רשב"ץ

Rav Shimon ben Tzemach Duran (Adar 5121/1361–5204/1444), known as the Tashbetz after his responsa and as the Rashbatz, was the foremost rav of Algerian Jewry and the author of Magen Avot. His family stemmed from Provence, descendants of the Ramban. Born in Spain, he learned under Rav Ephraim Vidal, a talmid of the Ran, and under Rav Yonah de Maestre, whose daughter Bongoda he married. He mastered philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and the natural sciences, but his living he made from medicine.

In the massacres of 5151/1391 he lost his property and fled with his father and sister to Algiers. There, in 5154/1394, he sat with the Rivash, Rav Yitzchak ben Sheshet, on the beit din that drew up the takkanot of the Algiers kehillah, and after the Rivash’s retirement he became rav of the city. On principle he refused to have his appointment confirmed by the ruler; having lost all he owned, he agreed against his wish to accept a salary from the community, and held the post until he was niftar. His son, Rav Shlomo — the Rashbash — filled his place in the rabbanut of Algiers.

His Shu’t Tashbetz gathers more than nine hundred responsa in three parts, first printed in Amsterdam in 5498/1738; he wrote of himself that he never once retracted a ruling, and his psak guided the Jews of North Africa for generations. His Magen Avot is a large work of Jewish thought in four parts, closing with a commentary on Pirkei Avot; the section answering the claims of the other faiths was censored from many editions and printed on its own as Keshet uMagen. He wrote also Zohar haRakia on the Azharot of Rav Shlomo ibn Gabirol, in defense of the Rambam; Or HaChaim against Rav Chasdai Crescas; Yavin Shemuah on shechitah; and Livyat Chen on the Torah. He composed his own matzeivah, closing it that the name of Shimon would not be lost.