Joseph ibn Plat

Biography

Joseph ibn Plat, Rabbi Yosef ben Yehudah ibn Plat (יוסף אבן פלאת), was a rav, parshan and posek of the twelfth century, at the start of the era of the rishonim. He is best known as a teacher of the Raavad of Posquières, author of the hasagot, and of Rabbi Zerachiah HaLevi, the Baal HaMaor.

He was born in Qal’at Hammad in Algeria, the birthplace of the Rif; Rabbi Avraham ben Yitzchak of Narbonne, author of HaEshkol, calls him “Rabbi Yosef son of Rabbi Yehudah of Kala Chamad.” He traveled widely. From North Africa he went first to Spain, where he served the great rabbis of the time and was later relied on as an authority for their practices; for this the rishonim call him “HaSefardi.” He also spent time in Rome and traveled in Italy, Greece and Lorraine, and he may have reached Bavel and Damascus as well.

From Spain he moved to Provence, settled in Narbonne and also stayed in Lunel, and taught Torah there to many. The Raavad, Rabbi Asher ben Meshullam and Rabbi Zerachiah HaLevi learned from him in person. He exchanged letters with the Raavad and Rabbi Zerachiah, with the Rambam, and with the author of HaEshkol, who held him in great honor.

He wrote Tikkun Soferim on the tefillot, of which only a fragment survives, as well as halachic works and peirushim on masechtot of the Gemara such as Nedarim and Chullin. These are quoted in the Ittur, the Kol Bo and the Shittah Mekubbetzet on Nedarim.

Where traditions differ. Some say he was born in southern Spain, rather than in North Africa.

רבי יוסף בן יהודה, אִבְּן פְּלַאת, היה רב, פרשן ופוסק מן המאה ה-12, בתחילת תקופת הראשונים. נודע כרבם של הראב"ד מפושקיירה בעל ההשגות ור' זרחיה הלוי "בעל המאור". נדד בארצות רבות: בצפון אפריקה, ספרד, צרפת, איטליה, יוון, וייתכן שגם בבבל ודמשק.

Joseph ibn Plat was a Rabbinical authority of the twelfth century CE. He is presumed to have been born in southern Spain, whence he went to Provence and settled in Lunel, though Epstein is of opinion that he was born in the Byzantine Empire. If this is so, he may be identical with the Joseph whom Benjamin of Tudela met in Damascus. He also spent some time in Rome, Italy, and may have traveled in France, Lorraine, Lombardy, and Spain. According to Joseph ibn Tzaddik, he was flourishing in the year 1205; according to Abraham ben Solomon of Torrutiel, he died in 1225; but according to others he died before 1198. Abraham ben David, Asher ben Meshullam, and Zerahiah ha-Levi Gerondi, all of Lunel, received oral instruction from him, and he corresponded with Zerahiah and Abraham ben David in Posquières; in addition, he corresponded with Maimonides and Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne. He wrote a treatise on the prayers entitled Tikkun Soferim, of which a fragment is extant. His halakic treatises, commentaries on various Talmudic books, such as Nedarim and Hullin, are quoted in the Ittur, the Kol Bo, and Shittah Mequbbetzet to Nedarim, and extracts are to be found in the Pardes; his name, however, is cited in the last-named only in one long citation on the Benedictions.

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