Balideh (al-Balideh), Moses

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BALIDEH (al-Balideh), MOSES

BALIDEH (al-Balideh), MOSES (15th century), Yemenite scholar. Balideh was the author of more than ten works on diverse subjects, mostly in the form of commentaries and expositions of rabbinic sayings. With the exception of his Midrash on the last chapter of Proverbs, Sharḥ Eshet Ḥayil, all his works are in manuscript in the British Museum (Margoliouth, Cat, no. 1101). Although he enjoyed a distinguished reputation, his works did not achieve wide circulation among Yemenite Jewry and were therefore almost unknown to succeeding generations. They include a commentary on the Midrash Yelammedenu, a commentary bearing a marked resemblance to the Midrash ha-Gadol in respect to sources, arrangement, and tenor. Balideh wrote a commentary concerning the ten items recounted as having been created on the (first) Sabbath at twilight (Avot 5:6) in addition to commentaries on some works of Maimonides.

bibliography:

Ratzaby, in: ks, 28 (1952/53), 260, 263, 268, 277–8; Y.L. Naḥum, Mi-Ẓefunot Yehudei Teiman (1962), 206–22.

[Yehuda Ratzaby]