Jesse ben Hezekiah

views updated

JESSE BEN HEZEKIAH

JESSE BEN HEZEKIAH (13th century), "exilarch of all the Diasporas of Israel" in *Damascus. Jesse is known for his participation in the controversy over the writings of *Maimonides, which broke out during the 1290s as a result of the activities of Solomon Petit, the leader of the kabbalists in *Acre. He signed the ban against the opponents of Maimonides in 1286. He was possibly a descendant of Josiah (Hassan), the brother of the exilarch *David ben Zakkai, a contemporary of Saadiah Gaon.

bibliography:

S. Poznański, Babylonische Geonim im nachgaonaeischen Zeitalter (1914), 123f.; Mann, in: Sefer Zikkaron… S.A. Poznański (1927), 29; Ashtor, Toledot, 1 (1944), 132, 260f.

[Eliyahu Ashtor]