Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac haLevi haZaken, haZaken

Solomon (II) the Elder (Salonica, 1532–1600) became one of the leading scholars and most prolific writers of the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth century. In his youth, he studied Talmud with Joseph ibn Lev (1505–1580), poetry with Saʿadya Longo (1510–?), and secular matters with Aaron ʿAfiya. His family’s wealth afforded him the luxury of a broad education, and his father encouraged his studies. As a consequence, Solomon established himself as a learned scholar, versed in a variety of subjects and fluent in Hebrew, Spanish, and possibly Latin. At an early age, he was already giving sermons, resolving queries, engaging in religious instruction, and corresponding with prominent rabbinical figures such as Joseph ben Ephraim Caro (1488–1575). His productive literary career commenced when he was still in his teens. He composed an elegy to honor the late Samuel Almosnino (d. 1551) at the age of nineteen. A year later, he completed a commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirqe Avot) on May 28, 1553; in his introduction to this work, he noted that he was engaged to be married on the same day. In 1561, he expanded further the breadth of his knowledge by developing an interest in Kabbala. Seven years later, he assumed his first rabbinical appointment when he accepted an invitation to serve as rabbi, jurist (dayyan), and law-adjudicator (poseq) for two congregations in Skopje (Üsküp, Escopia). However, he remained in Skopje for only a short period between his arrival in June 1568 and his return to Salonica in 1571. It is possible that he went back to attend to family affairs relating to his father’s death around 1571. After working for two years at the Provençal congregation, ha-Levi succeeded Abraham Siralvo (d. 1573) as rabbi and Torah instructor (marbiṣ tora) at the illustrious Évora congregation on April 18, 1573; he held both positions until 1593, when he relinquished them due to his failing health. Shmuelevitz remarks that throughout his career, ha-Levi challenged the dominance of wealthy members of the community who attempted to exploit their status for their own benefit. As a dayyan, he addressed many queries on the matters of ritual, matrimonial, and commercial law, and he published responsa and novellae on the Talmud. Such was his reputation that his sermons drew large audiences and he received invitations to speak at other congregations; the fact that he headed two congregations is itself an indication of his stature. Ha-Levi’s preaching and writing reflected his great erudition, for they included many references to the Zohar and Kabbala, as well as to the secular sciences and Greek philosophers like Aristotle. He taught both religious and secular subjects and gave regular sermons for nearly thirty years, leaving a large body of written work. Indeed, Emmanuel noted that his renown as a writer and educator surpassed his status as a public figure, which explains the scholarly focus on his literary output.

Ha-Levi’s works, which reflected the widespread knowledge that he acquired in his youth, stand out in quantity and quality. Hacker has described him as one of the greatest exegetes of his time, his contribution in this area enhanced possibly by his inclusion of Greek and Arabic materials. His numerous books include Lev Avot (The Heart of the Fathers; 1565, 1571), his commentary on the Ethics of the Fathers, which cited Plato, Aristotle, and Seneca; Divre Shelomo (The Words of Solomon; 2 vols., Salonica, 1575; Venice, 1596), a collection of his homiletical sermons from 1568 to 1574; Ḥesheq Shelomo (Solomons’ Delight;Venice, 1600), a commentary on the Book of Isaiah, edited by his son Isaac; Leḥem Shelomo (The Bread of Solomon; Venice, 1597), an elucidation of talmudic commentaries; Shemaʿ Shelomo (Solomon’s Report), on the wisdom of nature; Sefer ha-Mofet (The Book of [Empirical] Evidence), a translation with commentary of Aristotle’s Analytica Posteriora; Hanhagat ha-Bayit (Administration of the House), or Regimento de la casa, on ethics and marital relations; Minḥat Zikkaron (An Offering of Memorial); Sheʾelot u-Teshuvot ve-Ḥiddushim (Responsa and Novellae), on questions of the Talmud; commentaries on Psalms, Proverbs, the Book of Job, and the Torah; and critiques and commentaries on works by Joseph Albo (ca. 1380–1444), Maimonides (1135–1204), and Aristotle. The poetic output of ha-Levi was no less numerous; his poems can be found both in many of his works and in those of others, such as his teacher Ibn Lev. Another of his teachers, Longo, had a marked influence upon his style. While Ha-Levi’s poems demonstrate his mastery of Hebrew and contain rhyme and versification, however, Habermann argued that they do not constitute pure poetry and that Longo’s work was superior. A collection of Ha-Levi’s poetry can be found in a copied manuscript, incomplete and containing errors, at the Bodleian Library (Oxford Mss. 2000 p. 638-85b). Hacker has used Ha-Levi’s works as a source that paints a portrait of the spiritual and social lifeof Salonica’s Jewry in the second and third generations following the Spanish and Portuguese expulsions. Letters he exchanged with his grandson shed light upon this renowned family, which Hacker describes as patriarchal. After the death of Solomon the Elder, the House of Levi continued to produce noted scholars, such as his sons Isaac (II) (see below) and Joseph (II) (d. 1605), although none achieved the same stature. Other leading rabbis married into the family, such as Aaron ben Joseph Sasson (1550 or 1555–1626), who married one of Solomon’s three daughters.

D Gershon Lewental

Bibliography

Emmanuel, Isaac Samuel. Histoire des Israélites de Salonique (Paris: Thonon, 1936), pp. 188–191.

Habermann, Abraham Meir. “Qinot ʿal Ḥakhamey Saloniqi me-Rabbi Shlomoh le-Veyt ha-Levi u-me-ha-Meshorer Saʿadya Longo,” Sefunot 12, no. 2 (1971): 69–80.

Hacker, Joseph. “Despair of the Redemption and the Messianic Hopes in the Writings of R. Shelomo le-Veyt hal-Lewi of Salonica,” Tarbiz 39 (1969): 195 [Hebrew].

———, “Israel Among the Nations as Described by Solomon le-Beit ha-Levi of Salonika,” Zion 34 (1969): 43–44 [Hebrew].

———. “Levi,” “Levi (Bet ha-Levi), Abraham ben Joseph,” “Levi (Bet ha-Levi), Isaac (II) ben Solomon,” “Levi (Bet ha-Levi), Jacob ben Israel,” “Levi (Bet ha-Levi), Solomon (II) ben Isaac,” “Levi (Bet ha-Levi), Solomon (III) ben Isaac (II),” in Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed.

Rosanes, Salomon Abraham. Divre Yeme Yisraʾel be-Togarma: ʿAl-pi Meqorot Riʾshonim (Sofia: Defus ha-Mishpaṭ, 1937–38), pp. 96, 108–110; vol. 3: Qorot ha-Yehudim be-Turqya u-va-Ara ṣ ot ha-Qedem: Mi-Shenat 5335 ʿad Shenat 5400, 1574–1640 (Sofia: Defus ha-Mishpaṭ, 1938), pp. 55, 177–183; vol. 4: Qorot ha-Yehudim be-Turqiya u-va-Ara ṣ ot ha-Qedem: Mi-Shenat 5400 ʿad Shenat 5490, 1640–1730 (Sofia: Defus ha-Mishpaṭ, 1934–35), pp. 173–175.

Shaw, Stanford J. The Jews of the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic (New York: New York University Press, 1991), pp. 67, 86, 98, 149–151, 272, 300.

Shmuelevitz, Aryeh. The Jews of the Ottoman Empire in the Late Fifteenth and the Sixteenth Centuries: Administrative, Economic, Legal, and Social Relations as Reflected in the Responsa (Leiden: Brill, 1984), pp. 188–189, 191.

Cite this page

D Gershon Lewental. "Levi (Le-Vet Ha-Levi) Family, Salonica." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online, 2013. <http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-...>