Samuel ben Ali
{{short description|Iraqi rabbi}}
Shmuel ben Ali ha-Levi (Hebrew: שמואל בן עלי הלוי, also Samuel ben Ali ibn al-Dastur; died 1194) was the most noteworthy of the twelfth-century Babylonian scholars{{Cite web|title=Samuel ben Ali {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/samuel-ben-ali|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2020-05-17}} and the only one of his era whose written works have survived in any significant number.{{Cite journal|last=Rustow|first=Marina|date=2010-10-01|title=Ibn al-Dastūr, Samuel ben ʿAlī|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/ibn-al-dastur-samuel-ben-ali-SIM_0010250|journal=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World|language=en}}
Biography
Samuel served as head of the academy in Baghdad for nearly thirty years and was a recognized leader of neighboring countries as well.{{Cite book|last1=Sklare|first1=David Eric|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GHXpZvIrqwC|title=Samuel Ben Ḥofni Gaon and His Cultural World: Texts and Studies|last2=Hophni|first2=Samuel Ben|date=1996|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10302-3|location=|pages=83|language=en}}Pethahiah, p. 9f; L. Greenhut (1905), 10. He appointed judges throughout Iraq, Iran, and Syria,{{Cite journal|last=Rustow|first=Marina|date=2010-10-01|title=Ibn al-Dastūr, Samuel ben ʿAlī|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/ibn-al-dastur-samuel-ben-ali-SIM_0010250|journal=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World|language=en}} and presided over many congregations throughout Asia. His Talmudic lectures were attended by thousands of pupils, each who had undergone a preparatory course in advance.{{Cite book|last=Graetz|first=Heinrich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F603DwAAQBAJ|title=History of the Jews, Vol. 3 (of 6)|date=2018-07-11|publisher=Litres|isbn=978-5-04-083193-7|language=en}} He was also well-versed in the field of astrology.רבקה פלדחי ועמנואל אטקס, חינוך והיסטוריה - הקשרים תרבותיים ופוליטיים, עמוד 81, הוצאת מרכז זלמן שזר לתולדות ישראל, ירושלים, ה'תשנ"ט A description of Samuel and his grandeur is provided by Petachiah of Regensburg in his medieval diary.
Samuel had a strong personality and clashed with Maimonides on a variety of occasions.{{Cite book|last1=Baumgarten|first1=Albert I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoJPtQEACAAJ|title=Self, Soul, and Body in Religious Experience|last2=Assmann|first2=Jan|last3=Stroumsa|first3=Gedaliahu A. G.|last4=Stroumsa|first4=Guy G.|date=1998|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10943-8|location=|pages=314|language=en}} Samuel wrote glosses to Maimonides’ works,{{Cite web|title=Samuel ben Ali {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/samuel-ben-ali|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=2020-05-17}} and the latter addressed them in a letter to his student, Joseph b. Judah.She'elot u-Teshuvot ha-Rambam, ed. by J. Blau, 3 (1961), 142 no. 464 Samuel criticized Maimonides’ position on resurrection and the world to come and had fiercely debated Maimonides’ student, Joseph b. Judah, on these issues as well.{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Herbert A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qnw8DwAAQBAJ|title=Moses Maimonides: The Man and His Works|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=978-0-19-517321-5|location=|pages=520|language=en}} Additionally, circles associated with Samuel were disseminating propaganda attacking Maimonides’ positions.{{Cite book|last=Kraemer|first=Joel L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08vXnQEACAAJ|title=Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization's Greatest Minds|date=2008|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=978-1-61523-163-8|location=|pages=413|language=en}}
Samuel’s daughter had become reputable, under the name of Bat ha-Levi, for her Talmudic expertise and public lectures to students who would remain outside and listen, while she remained indoors and unseen.{{Cite book|last=Parry|first=Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G45ONbSajpAC&dq=The+Complete+Idiot's+Guide+to+the+Talmud:+Wisdom+of+the+Ages+About+Law+...+By+Aaron+Parry&pg=PP1|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Talmud: Wisdom of the Ages About Law, Religion, Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, and More|date=2004-07-06|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-4406-9617-6|language=en}}
A collection of Samuel’s letters were published in Tarbiz.{{cite journal |last=Assaf |first=S. |title=Letters of R. Samuel ben Eli and his Contemporaries (Contin.) / קובץ של אגרות ר' שמואל בן עלי ובני דורו (המשך) |date=1930 |trans-title= Letters of R. Samuel ben Eli and his Contemporaries (contin.) |language=Hebrew |journal=Tarbiẕ |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=43–84 |jstor=23580522 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| title = Babylonian Gaon
| years = circa 1060-1194
| before = Solomon
| after = Zechariah ben Berakhel
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Geonim}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel ben Ali}}
Category:12th-century Abbasid rabbis