Baruch ben Samuel of Aleppo
BARUCH BEN SAMUEL OF ALEPPO
BARUCH BEN SAMUEL OF ALEPPO (also called Baruch of Greece , or the Sephardi ; 1070/80–1130/40), talmudic commentator. It is surmised that he was either from southern Italy or Spain. He immigrated to Ereẓ Israel and then to Aleppo, from where he sent questions to Samuel b. Ali, head of the Baghdad yeshivah. His commentaries are frequently quoted by the scholars of Germany, Italy, Provence, and Spain, among them *Isaac b. Moses of Vienna, author of Or Zaru'a and *Isaiah b. Mali di Trani. He is mostly quoted by Zechariah *Aghmati in his commentary on Bava Kamma, Bava Meẓia and Bava Batra. Baruch relied mainly on *Hananel's commentary and Perushei Magenẓa (Mainz) attributed to *Gershom b. Judah. He followed the method of giving a precis of the talmudic text and interweaving his own commentary. Like *Nissim b. Jacob and Hananel b. Ḥushiel he referred to the talmudic sources, Sifra, Sifrei, and Tosefta, and was meticulous with regard to variant readings. He also wrote Ḥibbur Tohorot, which is mentioned by Isaiah di Trani, and a book of halakhic decisions. Only his commentary to Horayot has survived and is printed in the Romm editions of the Talmud, although erroneously ascribed to Hananel.
bibliography:
S. Assaf, in: Tarbiz, 1 no. 1 (1930), 126; Epstein, ibid., 1 no. 4 (1930), 27–62; 16 (1944/45), 49–53.
[Josef Horovitz]