Moses da Rieti

File:Miḳdash meʿaṭ manuscript (cropped)2.png

Moses da Rieti (also known as Moshe ben Yitzḥak and Mosè di Gaio; 1388–1466) was an Italian-Jewish poet, philosopher, and physician. Born in Rieti, he composed works in Hebrew and Italian{{Cite journal |last=Guetta |first=Alessandro |date=2003 |title=Moses da Rieti and His Miqdash meat |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.4 |journal=Prooftexts |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=4–17 |doi=10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.4 |jstor=10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.4 |issn=0272-9601}} and has been called a Hebrew Dante. His major work, the transitionally post-medieval and philosophical Hebrew poem Miqdash me'at, includes an encyclopedia of sciences, a Jewish paradise fantasy, and a post-biblical history of Jewish literature.

Overview

Moses was born in Rieti in 1388Colophon to MS Parma 2126, "I, Moses son of the late Rabbi Isaac of Rieti, wrote these rarities, here in Perugia in the year 5196 AM [1436 AD] at the age of 48." to Isaac (Gaio), probably a banker. He left Rieti to study medicine but returned in 1422 to practice medicine and banking there. He had at least three sons by his wife, Sella: Isaac (Gaio), the firstborn, Leone, and Bonaiuto, and all three followed him into the trade. He was rabbi in Rome from 1431 and filled various community roles around the Papal States throughout his life, also maintaining a yeshiva in Narni.See colophon to MS Vat. ebr. 260, which was written in Moses' academy in 1452. Miqdash me‘at (Little Sanctuary), his major work, is a transitionally post-medieval and philosophical Hebrew poem explicitly inspired by the Divine Comedy in both plot and structure, and also includes an encyclopedia of sciences, a Jewish paradise fantasy, and a post-biblical history of Jewish literature.{{Citation |last=Guetta |first=Alessandro |title=Moses of Rieti |date=2019 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy |pages=1–3 |editor-last=Sgarbi |editor-first=Marco |url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1113-1 |access-date=5 September 2024 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_1113-1 |isbn=978-3-319-02848-4}} Miqdash me‘at makes explicit metaphor in its structure as an homage to the Temple of Jerusalem.

Rieti was influenced by Yehuda Romano. Rieti's style is complex and he speaks on behalf of the Jewish people, with Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism especially in the tradition of Maimonides, and follows the terza rima of Dante Alighieri, the first Hebrew poet to do so.{{Cite journal |last=Bregman |first=Devora |date=2003 |title=A Note on the Style and Prosody of Miqdash meat |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.18 |journal=Prooftexts |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=18–24 |doi=10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.18 |jstor=10.2979/pft.2003.23.1.18 |issn=0272-9601}} Called a Hebrew Dante, he also authored a poetic dialogue between the Daughters of Zelophehad called Iggeret Ya‘ar ha-Levanon (Forest of Lebanon).{{Cite web |title=MOSES BEN ISAAC (GAJO) OF RIETI - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11093-moses-ben-isaac-gajo-of-rieti |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}} Rieti's work exhibits a deep familiarity with the Tannaim, Geonim, and Amoraim, including contemporary philosophy in Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew. It is said he later abandoned philosophy for kabbalah. Deborah Ascarelli and Lazaro da Viterbo translated his hymns into Italian.{{Cite journal |last=Rhine |first=A. B. |date=1911 |title=The Secular Hebrew Poetry of Italy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1451119 |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=341–402 |doi=10.2307/1451119 |jstor=1451119 |issn=0021-6682}} He died in Rome in 1466.{{Cite web |title=Mosè da rieti - Enciclopedia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/mose-da-rieti_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |access-date=6 September 2024 |website=Treccani |language=it}}File:Miḳdash meʿaṭ manuscript 2 (cropped).pngMSS R.R. Film No. F 22427, Neubauer 1403, {{Cite web |title=MS. Canonici Or. 104 - Hebrew and Judaica Manuscripts |url=https://hebrew.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/manuscript_209 |access-date=28 September 2024 |website=hebrew.bodleian.ox.ac.uk}} Fol. 124r-128r.]]