Author of the Machberet
920 CE–970 CE · Rishonim · Tortosa
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.
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TortosaטורטוסהCatalonia — Disputation of Tortosa (1413-14)
What they did here
Born in Tortosa, his native city, around 920.
About Tortosa
Tortosa was the site of the catastrophic Disputation of Tortosa (1413-14), forced upon 22 Jewish scholars by Antipope Benedict XIII over twenty months. The disputation directly triggered mass conversions across Aragon and accelerated the decline of Iberian Jewry.
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