Naḥmanides, Moses ben Naḥman

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Naḥmanides, Moses ben Naḥman, or Ramban (1194–1270). Spanish Jewish philosopher and Talmudic scholar. Naḥmanides earned his living as a physician. He founded a yeshivah in Gerona and among his students was Solomon ben Abraham Adret. He had enormous prestige during his lifetime and was referred to as ha-rav ha-neʾeman (the trustworthy rabbi). In the Maimonidean controversy, he tried to reach a compromise, on the one hand condemning the way Maimonides' writings had been used; on the other, arguing against the ḥerem that the French rabbis had declared. About fifty of his works survive, including prayers, piyyutim, theological works, biblical commentaries, and novellae on the Talmud and halakhah. His Commentary on the Torah (publ. 1480) was written ‘to appease the minds of the students, weary through exile and trouble’.

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