Asher ben Jehiel


Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the Rosh. His yahrzeit is on 9 Cheshvan.

Biography

The Rosh was probably born in Cologne, Holy Roman Empire, and died in Toledo. His family was prominent for learning and piety, his father Yechiel was a Talmudist, and one of his ancestors was Rabbi Eliezer ben Nathan. Asher had eight sons, the most prominent of whom were Jacob and Judah.
In 1286, King Rudolf I had instituted a new persecution of the Jews, and the great teacher of the Rosh, Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, left Germany but was captured and imprisoned. The Rosh raised a ransom for his release, but Rabbi Meir refused it, for fear of encouraging the imprisonment of other rabbis. Thereafter the Rosh assumed Rabbi Meir's position in Worms. He was, however, forced to emigrate. After leaving Germany, he first settled in southern France, and then in Toledo, Spain, where he became rabbi on the recommendation of Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham Aderet. Rabbenu Asher's son Judah testified to the fact that he died in poverty. Rabbeinu Asher died in Toledo on 9 Cheshvan 5088. His known surviving children were said to have been killed in the ensuing persecutions that affected Spain in 1392.
Rabbenu Asher possessed "methodical and systematic" Talmudic knowledge, and was distinguished for his ability to adumbrate long Talmudic discussions. The ROSH, influenced by his teacher Rabbi Meir, was averse to lenient decisions in halakha, even when theoretically justified. The ROSH was, however, known for his independent legal reasoning: "We must not be guided in our decisions by the admiration of great men, and in the event of a law not being clearly stated in the Talmud, we are not bound to accept it, even if it be based on the works of the Geonim."
Rabbenu Asher was opposed to the study of secular knowledge, especially philosophy. He held that philosophy is based on critical research, whereas religion is based on tradition and the two are thus "incapable of harmonization". He said that "none that go unto her may return"—in fact, he thanked God for having saved him from its influence, and boasted of possessing no knowledge outside the Torah. He attempted to issue a decree against the study of non-Jewish learning. One effect of this attitude was to limit his influence on secular Spanish Jewry. At the same time, within rabbinic circles, "he transplanted the strict and narrow Talmudic spirit from Germany to Spain", and this, in some measure, turned Spanish Jews from secular research to the study of the Talmud.

Works

Rabbenu Asher's best known work is his abstract of Talmudic law. This work specifies the final, practical halakha, leaving out the intermediate discussion and concisely stating the final decision. It omits areas of law limited to Eretz Yisrael as well as the aggadic portions of the Talmud. Asher's son Jacob compiled a list of the decisions found in the work, under the title Piskei Ha-ROSH. Commentaries on his Halachot were written by a number of later Talmudists. In yeshivot, this work is studied as a regular part of the daily Talmud study.
This work resembles the Hilchot of the Rif —also an adumbration—but differs in quoting later authorities: Maimonides, the Tosafists and Alfasi himself. One theory states that the work is actually not a commentary on the Talmud but is rather a commentary on the Rif, given that it always starts with the text of the Rif. Some however dispute this.
Rabbenu Asher's work superseded Alfasi's within a short time and has been printed with almost every edition of the Talmud since its publication. This work was so important in Jewish law that Yosef Karo included the ROSH together with Maimonides and Isaac Alfasi as one of the three major poskim considered in determining the final ruling in his Shulchan Arukh.
Rabbi Asher also wrote: