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Ralbag

Ralbag

1288 CE1344 CE · Rishonim · Bagnols-sur-Cèze

Levi ben Gershon, known as the Ralbag (an acronym for Rabbi Levi ben Gershon), was a towering fourteenth-century Provençal philosopher, mathematician, and biblical commentator active chiefly in Orange and Avignon, born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze. He produced wide-ranging works on logic, mathematics, and astronomy alongside his halakhic writings and his celebrated supercommentary on Rashi's Torah interpretations. The Ralbag was known for his bold integration of Aristotelian philosophy with Jewish thought and his willingness to challenge received interpretations when reason demanded it. He also made significant contributions to the science of his time, particularly in optics and astronomical instruments. Though sometimes controversial for his philosophical audacity, he became one of the most influential medieval Jewish intellectuals and remains a major figure in the Jewish philosophical tradition.

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Stop 1 of 41288–1310Born

Bagnols-sur-CèzeבאניולProvence (France)

What they did here

Born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze in Languedoc.

About Bagnols-sur-Cèze

Bagnols-sur-Cèze, a town in the Languedoc region of southern France (today in the Gard department), was the birthplace, in 1288, of Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (Gersonides, the Ralbag), one of the foremost Jewish philosophers, astronomers, and biblical commentators of the Middle Ages. He later lived in nearby Orange and Avignon.

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In the same place & time

Sages whose lives overlapped with Ralbag’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.

The world in their lifetime

Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Ralbag’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

Works(4)

Supercommentary on the Guide for the Perplexedפירוש על מורה נבוכים

Orange (Provence) · 1340

Philosophical gloss on Maimonides' Guide; clarifies and defends Maimonidean rationalist theology.

Full text not yet available in our corpus.

Milchamot Hashemמלחמות השם

Orange (Provence) · 1329

Philosophical treatise defending Jewish faith against Aristotelian objections; discusses divine foreknowledge, providence, miracles, and the nature of prophecy.

Full text not yet available in our corpus.

Supercommentary on Rashi and Ibn Ezra (Torah)פירוש על התורה

Orange (Provence) · 1325

Exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch combining rational philosophy with textual analysis; influential medieval biblical interpretation.

Full text not yet available in our corpus.

Related figuresLevi bar SisiSuggested by shared subject matter, not a documented teaching relationship.