Исаак әл-Фаси: Галаха кодексінің авторы және "Риф" аталымы

Maghrebi Talmudist and posek, commonly referee to as "the Rif" (1013–1103)

Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013–1103) (إسحاق الفاسي, ) also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym, the Rif (Rabbi Isaac al Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of halakha Jewish law). He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha halachot, considered the first fundamental work in halakhic literature. His name "Alfasi" means "of Fez" in Arabic, but opinions differ as to whether he ever lived in Fez.

He was born in Qalaat Hammad, which is understood by most historians of the past hundred years to be Qal'at Bani Hammad in modern day Algeria, capital city of the Sanhaja Hammadid dynasty of the central Maghreb. However, older sources believe Qalaat Hammad refers to a village near Fez. (However, Binyamin Ze'ev Benedict and other recent scholars argue that Alfasi was never active in Fez. When Alfasi was himself on the point of death, he recommended as his successor in the Lucena rabbinate, not his own son, but his pupil Joseph ibn Migash.

Sefer ha Halachot (ספר ההלכות), also known as Hilchot haRif or Hilchot Rav Alfas (Hebrew: הלכות רב אלפס), was Alfasi's main work, written in Fez. It extracts all the pertinent legal decisions from the three Talmudic orders Moed, Nashim and Nezikin as well as the tractates of Berachot and Chulin 24 tractates in all. Alfasi transcribed the Talmud's halakhic conclusions verbatim, without the surrounding deliberations; he also excludes all Aggadic (non legal, homiletic) matter as well as discussion of the halakha practicable only in Land of Israel. Generally the work follows the ordering of the Talmud, but sometimes Talmudic excerpts are moved from place to place, and very rarely non Talmudic texts are incorporated into the work.

Maimonides wrote that Alfasi's work "has superseded all the geonic codes for it contains all the decisions and laws which we need in our day ". Sefer ha Halachot plays a fundamental role in the development of Halakha. Firstly, "the Rif" succeeded in producing a Digest, which became the object of close study, and led in its turn to the great Codes of Maimonides and of Rabbi Joseph Karo. Secondly, it served as one of the "Three Pillars of Halakha", as an authority underpinning both the Arba'ah Turim and the Shulkhan Arukh. Rabbi Nissim of Gerona (the RaN) compiled a detailed and explicit commentary on this work; In yeshivot "the Rif and the RaN" are regularly studied as part of the daily Talmudic schedule. This work was published prior to the times of Rashi and other commentaries, and resulted in a profound change in the study practices of the scholarly Jewish public in that it opened the world of the gemara to the public at large. It soon became known as the Talmud Katan ("Little Talmud"). At the close of the Middle Ages, when the Talmud was banned in Italy, Alfasi's code was exempted so that from the 16th to the 19th centuries his work was the primary subject of study of the Italian Jewish community. Alfasi also occupies an important place in the development of the Sephardi method of studying the Talmud. In contradistinction to the Ashkenazi approach, the Sephardim sought to simplify the Talmud and free it from casuistical detail; see for example Chananel Ben Chushiel.

Alfasi also left many responsa. These were originally written in Arabic, and were soon translated into Hebrew as "She'elot u Teshuvot ha Rif".