Rabbi Baruch ben Yitzhak Ibn Albalia

Albalia, Barukh ben Isaac

Albalia, Barukh ben Isaac (1077-1126), member of a well-known family (originally from Lucca, Italy), was the son of Isaac Albalia , an astrologer at the palace of the Taifa king al-Muʿṭamid of Seville (r. 1069-1090). Barukh was born in Seville, and studied with his father, as did Joseph ibn Ṣaddīqq. After his father's death he went at the age of seventeen to Lucena and studied with Isaac b. Jacob al-Fāsi for nine years, the same as Joseph Ibn Migash. Barukh became dayyan and head of the Beit Midrash in Cordova.

Albalia was the uncle and teacher of Abraham ibn Da'ud, and a friend of the leading poets of his time: Moses ibn Ezra (who wrote a dirge when he died: ʿEnot tehom hemma ve-lo-ʿenayim, in Shire ha-Ḥol, ed. Brody, I, pp. 92 ff.) and Judah ha‑Levi (who alluded to him in a panegyric dedicated to his father, Le-rav Yiṣḥaq nesi, Dîwân, ed. Brody I, p. 120).

In his Sefer ha-Qabbala, Ibn Da'ud, after mentioning a dispute between Isaac, Barukh's father, and al-Fāsī, writes about him: "After the death of R. Isaac b. al-Fasi, of blessed memory, the renown of these two, R. Joseph ha-Levi and R. Baruk b. R. Isaac, extended throughout the land. In addition to his knowledge of the Torah and his secular learning, this R. Baruk was learned in Greek wisdom. He raised many disciples, of whom I am the least [in distinction]. He passed away at the end of Elul, 4886." (trans. Cohen, p. 87). None of his writing has been preserved.

Bibliography

Ibn Daʾud, Abraham. Sefer ha-Qabbalah: the Book of Tradition, ed. and trans. Gerson D. Cohen. (Oxford; Portland, Oregon: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2005).

Ibn Ezra, Moses. Sefer ha-ʿIyyunim veha- Diyyunim: ʿal ha-Shira ha-ʿIvrit [Kit%C4%81b al- Muḥāḍara wa ʾl-Mudhākara], ed. A. S. Halkin (Jerusalem: Hotsaʾat Meḳitse Nirdamim, 1975).

Saenz-Badillos, Angel and Judit Targarona Borras, Diccionario de autores judios (Sefarad. Siglos X–XV) (Cordoba: Ediciones El Almendro, 1988).

Schirmann, Ḥayyim. “The life of Yehudah Ha- Levi,” Tarbiṣ 9 (1937/8), pp. 49f. [Hebrew]

Angel Saénz-Badillos. " Albalia, Barukh ben Isaac." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online , 2012. Reference. Jim Harlow. 04 July 2012 <http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-...>