Background
He was the scion of a wealthy and scholarly family, the son of Todros ben Judah, to whom the physician Judah ben Isaac dedicated his poem, The Conflict of Wisdom and Wealth, published in 1214.
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Meir Abulafia
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He should not be confused with Moses Isserles, known as "the Rema" or "the Rama" (Hebrew: רמ"א). Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia (c 1170 – 1244, Burgos, Spain), also known as the Ramah (Hebrew: הרמ"ה) (an acronym of his Hebrew name), was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain. Meir Halevi Abulafia is pronounced /ˈmeɪər həˈleɪviː ˌæbuːˈlæfɪə/ MAY-ər hə-LAY-vee A-bool-A-fiə.
In his thirties he was already one of the three appointed rabbis on the Toledo Beth Din (one of the other two was Joseph ibn Migash"s son, Meir).
As the Spanish kings gave the Jews more self-rule, Rabbi Abulafia played a substantial role in establishing ritual regulations for Spanish Jewry. He was also the head of an important yeshiva in Toledo.
He was so highly esteemed in Toledo that on his father"s death in 1225 the latter"s honorary title of Nasi (prince) was applied to him. He is well known for beginning the first Maimonidean Controversy over the Guide for the Perplexed while the Rambam (Maimonides) was still alive.
Outraged by Maimonides" apparent disbelief in physical resurrection of the dead, Abulafia wrote a series of letters to the French Jews in Lunel.
To his shock and disappointment, they supported the Rambam. When his younger contemporary, Ramban, wanted to renew the controversy thirty years later, Rabbi Abulafia refused to participate. Rabbi Abulafia was also opposed to the study of philosophy.
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Born
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Died
1244 (aged 79)