Ibn Ghayyat, Isaac Ben Judah

Spanish rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher, and liturgical poet; born at Lucena in 1038 (Graetz cites 1030); died at Cordova in 1089; buried at Lucena. According to some authorities he was the teacher of Isaac Alfasi; according to others, his fellow pupil. The best known of his pupils were his son Judah ibn Ghayyat, Joseph ibn Sahl, and Moses ibn Ezra. He was held in great esteem by Samuel ha-Nagid and his son Joseph, and after the latter's death (1066), Ibn Ghayyat was elected to succeed him as rabbi of Lucena, where he officiated until his death. He was the author of a compendium of ritual laws concerning the festivals, published by Bamberger under the title of "Sha'are Simḥah" (Fürth, 1862; the laws concerning the Passover were republished by Zamber under the title "Hilkot Pesaḥim," Berlin, 1864); and a philosophical commentary on Ecclesiastes, known only through quotations in the works of later authors (Dukes, in "Orient, Lit." x. 667-668). The greatest activity of Ibn Ghayyat was in liturgical poetry; his hymns are found in the Maḥzor of Tripoli under the title of "Sifte Renanot."

Bibliography:

  * Joseph Derenbourg, in Geiger's Wiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol. v. 396-412;
  * Michael Sachs, Religiöse Poesie, pp. 259-262;
  * Grätz. Gesch. 3d ed., vi. 61, 77;
  * Zunz, Literaturgesch. pp. 194-200;
  * idem, in Allg. Zeit. des Jud. 1839, p. 480;
  * L. Dukes, in Orient, Lit. ix. 536-540; x. 667, 668;
  * Landshuth, 'Ammude ha-'Ahodah, pp. 111-116;
  * De Rossi, Dizionario, pp. 173-174;
  * Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 1110-1111.



D. M. Sel.