfandari's "Maggid me-Reshit" (Constantinople, 1710). He left several commentaries in manuscript—on Alfasi, on Maimonides' "Yad," and on R. Nathan's "'Aruk."

Joseph (ben Moses ben Joseph) di Trani (the Younger):

Talmudist; born at Safed 1573; died at Constantinople 1644. He early showed a marked predilection for Talmudic studies, and upon the death of his father (1585) he was sent to Egypt, where he continued them under his uncle Solomon di Trani. When the latter, in 1587, fell a victim to the plague, Joseph returned to Safed, where he became a pupil of Solomon Sagi. There he remained until 1609, when he received a call to a rabbinate in Constantinople, where he officiated until his death. He is reported to have founded several benevolent institutions in Constantinople. Of his works the only one known is "Ẓofenat Pa'neaḥ (Venice, 1653; Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 1694), a collection of sermons on the weekly lessons and the festivals.

Moses ben Joseph di Trani (the Elder; called ):

Talmudist; born at Salonica 1505; died in Jerusalem 1585. His father had fled to Salonica from Apulia three years prior to his birth. While still a boy Moses was sent to Adrianople to pursue the study of the Talmud under the supervision of his uncle Aaron. At the age of sixteen he went to Safed and completed his studies under Jacob Berab. In 1525 he was appointed rabbi at Safed; he held this office until 1535, when he removed to Jerusalem.

Moses di Trani was the author of: "Ḳiryat Sefer" (Venice, 1551), commentary on the Bible, the Talmud, and difficult passages in the commentaries of Maimonides; "Sefer ha-Teḥiyyah weha-Pedut" (Mantua, 1556; Wilna, 1799; Sudzilkov, 1834; Warsaw, 1841), commentary and notes on ch. vii. and viii. of Saadia Gaon's "Emunot we-Deot"; "Bet Elohim" (Venice, 1576), a moral and philosophical work on prayer, atonement, and the fundamental principles of faith; "She'elot u-Teshubot" (vol. i., ib. 1629; vol. ii., ib. 1030), a collection of 841 responsa, with an index.

Moses ben Joseph di Trani (the Younger):

Flourished during the first half of the seventeenth century. He published the commentaries of his father, and wrote some sermons, which appeared in the "Ẓofenat Pa'neaḥ" (Venice, 1653).

Solomon di Trani:

Son of Moses ben Joseph the Elder, and brother of Joseph di Trani the Elder; flourished in Egypt, where he died from the plague in 1587. He wrote a preface to the works of his father, in which is contained much information bearing on the Trani family. He is also the reputed author of "Marbiẓ Torah be-Yisrael," a collection of sermons, still extant in manuscript.

Bibliography:

  * Zunz, Z. G. pp. 58, 229-230;
  * idem, Literaturgesch. p. 363;
  * Azulai, Shem ha-Gedolim;
  * Conforte, Ḳore ha-Dorot (ed. Cassel);
  * Jost, Gesch. der Juden, viii. 456, note;
  * Güdemann, Gesch. ii. 189 et seq.;
  * Bass, Sifte Yeshenim. i. 49a, 68a;
  * Berliner, Peleṭat Soferim, p. 13;
  * idem, in his Magazin, i. 45, 54;
  * Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael;
  * Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim;
  * Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 1392, 1536, 2006-2007;
  * De Rossi, Dizionario, p. 319;
  * Ibn Yaḥya, Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah, ed. Amsterdam, p. 51a.



E. C. S. O.