Isaac Ben-joseph

Isaac ben-Joseph called also ISAAC DE CORBEL, was born in Corbeil. a city in France, towards the beginning of the 13th century, and died in 1280 according to Rossi (Jachia-Ghedalia and Abraham Zakuth say, the one 1240, the other 1270). He is the author of the celebrated work entitled עִמּוּדֵי גוֹלֶה, Ammudey Goleh (Constantinople, 1510, 4to; Cremona, 1557, 4to; and with glosses by Perez ben-Elia, and indications of the passages quoted from the Bible and the Talmud, Cracow, 1596, 4to). This work is taken from the גָּדֹל סֵפֶר מַצוֹת (Sepher Mitzvoth Gadol) of Moses of Coucy, and is known also by the name of Semak (from the initials of the three Hebrew words Sepher Mitzvoth Katon). It contains a synopsis of the precepts of the Jewish religion. It is divided into seven parts, each containing regulations for one day of the week. Isaac wrote it in 1277, at the request of the French Jews, who desired to have a clear and convenient manual to guide them in matters pertaining to their religion. It is also known under the Latin title of Columnae captivitatis, and still more frequently as the Liber Preceptorum parvus. Several other copies of it were made by French as well as German Rabbis. Jekutiel Salmon ben- Mose, of Posen, made a compendium of the work (Cracow, 1579, 4to). See Bartolocci, Magna Biblioth. Rabbin.; Wolf, Biblioth.. Hebraica; Rossi, Dizion. storico degli Autori Ebrei; First, Biblioth. Judaica, 1, 186; Gratz, Gesch. d. Juden, 7:131; Jost, Gesch. l. Judenthums, 3, 33. (J. H. W.)