ר”דק – ר’ דוד קמחי – R. David b. Yosef Kimchi – c. 1160-c. 1235 – Lived in Narbonne, Provence (southern France) and best known for his Tanakh commentaries to BeReshit, Neviim, Tehillim, and Divrei Ha-Yamim. Radak was the son of R. Yosef Kimchi, a Sefardi émigré to Provence notable as an early translator of…
Knowledge Base
Rashba
רשב”א – ר’ שלמה בן אברהם אבן אדרת – R. Shelomo b. Avraham Ibn Adret – c. 1235 to c. 1310 in Barcelona (in the region of Catalunya in northeastern Iberia), was a major Sefardi posek (decisor) and respected scholar, and the successor of Ramban, with whom he studied, although his principal teacher was Rabbenu…
Responsa
Sheelot u-teshuvot – shu”t – שאלות ותשובות – שו”ת – A major genre of halakhic literature recording questions (sheelot) and answers (teshuvot) that give pesak halakhah (practical halakhic rulings). There is a voluminous literature of responsa beginning in the period of the Geonim and continuing till today. Earlier collections of responsa may have details removed…
Rishonim
ראשונים – “Former authorities” (c. 1000-1550), meaning Torah scholars who lived after the period of the Geonim, traditionally dated 1038 CE, and before the compilation of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563 (or, better, 1571, when it was first published with Rema’s hagahot, glosses adding Ashkenazi traditions), which marks the beginning of the period of Acharonim,…