SUSAN, ISSACHAR BEN MORDECAI

SUSAN, ISSACHAR BEN MORDECAI (c. 1510–after 1580). Issachar Susan was a member of the Ben Susan family, which claimed descent from the tribe of Benjamin. He was born in Fez and about 1527 he and his father moved to Jerusalem where he studied under *Levi ibn Ḥabib. Some years later he went to Safed where he continued to study in very straitened circumstances. He was active in the Maghreb (North Africa) congregation and as a result became friendly with the leaders of the Mostarabian community (the original Jewish community which existed before the influx following the expulsion from Spain). During that period he occupied himself with research into the synagogue customs of the various Jewish communities, both in Ereẓ Israel and the Diaspora, particularly those connected with the scriptural readings, as well as with the calendar. In the hope of overcoming his poverty, he left Ereẓ Israel in 1538 and traveled to Egypt, Turkey, Italy, and other countries. It was during this period that he wrote his book, which contains a full and detailed summary of all the sources for the customs he gave. He wrote the first text in 1538, but was able to revise it from time to time before its publication, under the titles Tikkun Yissakhar (Constaninople, 1564) and Ibbur Shanim (Venice, 1579). The book was well received by the various Jewish communities and became a kind of code of synagogue customs. It circulated mainly among the communities of Yemen, India, and other countries of the east. Joseph Caro, who was at that time already compiling the Shulḥan Arukh, was able to include Susan's conclusions and deal with them extensively in his works. The book throws light on everything connected with Mostarabian custom in Ereẓ Israel and the adjoining countries, and contains much information on liturgical usage not given in any other sources, as well as customs first mentioned by him (e.g., the eating of fruit on *Tu bi-Shevat). It also contains vivid portraits of the unique way of life of the scholars of Safed of the time (among them Joseph Caro), and their discussions on subjects mentioned in his work.

In the period between the publication of the two editions of his work, Susan returned to Safed where he administered a yeshivah for youth, among whom were many from the Yemen and other countries. During this period he translated the whole Bible and the Megillat Antiochus into the Arabic spoken at that time in the east. This book, written between 1571 and 1574, was never published; manuscripts exist in the D. Sassoon collection and in the British Museum.

bibliography:

Fuenn, Keneset, 704; J.M. Toledano, Ner ha-Ma'arav (1911), 109; J. Ben-Naim, Malkhei Rabbanan (1931), 79b; Ben-Zvi, in: Sinai, 5 (1939), 383–5; Freed, ibid., 60 (1966/67), 130f.; Hakohen, in: Sinai, Sefer Yovel (1958), 421f.

[Nathan Fried]