Author of the Machberet

Menachem ben Saruk (c. 920–c. 970) was a Hebrew lexicographer in the golden age of Spanish Jewry. Born in Tortosa, he worked in Córdoba under the patronage of the great statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut, for whom he composed the Machberet — the first dictionary of biblical Hebrew written entirely in Hebrew, which made the language's vocabulary accessible to European Jews who knew no Arabic and was used by Rashi himself. His grammatical theories were sharply attacked by his rival Dunash ben Labrat; the ensuing controversy cost him Hasdai's favor — he was cast out and imprisoned — but his dictionary's influence long outlived the quarrel.